With the baseball playoffs down to crunch time, I thought I’d take a look at the humble hot dog and why and how it became a staple at every Major League ballpark. The relationship between baseball and hot dogs is one of America’s great love affairs. For many fans, a trip to the stadium isn’t complete without that first bite of a grilled or steamed frank tucked into a soft, often slightly soggy bun, slathered in mustard, relish, or chili. It’s a culinary tradition so deeply ingrained that Major League Baseball fans consume an estimated 20 million hot dogs annually. But how did this humble German sausage become the undisputed, go-to food of America’s pastime?
The story of the ballpark hot dog is a classic tale of immigrant ingenuity, simple convenience, and a bit of disputed entrepreneurial history, all starting in the late 1800s.
Before they were “hot dogs,” they were simply “frankfurters” or “dachshund sausages.” These cured, seasoned sausages were brought to the U.S. by the massive wave of German immigrants in the 19th century and quickly became popular street food. They were cheap, satisfying, and easy to cook, and they could be sold from pushcarts in bustling urban centers like New York and Chicago.
The critical turning point came when these convenient street snacks were introduced to the burgeoning sports crowds.
The earliest, and often credited, pioneer was Chris Von der Ahe, a German immigrant and the owner of the St. Louis Browns (now the Cardinals). By the 1890s, Von der Ahe, who also owned a popular saloon, started selling his franks to fans at his stadium. He understood that baseball games created a captive audience looking for something quick and affordable to eat while watching the action.
While Von der Ahe may have started the trend in the Midwest, the snack was cemented as an iconic East Coast ballpark staple thanks to another visionary: Harry M. Stevens. A British immigrant, Stevens began his career selling baseball scorecards before transitioning into stadium concessions, where he realized the need for a wider variety of food.
The famous legend involves a cold day in New York City at the Polo Grounds (home of the Giants) around 1901. It was too chilly to sell the usual ice cream, so Stevens had his vendors swap their cold desserts for warm “dachshund sausages.” The vendors supposedly began shouting, “Get your red hot dachshund sausages!”
This is where the name supposedly stuck. A newspaper cartoonist named Thomas Aloysius “Tad” Dorgan was present that day. He observed the scene and drew a cartoon of the vendors selling the sausage, but legend says he couldn’t remember or couldn’t spell the long German word “dachshund.” Instead, he simply captioned his illustration with the now-immortalized phrase: “Get your hot dogs!”
Though the exact origin of the term “hot dog” is still debated – some claim it was used as early as the 1890s to refer to the long, thin sausage – it was Stevens’ concession success and Dorgan’s cartoon that firmly linked the frankfurter, the bun, and the name “hot dog” to the American sporting experience.
Ultimately, the hot dog’s enduring popularity is no accident of history; it is the perfectly engineered stadium snack. It’s a complete meal (I didn’t say a particularly healthy one) of protein, bread, and condiments, perfectly packaged for consumption while seated, requiring zero utensils.
Vendors can quickly prepare and sell hundreds of them, which can be easily hawked through the stands, minimizing the time a fan has to spend away from the game. Unlike the latest trendy craft beer or burger, the hot dog is a timeless baseball classic. It links generations of fans, evoking a deep sense of tradition, summer, and the simple joy of a day at the ballpark.
From St. Louis to Fenway Park and beyond, the hot dog became a standardized, dependable part of the baseball experience, providing warmth and fuel on a chilly night or a salty, comforting bite on a hot afternoon. So, the next time you hear the vendor yell, “Hot dogs! Get your hot dogs here!” remember you’re not just buying a sausage in a bun – you’re participating in a delicious, long-time American tradition.
John Berkovich Talks 