Sugar Land Space Cowboys Introduce Muffin the Bat Dog for 2026 Season

Opening Night at Constellation Field marked Muffin's on-field debut as a Bat Dog, and the Sugar Land Space Cowboys made sure the 2026 season started with four paws on the dirt. Muffin, a five-year-old Golden Retriever, serves as the Space Cowboys' official Bat Dog for select home games throughout the 2026 season, including Friday's Opening Night and Saturday, March 28.

"We are pumped to add Muffin to our roster for this upcoming season," said Space Cowboys General Manager Tyler Stamm. "Muffin is the first of many fan experience initiatives that the Space Cowboys will be introducing this season and we're so excited for our fans to meet him!"

The Space Cowboys opened their home schedule against the Round Rock Express at 7:05 pm. The theme of Opening Weekend is "Homecoming," with fans encouraged to dress for homecoming, mums, garters and all. Muffin's arrival added a canine twist to an already packed weekend at Constellation Field.

The training regimen behind a Bat Dog is considerably more enjoyable than a standard spring training workout. "It's a lot of playing fetch, and just a lot of having fun with him and getting him excited," said Muffin's owner Hamid Parvizian. "It's all about him having a good time, he just loves to retrieve and loves to fetch anything."

Muffin's résumé extends beyond the ballpark. When he isn't at Constellation Field, Muffin works in the community as a comfort dog, providing stress relief and companionship to the people of Fort Bend County and beyond. That combination of field duty and community service makes him an unusually credentialed addition to any roster.

The Space Cowboys are a Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros competing in the Pacific Coast League, playing their home games at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. The club has won one PCL championship and one Triple-A championship, both in 2024. Stamm's reference to Muffin as "the first of many fan experience initiatives" signals the defending Triple-A champions intend to build on that momentum off the field as aggressively as on it.

For a second consecutive season, the Space Cowboys opened at Constellation Field, hosting the Round Rock Express this Friday to kick off Opening Weekend presented by Constellation. The first 2,000 fans at Saturday's game received a Space Cowboys 2026 Concert Tee featuring the 2026 schedule of the team's "tour" this summer.

Season ticket plans, including full season, half season, 10-game and mini-plans, are available at slspacecowboys.com/tickets.