43
YSU’s scrappy mascot
By Brian Dzenis
STRUTHERS
It took patience, love and some peanut butter to bring aboard the Youngstown State baseball team’s newest member.
Infielders Jeff Wehler and Web Charles took in a stray dog, whom Wehler named Ali, that wandered into a team practice at Cene Park on Oct. 5. The female Doberman-mix has become a rallying point for the team and looks to become a common sight at practices and Penguins home games.
“She just hangs out. She comes out to practice and runs around and then comes back to my apartment and sleeps,” Charles said. “When we found her, her ribs were showing. We’ve got some food in her and she’s got some sleep and she’s getting that weight back.
“She’s been a great dog. We love having her out here at practice.”
It was a odd sequence of events that brought Ali and the Penguins together. The team had its practices moved to Cene Park because Eastwood Field is having its field redone.
The team was getting ready for an intra-squad scrimmage on Cene 1 when Ali walked onto the field and was barking at the team. Head coach Dan Bertolini shooed her away, only to see her come back to the field.
Wehler, who is unable to practice with an injury, stepped up.
Video
“She was a little shy and was running around. Nobody could get close to her,” Wehler said. “We got pretzels full of peanut butter and started to draw her in closer. It probably took like 30 minutes.”
Ali didn’t have a collar, but got close enough for Wehler to grab her and get her into the bullpen so that the team could start its scrimmage. She growled at him, but soon they became friends.
Gallery
“I played with her in the bullpen for like two hours and I fell in love,” Wehler said.
Wehler took Ali — he picked that name because he’s a fan of the famous boxer Muhammad Ali — back to his apartment for a bath.
The initial plan was to find a more permanent home elsewhere, but the team wanted Ali to stay.
Assistant coach Eric Smith put out a Twitter petition: 100 retweets and Wehler keeps her. Peer pressure won out, but her stay lasted only a few days when the shortstop’s landlord wasn’t OK with him keeping a dog in his apartment.
Charles stepped in to take Ali because he lives in a place that allows dogs.
“It wasn’t too hard to take her in,” Charles said. “She’s super loving and a great dog.”
The players have taken Ali to a vet for a rabies shot and she’s due to receive additional shots.
While they’ve surmised she likely was somebody’s dog — she’s housebroken and responds to commands — they haven’t found any signs of the original owner. Searches online for lost dog ads turned up nothing and Ali did not have a chip in her when checked by a vet.
After initially wanting the dog to leave, Bertolini is all in with Ali. He’s given the OK for her to keep coming to practices and to home games, citing her potential therapeutic value.
“It just brings joy to everyone when she’s running around. This game can put a lot of pressure on you and make you feel sad. You deal with a lot of failure,” Bertolini said. “It makes your day not so bad if you’re having one as a player or in school. I think it helps them.”
It will be a few months before the Penguins learn if she’ll have the same impact as the Cleveland Browns’ rally possum, but the team has found a new best friend.
“Her finding us was awesome,” Charles said. “We weren’t even supposed to be at Cene and she just found us. It was crazy.”