Dollar Dog Night in a Pitch Clock World
Our great national pastime is under attack.
No, not baseball. The greatest sideshow in all of baseball is in peril and it was shown on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Dollar Dog Night proved to be a whole new adventure in the era of the pitch clock.
There was a time in this city when Dollar Dog Night fell on an Aaron Nola start, you could wait in these lines and there would be no concern. Last night, the lines went on forever and the choice became missing multiple innings or chowing down on a few hot dogs.
In my personal experience, I circled the ballpark prior to the beginning of the game in hopes of finding one line that wouldn’t cost me a few innings of play. Alas, there was not one to be found without a massive line.
Making it into the line at the top of the first inning, I got to my seats just as the bottom of the second inning was wrapping up.
Having purchased the maximum of four hot dogs, I breezed through them in preparation of another round of hot dogs. In my mind, I was thinking about getting two or three more. It would keep me in line with my prediction made to Andrew Salciunas yesterday.
Before I emerged from my seat to try to secure more hot dogs, I noticed something alarming. It had been three innings since we had seen the people next to us in our seats. Immediately, I realized that the lines were not just a problem at the beginning of the game, but had carried through the duration of the game.
I hopped onto Twitter and saw my timeline in an absolute uproar.
The lines for the first Dollar Dog Night of the season are insaaaane 🤯 pic.twitter.com/aBb9nuOEXH
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) April 11, 2023
This is the wait time you’re looking at for dollar dog night here at CBP tonight, in case anyone was curious pic.twitter.com/X5fFRBn3kW
— Connor Thomas (@ConnorThomas975) April 11, 2023
Dollar dog line is outrageous. Wildly underprepared https://t.co/O97V45ziBL
— Brian Mermelstein (@mermel213) April 11, 2023
Now, if you look at the replies in the NBC Sports Philadelphia video, there is blame to be thrown around every which way.
Being the rational person that I am, I am not here to point fingers, I am simply here to help build upon the long legacy of tremendous Dollar Dog evenings that I’ve enjoyed.
First up, we need more boots on the ground. Give me a greater number of the walking hot dog vendors. Nobody needs a cotton candy man on Dollar Dog night. This is a night for the carnivores, let’s have the vendors walking around equipped with hot dogs.
And hey, if Hatfield wants to get involved, I will go down there and be a walking hot dog vendor myself.
We also need to figure out the Dollar Dog madness in a post-pennant winning ballclub world. There were 43,000+ people at the park last night, this isn’t your older sibling’s baseball team. It’s not just for the baseball lovers who are here to watch David Buchanan throw five innings and Michael Saunders roam the outfield.
This is now a destination night out for people looking to be a part of something. We’ve got to deliver the dogs to the masses with the thought of a sellout every time.
Moving 30,000 people through an untimed baseball game’s line is way different than moving 43,000 people through a timed baseball game’s line. Much like Aaron Nola needs to adjust to the clock, the Phillies need to maximize the hot dog concessions setup and allow for the main attraction to shine through despite the game changing.
…
Finally, this is an urging from one young man to my fellow young people. Don’t ruin this for everyone else. I sound like my parents writing this and I hate myself for that.
The Hot Dog Wars that occurred down the right field line on Tuesday night were most certainly not dangerous and just a juvenile thing. However, if they are to take away our precious Dollar Dog Night or reform it so that it’s not one big hot dog eating contest, that would be a travesty to our great pastime.
So there you have it.
I will await Hatfield’s invitation to go serve their wonderful hot dogs at the ballpark next time around and look forward to us finding a way to curb the pitch clock’s disastrous impact on one of our great traditions.
