What makes our 'dogs' the best?

(Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium -Vancouver, BC) - When fans come out to historic Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, it is only customary to grab a satisfyingly good, ol' fashioned hot dog while watching the Vancouver Canadians play.

But the C's concession at Nat Bailey Stadium doesn't sell just any ordinary hot dog as they are proud to feature the same hot dog sold in Yankee Stadium, Nathan's Famous. While you devour each savory bite of a Nathan's Famous, you should know how they grew to become such a popular staple amongst most ballparks across North America.

Nathan's Famous was established in 1916 and originally began as a nickel hot dog stand in Coney Island. The company name is in part of founder and Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker who started the business with his wife Ida.

At that time, Mr. Handwerker worked for Feltman's hot dog stand which sold hot dogs for just ten cents. With some fierce drive and sassy motivation, Mr. Handwerker finally decided enough was enough and started his own stand and undercut Feltman's by selling his hot dogs (based on a recipe Ida created) for five cents.

As hot dogs were not popular at that time, Mr. Handwerker put together a very creative and super successful marketing strategy; he made sure that doctors wearing their scrubs were seen eating his hot dogs to reassure potential customers that this was a high class treat for everyone.

Today, Nathan's Famous is recognized as being one of the highest quality hot dogs on the planet.

The Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest:

On a sunny fourth of July afternoon back in 1916, four immigrants poked at each other about who was the most patriotic and decided to settle their argument by having a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous.

If only they knew what they were about to start.

Since that fateful and laboring afternoon, the International Federation of Competitive Eating (I.F.O.C.E) began to help regulate what has become the "Nathan's International July Fourth Hot Dog Eating Contest" which is held at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original restaurant located on the corner of Surf and Stilwell Avenues in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York.

Contestants come from near and afar to try to eat as many hot dogs as possible in a ten minute time period. Last year, Joey "Jaws" Chestnut won the contest with a bold new record of 68 hot dogs and buns with Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi coming in second with 64.5.

This year will mark the 94th annual contest with three-time defending Joey Chestnut and six time champion Takeru Kobayashi going in as the favorite contenders.

So the next time you sit amongst the stands here at historic Scotiabank Field at Nat Bailey Stadium, be mindful of the rich history behind Nathan's Famous and maybe put yourself to the challenge to how many you can eat in one inning while watching your Vancouver Canadians in action.