The Racing Sausages turned 30 this year and will celebrate at Friday's Brewers game
Before Friday's game between the two frontrunners in the National League Central, the Milwaukee Brewers will commemorate 30 years of the live-action Famous Racing Sausages, who debuted June 27, 1993, and gave rise to live-action mascot races in Major League Baseball.
A pregame ceremony will feature a ceremonial first pitch from Michael Dillon, who's credited with the idea of adding a real-life component to the dot-matrix digital sausage race on the Milwaukee County Stadium scoreboard.
The sausage race itself will feature the original three sausages used on that day — the Bratwurst, Italian and Polish — with the Hot Dog and Chorizo (newcomers added in the three decades since) holding the finish line.
The sausages will also be available near the home plate gate for photos, and the winning sausage will visit the playground area in the seventh inning for photos. All ticketed fans attending the game will receive a buy-one-get-one coupon from Johnsonville for a package of smoked or cooked sausages.
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Dillon, who was working as a graphic designer with McDill Design at the time, presented the idea to Brewers vice president of operations Gabe Paul to transform the race into a live-action one. When the left field doors swung open that day in June, it came as a surprise to fans in the stands when three foam mascots burst through as a grace note to the scoreboard ritual.
Dillon was one of the three costumed runners that day, along with Paul's son, Jeff. The foam sausages made only occasional appearances the rest of the season but became more permanent starting May 29, 1994, the day the Brewers retired Robin Yount's No. 19 jersey. The Hot Dog was added for the 1998 season, and the Chorizo joined the fray in 2007.
The promotion was sponsored by Klement's until 2018, when Johnsonville assumed the reins.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The Racing Sausages will celebrate turning 30 at Friday's Brewers game
