Sausage Race

The sausages near the finish line of the Sausage Race.

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]

Klement's Racing Sausages

Brett Wurst, the bratwurst, at the grand opening of the West Milwaukee Pick 'n Save

There are five Klement's 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 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.

Employees of the Milwaukee Brewers or Miller Park usually run the race. Donning over-sized foam sausage costumes that measure seven feet, three inches (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 appear at many local charity events, including an annual 5K run/walk in their honor, with proceeds going to Brewers Community Foundation, and are 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 have 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 ESPN employees.

History

The sausages prepare to race.

Origins

The race originated as a scoreboard animation 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 first live sausage race took place on Sunday, May 29, 1994, the day the Brewers retired Robin Yount's number 19 jersey. The race animation began on the replay board at County Stadium. As the theme from Chariots of Fire played and the cartoon 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 of County Stadium, the costumed racers had become a full-time attraction. The last ever Sausage Race at County Stadium took place on September 28, 2000 and was won by the Bratwurst.

There were only three sausages when the race was introduced: the bratwurst, the Polish sausage and the Italian sausage. The hot dog was not introduced until the mid-1990s.^[2]

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, fined, and 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. Later that year, Mandy Block received a complimentary trip to Curaçao, Simon's home island, from the Curaçao Tourism Board. Since the incident, T-shirts and other memorabilia have been sold with the slogan "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.

Parodies

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.

In Washington, DC, the Washington Nationals have made fun of them, calling them the "un-Racing Sausages" during Brewers visits to the nation's capital in the Presidents Race, featuring runners dressed in oversized costumes representing the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt — which began when Ted Lerner took over ownership of the team in 2006; the live action version replacing a computerized animation version. This stems from a negative response by Brewers management after the Nats invited them for match races similar to those with Pittsburgh's racing pierogies staged annually; however, the Brewers refused to partake in these events. As a response, the Nationals made cardboard copies of the Brewers' racers, naming them “Un-talian sausage,” “No-Lish Sausage,” “Not-Dog,” “Not-Wurst,” and “Choriz-No.”^[3]

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.^[4] 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, i.e., brewer, 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.

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. Casey McGehee's son Mack has raced as a Little Weenie. Participation is not open to the general public.

Other races

Besides the Pittsburgh Pierogies and the Washington, DC Presidents Race, other teams have their own version of the Sausage race. 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, Pepsi Max, Aquafina, and Sierra Mist. Before 2007, these were computer-generated. As of 2010, the race is only computer-generated for certain games.

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 Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" character from the movie Major League). In late 2007 the ketchup racer started cutting the corner at home plate to win the race, and this "cheating" has led to several stage skits by players, mascots, and the ground 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 bottled water (the sponsors of the race; in actuality the coupons do not feature the date they were presented, thus any coupon can be redeemed at any time). The "dots" were later replaced by three action figures, all resembling legendary figures in Texas history (Davy Crockett with his long rifle, Jim Bowie with his legendary Bowie knife, and Sam Houston).

The Oakland Athletics are celebrating 25 years, in 2010, of their version of the dot race.

The Atlanta Braves race involves (Atlanta-based) Home Depot's hammer, saw, paint brush, and power drill racing against each other. Before the 2009 season, the race was seen only on the scoreboard, but it now features live runners dressed in costumed versions of these tools; the race takes place on the warning track and starts in right field and ends in front of the scoreboard.

The Florida Marlins' race, sponsored by Miccosukee, 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. The Cincinnati Reds race involves mascots Mr. Red, Mr. Redlegs, and Rosie Red racing on the scoreboard, this was introduced in 2008. Many times Rosie Red will turn into Wonder Woman to win the race, Occasionally Gapper will interfere in the race.

In 2009 the San Francisco Giants featured periodically a bobble head race with likenesses of announcers Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, but they only occasionally raced in 2009. They have not appeared at AT&T Park since 2009. The Giants, however, regularly have a Cable Car race on the scoreboard between car #24, #27 and #44. On a rare occasion they also have boat races.

The Arizona Diamondbacks dress three kids up in hot dog suits. One representing ketchup, one representing mustard and one representing relish. The three kids run in place in front of the Diamondback's dugout while the scoreboard shows a race between the three hot dogs. The winner receives a prize for their victory.

The Houston Astros' race involves Taco Bell 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. Also in 2010, the Arizona Diamondbacks added a "Legends Race" with 10 feet (3.0 m) likenesses of Randy Johnson, Mark Grace, Luis Gonzalez and Matt Williams. The race debuted on July 2.^[5] The Diamondbacks previously had a race between live runners dressed as menu items from fast-food chain and sponsor Taco Bell, including a giant cup of Pepsi. Mark Grace did not win a single race in 2011.

The Oakland Athletics Class A Advance Affiliate the Stockton Ports has a race that (fittingly for the San Joaquin Valley region's agricultural heritage) involves three asparagus: green, fried, and chocolate.^[6] (The Stockton area produces the majority of the domestic asparagus consumed in the United States.)

Triple A Dodgers affiliate the Albuquerque Isotopes feature a mascot race with New Mexican food items as the competitors. The racers are Red Chile, Green Chile, Taco, and Salsa.^[7] The Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, another Triple-A team, features pork products: Ham, Bacon, and Hot Dog. The Buffalo Bisons, another Triple-A team, features a food race involving Chicken Wing, Bleu Cheese and Celery.^[8] The Washington Wild Things of the Frontier League also have a race featuring hot dog, mustard and ketchup.

References

1. ^ How it All Started
2. ^ Brewers/Klements Racing Sausages - A Historical Perspective
3. ^ Presidents Mock Milwaukee With "Un-Racing Sausages", Let Teddy Win" Blog, 25 August 2009
4. ^ Chorizo represents growing Latino population in Wisconsin
5. ^ D-backs Reveal Johnson, Gonzalez as First Members of Legends Race, arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com, 22 June 2010
6. ^
7. ^ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081106&content_id=477967&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp
8. ^ http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/scoreboard/page.jsp?ymd=20110505&content_id=18695792&vkey=scoreboard_t422&fext=.jsp&sid=t422

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
• New Sausage added