Does every team need a Racing Sausage rip-off?
Posted by: Richie Rich in Mascots, YouTube
First, the Milwaukee Brewers had the Racing Sausages. A fabulously original idea to take the racing dots off the scoreboard and turn them into anthropomorphic characters who race around a Baseball Stadium.
And perfect for the Brat and Beer town that is Milwaukee.
Successful original ideas breed imitation. So the Pittsburgh Pirates paid homage to the Racing Sausages from Milwaukee … and unveiled the Racing Pierogies.
At least it was done with a foodstuff appropriate for Pittsburgh’s Slavic heritage. And they race the Sausages twice a year.
Last season the Washington Nationals rose four Presidents from the Dead and raced them. Imitation can be sincere form of flattery and the Racing Presidents reflect the history of D.C.
It’s also pretty funny that Teddy Roosevelt has never won the race.
And now, we have the Toronto Blue Jays. They’ve have joined the racing mascot derby with Racing Chili Peppers who run down the right field line while accompanied by Mexican Hat Dance music.
They usually pummel each other pretty well too - which is a plus.
Okay wait just a minute, eh?
Toronto is a very multicultural city and all - but it’s really lacking a Mexican vibe (only 2.2% of Toronto is Latin American) isn’t it? Toronto jumped from flattering imitation to copycat rip-off with this one. Hockey Pucks or Geese I could see, but Chili Peppers? Sheesh … everyone knows the Chili Peppers are from Los Angeles, anyway.
And now, the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians have entered the fray, each with a Hot Dog Race.
Okay, now you’re REALLY just ripping Milwaukee off - and both KC and Cleveland have the audacity to include Ketchup on one of their Hot Dogs.
So at least one-fifth of MLB now has a mascot race, which means that every other team will start doing it too. So let’s think about how some other baseball teams should rip off the Racing Sausages …
- Baltimore Orioles - Racing Crab Cakes
- Chicago White Sox - Racing Ligues
- Los Angeles Dodgers - Racing Alyssa Milanos
- New York Yankees - Racing Taxi Cabs
- Toronto Blue Jays - Racing Hockey Pucks
- Boston Red Sox - Racing Celebrity Fans (Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Denis Leary)
- Chicago Cubs - Racing Curses (Goat, Black Cat, Bartman and Ronnie Woo-Woo)
- San Francisco Giants - Racing Steroid Needles
- Texas Rangers - None - Can’t afford one as they’re still paying A-Rod
- Philadelphia Phillies - Racing Cheesesteaks
- Cincinnati Reds - Racing Bengals Felons
- Cleveland Indians - Racing Cleveland Sports Heartbreaks (John Elway or Michael Jordan always appears at the last second to win)
Put your suggestions in the comments.
Entries (RSS)
June 27th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
As your resident Sox fool, I’m going to go with Racing Boston Cream Doughnuts for the Red Sox. Baked beans and clam chowder are other options, but I can see that getting messy…
June 28th, 2007 at 8:23 am
How about Florida…you could have Raft-Racing Cubans
and San Diego can have a Border ‘High’ Jump contest
(sorry to get racial on ya)
June 28th, 2007 at 8:43 am
Nothing, and I mean nothing, will make me laugh more today than Jared’s ideas for Florida and San Diego. Nicely done.
Might I suggest, for my beloved Yankees (who, by the way are really pissing me off), racing dollar bills (different denominations, of course)
June 28th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Atlanta Braves - Racing General Shermans
And I don’t care who does it, someone has to step up and race Four Fat Guys.
No costume, just four really fat guys.
Its too bad the Brewers already have the sausages, because they’d be the perfect team for it.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
From an A’s-Giants interleague game a couple years ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hgs5P7z_lBw
Rehab the Crab!
June 28th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
The pepper race in Toronto is just a marketing ploy for the over-priced burritos they are now selling. And please leave the hockey pucks well away from our baseball team. It’s bad enough having to sit through hockey discussions on our sports channels in the summer when waiting for Jays highlights and the losers who chant go leafs go at the dome.
I would heartily endorse a Timbit race in Toronto.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
San Diego does indeed have one: Racing Sailboats around San Diego Bay, shown on the score board. It’s awful.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Racing cheesesteaks? Pshaw! The Phillies need nothing of the sort; The Phanatic is the greatest mascot in the history of mascottery and will not stand for such nonsense!
June 28th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Detroit should have either
Racing Bullets
or
Racing Hubcaps
or
Racing White Rappers.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Minnesota Twins:
Racing Walleyes swim up the warning track, the winner get to spawn with the Fishing Derby Queen
June 28th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
It’s bad enough having to sit through hockey discussions on our sports channels in the summer when waiting for Jays highlights and the losers who chant go leafs go at the dome.
——–
See!!!!!!!! I’m not the only person (just the only American) who follows hockey. People cheer for the Leafs up in Toronto (even though they blow)
Seeing as how the Yanks suck right now, maybe I should devote my time to the Sabres….
Onto the post at hand:
Maybe St. Louis should have the racing LaRussa’s…..I’m sure they can find four drunks in the stands, and put ‘em behind the wheel of a golf cart or something…….
June 28th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Yanks already do a race on the scoreboard, between the three subway lines that run to Yankee Stadium. My biggest problem with the race is that in the race graphics they show the trains going underneath Times Square when in actuality none of them do.
The Brooklyn Cyclones (NYM/single-A) do racing hot dogs too, because the ballpark is next door to the original Nathan’s.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:04 am
Rangers do rip off the sausages…it’s just in the form of a dot race.
They show the first 2 laps of the dot race on the video board, and then the dots run out of the left field corner to a finish line near home plate.
It’s pretty lame.
June 29th, 2007 at 11:09 am
The only problem with the racing LaRussa’s is passing out behind the wheel before the finish line.
August 9th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
yo, wat you came up for for the reds and giants are pretty funny… also toronto racing chili peppers is just dumb… they’re canadians and should be racing at least something that has to do with canada like race leaves or sompthin…
also glad you like the video i had for the nationals prezident race =P
August 9th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
the reds and giants ideas are hilarious… the giants idea should be combined with bonds, giambi, ect in the shape of the needles
also glad you liked my nationals president race =)