Baseball Shorts: Hot Dogs And Baseball
After yesterday’s blogpost about the Pimento Cheese cap of the Augusta GreenJackets, there is another food related blogpost today: The hot dog.
We all know the hot dog. A long bun with a frankfurter sausage inside with some additives like sauerkraut, baked onions, mustard and ketchup. There is a broad variety of hot dogs, one tastier than the other. But how did hot dogs and baseball got intertwined? Read on and you will learn.
Hot dogs are a classic and iconic food deeply intertwined with baseball, with millions consumed at ballparks annually. This love affair has a long history. Some suggest hot dogs appeared at games as early as the 1870s or 1880s and a more famous legend placing their introduction in 1905.
Fans consume approximately 19.1 million hot dogs during an avarage MLB season. That’s about 7,860 hot dogs per stadium per game, and that is only in MLB. How about MiLB and college games? The volume at MiLB may be substantially lower but some individual minor league teams report significant numbers, like the Albuquerque Isotopes selling over 25,000 hot dogs in a single promotional night.
It is believed that selling hot dogs at games emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century when baseball grew in popularity, with vendors offering various food items to fans. Some credit Chris Von der Ahe, owner of the St. Louis Brown Stockings (Browns for short and now known as the Cardinals), with popularizing them at games in the 1890s. A famous legend though, attributes the popularization of hot dogs at baseball games to Harry M. Stevens in 1905.
Many ballparks offer their own unique hot dog versions and toppings, with teams like the Dodgers being notable for their high hot dog sales. The Dodger Dog, as their hot dog is called, is almost worshipped by Dodger fans. Clearly it is a matter of taste. One of the best tasting hot dogs are those of Nathan’s. Since 2017, they are the official hot dogs of MLB. They are sold at both New York teams, at the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Miami Marlins, but Nathan’s hot dogs are also sold at several (affiliated) MiLB ballparks. For example the Kansas City Monarchs (American Association of Professional Baseball) sell them since 2024.
If this all is not enough, there is even a baseball team in the American Association, that is called after a specific hot dog: The Chicago Dogs. A Chicago-style hot dog, Chicago dog, or Chicago red hot is an all-beef frankfurter on a poppy seed bun originating from the city of Chicago, Illinois. The hot dog is topped with yellow mustard, chopped white onions, bright green sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle slice, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers and a dash of celery salt.
And you may guess what the favorite food item of the fans of the Chicago Dogs is… 😉
To conclude this blog post: “Hot dog” can also refer to a baseball player who draws attention through theatrics or plays to the crowd.
Funny how someone who isn’t really interested in baseball, can come up with an idea of writing about ballpark food and hot dogs in particular. In this case my partner.