How Rangers take care of man’s best friend during busy spring training schedule

During one three month-long rehab stint, Texas Rangers pitcher Drew Smyly had a constant companion at the high-end Ritz Carlton.

The pairing caused quite the buzz around the hotel.

It was his 9-year-old rescue dog.

“Everyone in the hotel knew him,” Smyly said laughing about the greyhound-labrador mix. “It was ‘Oh hey, there’s Tye.’ Everyone loved him.”

Deciding what to do with a pet is a challenge for the many Major League Baseball players who have to leave home for six weeks to participate in spring training in Arizona or Florida.

Some, like Smyly, bring them along, making sure they are staying at a hotel or home that allows pets.

Others will board them when they have no recourse. And some, like outfielder Delino DeShields Jr., relies on friends. “Blu,” an American bulldog, is staying with a buddy he calls “Blu’s uncle.”

“They always have a fun time, so I trust him,” DeShields said. “He’ll send me videos and stuff.”

Smyly is quite attached to Tye, who often travels on road trips with Smyly and his family. The player tries to take a picture of his dog at as many MLB stadiums as possible like some people do with garden gnomes.

“It has been challenging over the years to get him from city to city,” Smyly said. “I take him with me everywhere. … I bet we have at least six or seven major league stadiums that we (took) a picture with him.”

Boarding pets can be expensive. According to petrx.com, the average cost of boarding a dog overnight is $25 to $45.

“I would love a dog, but I can’t think of how to keep it,” Rangers pitcher Mike Minor said. “Some guys (just) do it.”

Players like Smyly can’t imagine doing it any other way.

Serina Perez is a senior majoring in sports journalism at Arizona State University. This story is a part of a partnership between the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.