- Mascot race
-
A mascot race is a promotional sports entertainment competition of runners dressed in costumes. It is often a between-innings entertainment at baseball games. Usually the racers are mascots related to local culture or the products of a sponsor. The races are fixed, meaning they are for entertainment purposes only.[1]
Milwaukee's famous Racing Sausages.
The best known of this type of race is the Milwaukee Brewers' Sausage Race. Introduced in the early nineties [2], the race currently features bratwurst, Polish sausage, Italian sausage, hot dog, and chorizo characters. The race takes place before the sixth inning of every home game.
The Sausage Race inspired the creation of the Great Pierogi Race in Pittsburgh. A rivalry has developed between the Sausages and the Pierogies, and the two groups compete twice yearly in relay races. The players have also been involved; during a 2003 Sausage Race in Milwaukee during a Brewers-Pittsburgh Pirates game, Pirates slugger Randall Simon hit one of the sausages with a baseball bat, requiring the woman in the costume to receive medical care and a fine to Simon by the Milwaukee police. The incident subsequently became known as "Sausagegate".[3]
Another well known mascot race is the Presidents Race of the Washington Nationals. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt mascots compete. As a running joke, Teddy Roosevelt has never won.[4] Like the Milwaukee Sausages, the Presidents also have a rivalry with the Pierogies.
Other races
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, the Cleveland Indians 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. The Indians also started a live hot dog race in 2007 with the racers being mustard, onion, and ketchup (who wears thick glasses as a nod to the movie Major League). In late 2007 the ketchup racer started cutting the corner at home base to win the race, and this "cheating" has led to several staged skits by players, mascots, and the grounds crew to slow or trip him up during the race.
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 are celebrating 25 years, in 2010, of their version of the dot race.
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 Houston Astros' race involves Hot Sauce Packets named Fire, Hot, and Mild that race from the right field corner around the outfield and up to the visitor's dugout. This race started in 2010.
The Oakland Athletics Class A Advance Affiliate the Stockton Ports has a race that involves three asparaguses: regular, fried, and chocolate.[5]
Triple A Dodgers affiliate the Albuquerque Isotopes feature a race with New Mexican food items as the competitors. They are Red Chile, Green Chile, Taco, and Salsa.[6]
The Lakewood BlueClaws have two races: the Pork Roll, Egg, and Cheese Race at the end of the second inning and the Eyeball Race in the middle of the sixth.[7]
References
- ^ http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10170/1066854-63.stm
- ^ http://www.klements.com/racing_sausages/all_started.html
- ^ http://espn.go.com/page2/s/sausagegate/030710.html
- ^ http://blog.letteddywin.com/presidents-race-standings/
- ^
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081106&content_id=477967&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
- ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/promotions/page.jsp?ymd=20100212&content_id=8066626&vkey=promo_t427&fext=.jsp&sid=t427
Categories:- Sports competitions
- Major League Baseball team mascots
- Minor League Baseball mascots
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
