For more than 30 years, a collection of 7-foot-tall sausages have entertained Milwaukee Brewers fans at the bottom of the sixth inning with a foot race.
The Famous Racing Sausages, some of Brew City's most identifiable mascots, burst onto the field in 1993 and have been serving up photo finishes, triumphant moments and even a few controversies ever since.
Their ranks – er, franks? – have grown from the original three, Bratwurst, Polish and Italian, to include Hot Dog and Chorizo, too. And their sponsor has switched from Klement's to Johnsonville.
The racing sausages were an innovation for Major League Baseball and gave rise to live-action mascot races elsewhere, like the racing presidents in Washington, DC and the racing pierogies in Pittsburgh.
When they debuted
Back in 1992, the sausages were simply animated, cartoon links on the jumbotron at the old County Stadium.
Michael Dillon, a local graphic designer, worked with the Brewers to take the sausages off the screen and onto the field. He designed and created the costumes, and the original trio debuted in 1993.
Their first appearance was a surprise to almost everyone in the ballpark, including the umpire and the players. The sausages appeared as animations on screen, then the feed cut out and they came running out of the left-field corner of County Stadium.
What's changed over the years
Hot Dog joined the race in 1997. Then Chorizo debuted in 2006 and became a fixture of the lineup a year later.
Klement’s sponsored the run until 2018, when Johnsonville took the reins.
In 2018, columnist Jim Stingl described the switch to the new sponsor in quite the punny way:
"Klement's link to the sausages is broken. It's the wurst news of the week. The Brewers were grilled about why they made the change. Let's be frank; Klement's couldn't cut the mustard, and other potential sponsors relished this chance to ketchup. Endorsements are all about wieners and losers."
Tall tales of the Racing Sausages
The sausages have had their ups and downs over time. (And not just because the suits measure 7-foot-3-inches in height and are pretty top-heavy.)
Among the wurst: In 2003, then-Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Randall Simon whacked Italian Sausage with a bat, causing Hot Dog to tumble as well. Both finished the race, thanks to an assist from the Polish (the Bratwurst won). Simon was arrested, fined and suspended for three games.
On Feb. 16, 2013, during Cedarburg’s annual Winter Festival somebody walked off with the $3,000 Italian sausage costume. The costume was dropped off at a bar a couple weeks later by two men who plopped it on a bar stool and told staff, “You did not see anything.”
Some famous names have suited up as the sausages. Among them was Stephen Colbert, the late-night host, who donned the Hot Dog suit – and finished last – in 2021 during his "Milwaukee Apology-Fest."
Which is the winningest sausage this season?
Modern-day baseball is all about analytics, so it should come as no surprise that the Brewers even track the sausage race results. Here's where things stand, as of mid-September, the most recent data available:
- Polish Sausage: 21 wins
- Italian Sausage: 19 wins
- Chorizo: 14 wins
- Hot Dog: 12 wins
- Brat: 11 wins
Exclusive: Order NL Championship Book
Will we see the Racing Sausages during the World Series?
Yes, the Racing Sausages will be making their World Series debut. Visit Milwaukee said the city's "most iconic competitors are taking their talents to the biggest stage in baseball."
We don't know yet whether they'll actually be racing, but they're sure to be a presence in the stadium nonetheless.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about the Racing Sausages, Milwaukee Brewers' most famous mascots
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