A History of the Famous Racing Sausages

[Michael Trzinski]

Image courtesy of Marathon Dude

In the early 1990s, fans at Milwaukee County Stadium were treated to ‘The Incredible Edible Sausage Race,’ an animated running contest between three varieties of meats: Bratwurst, Polish Sausage, and Italian Sausage. The pixelated version of the race was initially shown on the ‘state of the art’ scoreboard in County Stadium. Then one day in 1992, graphic designer Michael Dillon approached the Brewers with the idea of making it a real race with people wearing sausage ‘costumes.’

On June 27, 1993, the race began as usual, with cartoon characters running on the scoreboard against backdrops of Milwaukee landmarks, such as the Mitchell Park Domes, on the screen. Suddenly, the scoreboard went blank and a gate in left field opened, and the three ‘Racing Sausages’ appeared, much to the delight of the fans. They stumbled around in the outfield for a few seconds, then headed to the third-base foul line and ‘raced’ toward home plate. The Bratwurst—worn by Dillon—won the inaugural race while Toronto pitcher Jack Morris was warming up with catcher Pat Borders in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Initially, the race was run only on select Sundays and special occasions, as to “not wear out the welcome,” then-Brewers vice president Laurel Prieb said. Soon enough, the race was run during every game. Klement’s Sausage Company began sponsoring the Sausages in 1995.

In 1996, Hot Dog was added to the ‘link league,’ but ran only on Sundays. That season, Italian Sausage won 30 times, while Polish Sausage was second with 27 and Bratwurst pulled off 24 victories.

On Opening Day, April 7, 1997, the 42,893 fans were all given True Value Hardware commemorative baseballs upon entry. You can probably guess what happened when projectiles and alcohol were liberally mixed. Over 250 baseballs were hurled onto the field, including one that narrowly missed Texas Ranger left fielder Rusty Greer. The game was delayed for 14 minutes, and the sausage race was canceled for fear that the Sausages would be pelted by baseballs. “It shows that excessive alcohol and fans are not a good mix,” Brewers pitcher Cal Eldred said. “This should make a good commercial for Miller.”

The following season, Hot Dog was added to his three fellow Sausages. In August, the four contestants were seen running pre-game wind sprints with St. Louis pitcher Donovan Osborne. They must have been training for their next race. In 1999, Pittsburgh infielder Pat Meares—who was on the disabled list—raced as the Bratwurst and won easily. That would not be the last time a Pirates player would interact with the Sausages.

In July 2000, Detroit Tigers pitcher Hideo Nomo raced as the Italian Sausage, waved at his teammates in the Tigers' dugout, and cruised to victory in the race. Nomo, who had pitched for the Brewers the previous season, said, “This is unique, only done here.” In the last Sausage Race held at County Stadium in September 2000, Bratwurst (worn by Laurel Prieb) edged Italian Sausage for the victory.

Miller Park opened in March 2001, and during an exhibition game with the Chicago White Sox, Hot Dog grabbed the first win, albeit unofficially, as it was not a regular season game. That honor went to Bratwurst on April 6 in the first regular-season game at Miller Park against Cincinnati.

The Major League All-Star Game came to Miller Park in 2002, and the Sausages raced during a break in the Home Run Derby. ESPN personality Dan Patrick wore one of the costumes.

In 2003, Pittsburgh Pirate first baseman Randall Simon became ‘Public Enemy Number One’ at Miller Park after he took a ‘playful’ swing at the Italian Sausage and knocked it to the ground, also causing the Hot Dog to fall. Neither Sausage suffered serious injuries, but after the game, Simon, while still in full uniform, was handcuffed, taken to a police station, and charged with disorderly conduct. He was later fined $432. MLB also suspended him for three games. Simon apologized to the women and sent an autographed bat to Mandy Block, who was identified as the Italian Sausage. The Curacao Tourism Board offered all expenses-paid trips to both Block and Veronica Chandler, who were running as Hot Dog. (Simon was a Curacao native.)

It was a big year for the Sausages in 2006. First, ESPN filmed two commercials featuring the foursome that ran that summer. In late July, Chorizo was introduced as the fifth Sausage. Also known as ‘Cinco,’ Chorizo was only allowed to run once that year per MLB rules regarding introducing ‘new’ mascots. Chorizo would become a full-time member in 2007.

The Italian Sausage costume was stolen in February 2013 but was left at a Cedarburg bar and was recovered without incident. On the 20^th anniversary of the race, the original three Sausages ran the race while Chorizo and Hot Dog held the tape and the finish line.

Other than Meares and Nomo, Geoff Jenkins and Mark Grace ran as Sausages. So did former Green Bay Packer Javon Walker, who won the race in 2004. Casey McGehee’s son Mack ran as a ‘Little Weenie,’ a kid-sized version of the Sausages that were introduced around 2010.

In 2021, the sausage race became known as the Johnsonville Sausage Race, after the new sausage supplier at American Family Field.

Three years later, former Milwaukee resident Todd Elliott submitted a product concept to the LEGO Ideas website that would turn the Sausages into a buildable set. The idea needs to receive 10,000 votes to be reviewed by the LEGO Design team. Currently, Elliott has just over 5,300 supporters. Go here to vote in support of the idea.

The Sausages have been a key part of the Brewers for over 30 years, as much as tailgating and Bernie Brewer. A LEGO set would only further solidify their status as 'mascot' legends.

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[Samurai Bucky]

I was at the game the Jomboy took a header.  We had no idea what was going on, nor did we know who was racing.