The Red Sox Fenway Frank won Hot Dog Madness

Last week Major League Baseball and Nathan’s Famous announced a partnership making Nathan’s the official hot dog of MLB. It didn’t affect the Fenway Frank’s place in Sox lore or the ballpark menu - it just let baseball pick an overall hot dog. But we didn’t know what that might mean for the beloved Fenway Frank. Was it on the ropes behind the scenes? Would Red Sox Nation need to up consumption to prevent Nathan’s from taking over?

According to the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council: no.

Hod Dog Madness, the Council’s Facebook contest that let fans vote on the hot dog offerings of all thirty clubs, winnowed the pool to a final four including the Red Sox, Washington Nationals (runners up), Los Angeles Dodgers, and Seattle Mariners.

According to Council President Eric Mittenthal, “It’s no secret that Boston fans are passionate about their teams and we learned that passion extends to the concession stand as well,” Mittenthal said. “Even with all of the new hot dog and sausages available, the Red Sox’s win is proof that there’s still plenty of love for the classics.”

Among other trivia, the Council estimates that 19 million hot dogs and over four million sausages will be consumed at ballparks this season. From the article: “The combined hot dog and sausage total could stretch from San Francisco’s AT&T Park to the new SunTrust Park in Atlanta, Georgia.; The hot dog total alone would reach as high as 5,301 One World Trade Centers, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.” That’s a lot of hot dogs.

Lobster poutine may be the new kid on the block at Fenway Park but fans are still ready to eat the old favorites! More exotic dogs that lost out include the Diamondbacks’ Churro Dog 2.0, the Texas Rangers M.V.T. Dog (Most Valuable Tamale, contains a 24-inch Boomstick hot dog), and the Minnesota Twins’ quarter-pound The Big Dog.

One win down, 161 games to go, and the best hot dog in baseball. Not a bad start to 2017!