Sausage Race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sausage Race is a race of sausage mascots held before the bottom of the sixth inning at every home game of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Sausage Race is a promotion for the Klement's Sausage Company, located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose sausages are served at Miller Park, the home of the Brewers. The mascots are officially known as Klement's Racing Sausages.
The race started in the early 1990s with just three sausages - the bratwurst, the Polish sausage (kielbasa), and the Italian sausage. Since then, two new sausages have joined the race - the hot dog, introduced in the mid-90s, and the chorizo, which was unveiled and eventually joined the race in the mid-2000s.[1]
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[edit] Racing sausages
There are five racing sausages (mascots). Their official names are given by the race's sponsor:
- #1, Brett Wurst is a bratwurst and wears green Austro-Bavarian lederhosen.
- #2, Stosh Jonjak is a Polish sausage and wears dark sunglasses and a blue and red rugby shirt.
- #3, Guido is an Italian sausage and wears a chef's outfit.
- #4, Frankie Furter is a hot dog and wears a baseball uniform.
- #5, Cinco is a chorizo and wears a sombrero.
Most fans refer to the sausages as Brat, Polish, Italian, Hot Dog and Chorizo.
| 2009 Sausage Race Standings[2][3] | |
|---|---|
| Racer | Wins |
| Hot dog | 17 |
| Bratwurst | 10 |
| Italian Sausage | 13 |
| Polish Sausage | 6 |
| Chorizo | 9 |
Employees of the Milwaukee Brewers or Miller Park usually run the race. Having donned the oversized foam sausage costumes that measure seven feet, three inches high (2.21 meters) from the top of the head to the knees of the runners, the contestants start their race between the dugout and the baseline around third base. They sprint down the warning track, around home plate and continue toward first base.
The sausages have also appeared at many charity events, including an annual charity run/walk in their honor, with proceeds going to the Milwaukee Brewers Charities, and are also available for personal appearances on non-game days. They also have a twice yearly home-and-home relay race against their Pittsburgh Pirates counterparts, the Racing Pierogies.
The sausages recently starred in two SportsCenter spots for ESPN. The first, set at ESPN's cafeteria, was shown at Miller Park on May 19, 2006. The second features them in a parody of the Running of the Bulls with other ESPN employees.
[edit] History
[edit] Origins
The race originated as a virtual scoreboard race in the early 1990s. The Associated Press quotes Laurel Prieb, former Brewers vice president, as saying the actual sausage mascots were introduced "as a lark" around 1995, and only on Sundays to appease kids in the crowd.
The earliest record of a live sausage race took place on Sunday, May 29, 1994 when the Brewers retired the number 19 of Robin Yount. The race had begun as a routine sausage race on the old off-black and off-white replay board at County Stadium. As the theme from Chariots of Fire played and the animated sausages made their way around Milwaukee en route to County Stadium, the sausages appeared in live form for the first time from the left field fence and raced to what would become a legendary Milwaukee Brewers tradition.
By 2000, the final year for the Brewers at County Stadium, the costumed racers became a full-time attraction. The last ever Sausage Race at County Stadium took place on September 28, 2000 and was won by the Brat.
There were only three sausages when the race was introduced: the bratwurst, the Polish and the Italian. The hot dog was not introduced until the mid-1990s.[4]
[edit] Randall Simon incident
On July 9, 2003, Randall Simon, then the first baseman of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hit the head of a runner's costume with a baseball bat. The tap didn't hit the actual head of Mandy Block, who was wearing the Italian Sausage costume, but it did knock her over, and she took the Hot Dog down with her. The Polish Sausage helped the Italian Sausage up and all sausages finished the Race. Simon was arrested and paid a fine, and was suspended by Major League Baseball for three games. He later apologized. Block asked only that the offending bat be autographed and given to her. Simon obliged. Since that incident, T-shirts and other memorabilia popped up with the now infamous words, "Don't whack our wiener!"
Simon was traded to the Chicago Cubs later that season (for reasons unrelated to the incident). He returned to Milwaukee with the Cubs for a series against the Brewers. During the first game, Simon's teammates playfully held him back as the sausages raced past their dugout, and manager Dusty Baker guarded the bat rack. In that same game, Simon purchased Italian sausages for a randomly chosen section of the crowd.
