![]() ![]() If you’re vaccinated (Huntington was even offering free jabs at the information booth), the outdoors is still where you want to be this summer, and at a Clippers’ game, there’s no lack of fresh air. It truly felt as if we were breaking the seal. Starting June 15 Huntington Park will roll at full capacity, but when I visited on a recent Friday night, masks were still required, seats were distanced in pods and the ushers were working overtime to provide an extremely safe environment. More: Weekend Wanderlust: Discovering Ohio through our baseball history Even if you don’t enjoy baseball, or even sporting events in general, catching a game at Huntington Park is an excellent and affordable way to reacclimate with humanity. 1, 2008, the last game at Cooper Stadiumģ0,000: The average number of hot dogs consumed dur ing a typical Dime-A-Dog Nightġ987: The year the Clippers attempted to raise prices with "Two-Bit Dog Night.Huntington Park, home of the Columbus Clippers since 2009, has routinely been named one of the best minor league venues in the nation. The Clippers created the maximum-first 10, then reduced to five-to stop voracious eaters from ordering 20 to 30 hot dogs at a time.Ģ.6 million: Hot dogs eaten during Clippers' Dime-a-Dog Nights since 1977Ĥ: How many times those hot dogs, if laid end to end, would wrap around the 55-mile I-270 outerbeltĤ0,118: The most eaten in one game, a record set on Sept. "I guess gas is the proper word there." A look at the gluttonous Columbus tradition, by the numbers.ĥ: The limit per customer. "I keep wondering when it's going to run out of gas," says Ken Schnacke, the Clippers' general manager and president. On eight Mondays this year, a ravenous horde will descend on Huntington Park, eating boatloads of ultra-cheap frankfurters, as they have for nearly four decades in Columbus. Dog Daysĭime-a-Dog Night is the Clippers' signature event. Gillens' favorite guest appearance, however, occurred during a Star Wars Night two years ago, when the hot dogs beat up Jar Jar Binks during a race. Slaughter and Jerry "The King" Lawler were visiting Huntington Park, they both made hot-dog race cameos. Guests of Honor: What's better than three hot dogs in a race? Three hot dogs-plus a celebrity guest. "We like it when relish wins because we like the boos." ![]() A victory for relish is also a good thing. Other winners include the "tarp jump" (a drop kick off the rolled-up infield tarp) or the "double clothesline" (a late-surging hot dog knocking down two rivals with its outstretched arms). A go-to gag is the "naked hot dog," in which two of the racers strip the third hot dog of its bun, leaving it exposed and embarrassed. "When they're calling the race upstairs, we try to make it so close that they don't know who actually won."Ĭomedy Gold: After 200 races, Gillens has developed a reliable comedic repertoire. "Close races are always awesome," Gillens says. "There's a competition within the promo team to see how many hot dog races you win throughout the year." The goal is to have a close finish. Once the stunts are over, the race is on, and it's anyone's guess who will win. Keep it Real: Racers script their goofy antics ahead of time, but only on rare instances do they preordain a winner-making sure the Jedi hot dog reigns supreme on Star Wars Night, for instance. You want to have just the right amount where it's not over the top, but it's still enough where they're like, 'Oh, that was funny.'" Gillens aims for no more than two stunts per race. "It's kind of a weird dynamic, because the fans love the violence, but you don't want to have too much violence. "Fans see a hot dog, so you want to play things up." But too much horseplay can ruin a race-even if you're dressed as a giant tube steak. "You're not a person when you're out there," Gillens says. The Right Mix: Wacky shenanigans are the life blood of a good hot-dog race. Gillens shared with us some of the tricks of the trade he's learned over the course of some 200 races. For the past four years, Gillens has been one of the Clippers employees who race around Huntington Park in oversized hot-dog costumes-the highlight of Clippers games for plenty of youngsters (and quite a few adults, as well). The 26-year-old Columbus Clippers promo team member is better known by his three aliases: Mickey Mustard, Kelly Ketchup and Ricky Relish. ![]() Corin Gillens is one of Huntington Park's biggest stars-even though he doesn't play baseball and his fans don't recognize him or even know his name. ![]()
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