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The Sausage Race is held after 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. Klement's sausages are served at Miller Park, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers.
There are four racing sausages:
- Wearing number one and dressed in a green Austro-Bavarian costume is Bratwurst.
- Polish Sausage wears dark sunglasses and a blue and red rugby shirt with the number two.
- The moustached Italian Sausage is dressed in a chef's outfit and wears number three.
- Hotdog, number four, wears a baseball uniform.
While most fans refer to the sausages as Brat, Polish, Italian, and Hotdog, the Klement web site gives their proper names as Brett Wurst, Stosh, Guido, and Frankie Furter, respectively.
Employees of the Milwaukee Brewers or Miller Park usually run the race. Having donned the oversized foam sausage costumes, the contestants start their race between the dugout and the baseline around third base. They sprint down the warning track, round home plate and continue toward first base.
The Associated Press quotes Laurel Prieb, Brewers vice president, as saying the sausages were introduced "as a lark" around 1995. At first, the sausages were just another dumb animated scoreboard race. Bringing them to life was key to their current popularity.
It's hard to say what accounts for the popularity of the sausage race. Undoubtedly, four adults dressed in oversized foamrubber sausage suits "competing" in a race is so absurd, so outrageously exaggerated, that it's hard not to smile. But that hardly explains the cult following. Perhaps Brewers' fans need something to cheer for other than the long-suffering home team.
It is hard to say whether the race is real. The only thing that can be said with certainty is that it's a goofy way to advertise sausage. Before every race, a message is displayed on the scoreboard which claims, "it's only an exhibition" and urges fans to refrain from wagering. However, many individuals who have participated say the contestants really do run as fast as they can.
Sausagegate
On July 10, 2003, in a misguided attempt at mirth, Randall Simon, then (and again now) the first baseman of the Pittsburgh Pirates, playfully hit a top-heavy sausage on its head with a baseball bat. The tap didn't hit the human head of Mandy Block who was wearing the Italian Sausage costume, but it did knock her over. The domino effect took Hotdog along. Simon was arrested and paid a fine. He later apologized. The nation held its breath and waited for the lawsuit, but the classy Ms. Block asked only that the offending bat be autographed and given to her. Simon obliged.
Notable Contestants
Aside from the now-famous Mandy Block, ball players Pat Meares, Geoff Jenkins, and Hideo Nomo have raced as sausages. A handful of sports journalists have also raced. Participation is not open to the general public, though many fans would undoubtedly relish the opportunity.
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