Here's all you need to know about Columbus Clippers' Dime-A-Dog Nights for the 2024 season
After a washout Tuesday, the Columbus Clippers' wildly popular Dime-A-Dog Nights make their 2024 season debut this afternoon at Huntington Park. And there are changes coming to the team's 47-year-old tradition.
Don't worry: They're still a dime.
But in an effort to get 10-cent hot dogs into fans' hands more quickly, the company that runs concessions for the Clippers at Huntington Park is to streamline its menu for the home-game promotions.
You'll still be able to get peanuts and Cracker Jack − and popcorn and pretzels and other quick-service snacks − but concession stands serving up the main attraction won't be preparing much else on Dime-A-Dog Nights, which normally are scheduled for every Tuesday home game.
Team spokesman Chris Sprague said the move is being made to reduce concession-stand wait times.
More: What success looks like for Columbus Clippers in 2024: 'Everybody's got the same goals'
If you're not a hot-dog lover, don't worry. Stands such as Donatos, Club Level concessions areas and food carts, which don't serve 10-cent dogs, are to have all their items available.
The Clippers have 12 Dime-A-Dog Nights scheduled this season, and the first is set for today's games vs. the Omaha Storm Chasers. (The first game starts at 4:15 p.m., followed by a makeup of Tuesday's home-opener.) For the uninitiated, Dime-A-Dog Night is just what it says: Hot dogs cost 10 cents for the duration of the game.
It's a tradition that dates back to the Clippers' first season in 1977, a gimmick originally created to draw fans on a formerly slow weeknight.
It's become a hot ticket over the years. A 56-item Columbus bucket list created by The Dispatch last year included No. 39: "Eat as many hot dogs as possible at the Columbus Clippers’ Dime-A-Dog Night."
"Most weeks here, the Tuesday night game is the most popular of the week specifically because of the hot dogs," Sprague said.
Despite that, he said the team gets no priority from the schedulers when it comes to Tuesday-night home games. Dime-A-Dog Nights used to be on Mondays, actually, until Major League Baseball took control of scheduling in 2021 and made Mondays a leaguewide day off.
Another local tradition: How I learned to love Columbus-style pizza
Dime-A-Dog survived the date change, but Clippers' officials worried about the potential impact of another change they once considered. Ken Schnacke, Clippers' president and general manager, long ago, thought about raising the price to 25 cents per dog, but he tells people he worried fans would revolt.
On non-Dime-A-Dog Nights, hot dogs cost $4.50 at Huntington Park concession stands this season. Ten-cent dogs would go for 51 cents apiece today if the Clippers adjusted the price for inflation since the promotion's debut on May 23, 1977, a month after professional baseball returned to Columbus.
"I’ve heard him say that after that, he decided that the promotion will always be Dime-A-Dog as long as he’s here," Sprague said.
Schnacke and the Clippers are now in their 48th year.
2024 Dime-A-Dog Nights
Here are the dates for every Dime-A-Dog Night this season. They're part of Tansky Tuesdays at Huntington Park.
April 4: vs. Omaha Storm Chasers, 6:15 p.m.
April 16: vs. Buffalo Bisons, 6:15 p.m.
April 30: vs. Toledo Mud Hens, 6:15 p.m.
May 14: vs. Louisville Bats, 7:05 p.m.
May 28: vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs, 7:05 p.m.
June 11: vs. Iowa Cubs, 7:05 p.m.
June 25: vs. Omaha Storm Chasers, 7:05 p.m.
July 23: vs. Memphis Redbirds, 5:05 p.m.
July 30: vs. Syracuse Mets, 7:05 p.m.
Aug. 20: vs. Indianapolis Indians, 6:15 p.m.
Sept. 3: vs. Durham Bulls, 6:15 p.m.
Sept. 10: vs. St. Paul Saints, 6:15 p.m.
Instagram: @dispatchdining
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Clippers Dime-A-Dog Nights return for 2024 baseball season
