J.D. Martinez: "Anytime I See A Dog I Immediately Get Happy"

Anytime I see a dog I immediately get happy. It's instant. It's the only thing that makes me happy. I see a dog and I just want to go play with him and talk to him and treat him like he's a human.

J.D. Martinez

I've always loved dogs and I just love German shepherds. We had one growing up and [groundskeeper] Dave [Mellor] had told me they were breeding [his dogs] Drago and Lisle ... At first I held off because I was concerned about being able to take care of it during the season and things like that, and then I went up and visited them and Bronco, my puppy, he was the last one of the litter and the only one there, and I friggin' fell in love with the dog right when I saw him. ... I love playing with him and everything you get out of having a dog. ... If he was a person, he would definitely be a ballplayer. He's really athletic and if he sees a ball he's going psycho, and he knows kind of how to play catch, so he'll catch and toss it back to you and when we play catch. And he loves to run around, he's got a ton of energy.

Rick Porcello

Anytime I walk by Maverick [NESN's Mike Narracci's 7-month-old chocolate Lab], I've got to go and say hello and pet him and give him hugs. He reminds me so much of Tank [my own chocolate Lab] so being away from Tank for all of spring training hasn't been fun or easy ... Having Maverick around takes the blow off things. ... It's kind of cool being at home, Drago is always around. He's kind of like the team dog. He comes in the clubhouse and on the field and when he's out there, you see everyone go over to him and talk to him. And now this year, Maverick has been here, so it's good. Having a dog around, it's good for the soul.

Brock Holt

Drago has the nicest yard in New England:

Tony La Russa, a special assistant to Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, started the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) in 1990. ARF has roughly 200 volunteers and has rescued 40,000 animals. When La Russa managed the Cardinals, he would encourage the players bring their dogs to the park during spring training. And he would "have a litter bag and go clean up all the poop".

(Wait: Fenway Park uses coyote decoys to scare away geese??)