On October 1, 2008, the Brewers traveled to Philadelphia to play the Philadelphia Phillies in Milwaukee's first post-season game since the 1982 World Series. In the middle of the 6th inning, three feebly dressed sausages appeared from the left field gate of Citizens Bank Park in what proved to be a mockery of the Miller Park tradition. The three sausages were then accosted by the Phillie Phanatic at home plate, to the delight of the Phillies fans. Simon, who played for the Phillies in 2006, was invited back and received loud cheers as he hit the fake sausages with a large plastic bat. Most fans understood the reference, and laughed that Simon was invited back for the gag.
[edit] The Chorizo joins the race
The Chorizo was added for the 2006 season to commemorate Latino contributions to the game of baseball, as well as to acknowledge the Brewers' growing Latino fanbase.[5] It ran its first race (and the only one of the 2006 season) on Saturday, July 29 to celebrate Cerveceros Day (cervecero translates to beer-maker or maker of beer in Spanish; the Brewers also wore Cerveceros jerseys on this day). However, the Chorizo did not become a regular participant in the Sausage Race until the 2007 season because of an MLB rule stating that a team may not introduce a new mascot in the middle of a season.
[edit] Notable contestants
Ball players Mark Grace, Pat Meares, Geoff Jenkins and Hideo Nomo have raced as sausages. A handful of sports journalists have also raced as well as former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Javon Walker, who participated in the race in 2004. Participation is not open to the general public.
[edit] Other racers
Besides the Pittsburgh Pierogies, the Washington Nationals have their own version of the Sausage race, with runners dressed in oversized costumes representing the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — which began when new ownership took over the team in 2006. Prior to that, the race was computer generated.
The New York Yankees held "the Great Subway Race" on their scoreboard for years, dating back to at least the 1980s. The three contestants were three of the trains that went to Yankee Stadium, the C, the D, and the 4. The C was later changed to the B, to reflect changed subway routes. The Philadelphia Phillies have a similar race on the Jumbotron at Citizens Bank Park involving the SEPTA Broad Street Line from City Hall to the sports complex. In the Phillies' version, the song "Love Train" (performed by the O'Jays and written by Philadelphians Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff) is played.
The Tampa Bay Rays have a race sponsored by PepsiCo, the owners of the naming rights to Tropicana Field. Their race is between large bottles of Pepsi, Aquafina and Sierra Mist. Before 2007, these were computer-generated.
The Baltimore Orioles and the Kansas City Royals have similar races involving hot dogs. The Orioles' race, which has existed since the opening of Camden Yards, is sponsored by Esskay and features hot dogs on the video board with different condiments: Ketchup, mustard, and Relish. The Royals' version features live runners dressed as Heinz condiments - ketchup, relish and mustard. The live racers made their first appearance during the 2007 season, with the race being limited to the video board prior to this.
Texas Rangers games feature a live action version of the "Dot Race", in which three dots (Red, Green, and Blue) compete in the middle of the sixth inning. Each fan is given a coupon that has one of the three colors. A coupon with the winning color can be taken to a Texas store to purchase Ozarka water (the sponsors of the race). The Oakland Athletics added their version of the race in 2009.
The Atlanta Braves race involves Home Depot's hammer, saw, paint brush, and can racing against each other. Before the 2009 season, the race was seen only on the scoreboard, but it now starts at first base and ends in front of the scoreboard.
The Florida Marlins' race, sponsored by Miccosukee Resort & Gaming, takes place on the video board, where mascot Billy the Marlin drives an airboat around the Everglades in a race against two other Marlins portrayed to be his father and mother.
[edit] References
- ^ How it All Started
- ^ http://www.klements.com/racing_sausages/index2.html
- ^ Through July 30, 2009
- ^ Brewers/Klements Racing Sausages - A Historical Perspective
- ^ Chorizo represents growing Latino population in Wisconsin
[edit] External links
- The Racing Sausages page at Klement's website, including a sausage race video game
- Racing Sausages page at the Brewers' website
- Brewers Press Release: Chorizo joins Racing Sausages
- The Racing Sausages at The Greater Woodstock Baseball Association charity event
- Racing Sausages T-Shirts
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