Bearing hot dogs, an icon emerges

Baseball is replete with icons. From players like the Great Bambino and Roberto Clemente to Monument Park in Yankee Stadium to kids playing catch in the cornfields of Iowa, stars and images saturate the game of baseball.

Teams, as a result, have tried to cultivate certain icons at the ballpark, not only to create a certain mystique at the stadium, but also to give their fans images they can call their own. Fenway Park has the Green Monster; the Phillie Phanatic entertains fans at all Philadelphia home games; ivy grows at Wrigley Field; and the sausage race is a mandatory event at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

In Reading, Pa., home of the Reading Phillies, Double-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the club has developed their own icon of sorts: the "Crazy Hot Dog Vendor." Fans attending games at First Energy Stadium have come to expect to see the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor. Without him, it doesn't quite feel like a Reading Phillies home game.

In fact, the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor has become so iconic and part of Reading baseball that in a recent Phillies Fans' Choice Bobblehead Election, participants selected the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor to be the free bobblehead handed out at the Aug 21 game against Altoona.

"People love the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor," said Matt Jackson, aka the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor. "It's so different."

The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor is pretty much what it sounds like. He dresses up in khaki shorts, a red-striped vest, and a white button-down shirt. The vendor also wears a red bow tie, a nerdy wig, big glasses and a hot-dog-vendor paper hat.

"It's your stereotypical hot dog vendor outfit," said Jackson.

Put that together with some hot dogs to distribute to the crowd and an ostrich for a ride, and you have the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor.

"The crowd really likes it," said Jackson. "They go crazy."

"The true testament is that the scouts, who go to games every day, laugh ... when they see it," added Phillies general manager Scott Hunsicker.

At every Phillies home game, in the middle of the second inning, the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor comes out on his ostrich to his own music and intro video to throw out free hot dogs to the crowd. He will yell and scream, sometimes lose control of his ostrich and even chase players into the dugout.

Each performance, though, is a little different and unique, generating fresh laughs and smiles. The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor has appeared without riding his ostrich, instead carrying the animal over his back. Another time, the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor did his routine with his suit on backwards. On some nights, visiting teams even participate in the fun, throwing buckets of water on the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor.

"I try to extend all my physical energy the 90 seconds that I'm out there and put on the best show that I can," said Jackson. "It's a neat challenge to keep people guessing and seeing what's going to happen next. I try to keep it fresh and come up with new things even though it's the same hot dog man riding an ostrich every night."

Perhaps the best part of the 90-second performance is the hot dogs themselves. The dogs will often come out of the wrapper, with the wiener going one way and the bun the other. Some fans get the pleasure of being smacked in the face by a wrapper.

"It gives the crowd something to yell about," chuckled Jackson.

"Plus, people love free food," added Hunsicker.

The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor was born three years ago when Berks Packing Company -- which supplies the hot dogs at First Energy Stadium -- wanted to do an in-between inning promotion. They came up with a crazy hot dog guy throwing free wieners into the stands. Jackson, who is also in charge of in-game entertainment at First Energy Stadium, welcomed the idea.

"When we come up with ideas, we just throw them out there and see what people like," said Jackson. "The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor sounded pretty different, so I said, 'Sure, I'll try it.'"

The fans ate it up.

"I didn't really have anything to base it off of except the costume," recalled Jackson. "It's kind of evolved from there."

Now, three years after its inception, the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor is as much part of Phillies baseball as the players. He's on television commercials, billboards and T-shirts. There is even a plush toy depicting the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor in miniature.

"It's really taken off," said Jackson. "In such a short time [out on the field], you see so many different reactions on people's faces, whether it's 'what the heck am I looking at?' or 'this is just the craziest thing ever' or 'why did the last three hot dogs just come out of the wrapper?' It's pretty neat that people are so into it."

Fans in Reading go nuts every time the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor comes out. He's as much part of a R-Phils home game as the seventh-inning stretch. Fans expect to see him in the second inning, out on his ostrich, throwing hot dogs into the crowd. They can't wait for the goofy act, so they can enjoy themselves and have a few laughs. The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor, more than anything, is an icon that Reading can call their own.

"The fans love the Crazy Hot Dog Vendor," said Hunsicker. "He's really become the face of the franchise."