Stark: My ride on the hot-dog launcher with the Phillie Phanatic
From SABR member Jayson Stark at The Athletic on August 21, 2019:
Hot dogs were made to be eaten, mostly during 4th of July barbecues and Dollar Dog Nights. Hot dogs were not made to be fired through the sky out of a giant, weiner-shaped cannon – into distant upper decks, off unsuspecting billboards and into the laps of innocent baseball fans who were just trying to avoid sunstroke.
But whatever! What would humankind have ever accomplished in this world if we’d just listened to the doomsayers who told us that our species wasn’t meant to fly…or to type on smartphones with our thumbs … or to propel hot dogs around a baseball field near you?
So when I was invited to ride along with the legendary Phillie Phanatic on his fabled Hot Dog Launcher on Sunday and shoot frankfurters around Citizens Bank Park, of course I said yes. I was honored. I was humbled. And, in a related development, I was slightly terrified.
Read the full article here (subscription required): https://theathletic.com/1150904/2019/08/21/stark-my-ride-on-the-hot-dog-launcher-with-the-phillie-phanatic/
Originally published: August 21, 2019. Last Updated: August 21, 2019.