Baseball and Hot Dogs, America's Two Greatest Pastimes

(Pokes Report contributor, Kyle Alan, produced this article)

What pairs the best with America’s pastime? The only correct answer is hot dogs. On Saturday night at O’Brate Stadium, Oklahoma State baseball hosted its inaugural “Glizzy Games”, featuring a plethora of hot dog-inspired events to accompany the on-field action against UCF. When I saw the lineup of events, I knew that 31 years of life had trained me specifically for one event: Last Dog Standing. 

The rules were simple: A contestant eats one hot dog every half inning until they can physically endure no more and are forced to bow the knee to the true glizzy champion. I was destined to be that champion, and no other wannabe concession crusader was going to stand in my way.

Kyle Alan - Pokes Report

Alan downed 12 hot dogs to earn the title of King Glizzy.

When the competition began there were five of us standing behind the visitor’s bullpen in right field. We exchanged pleasantries, received encouragement from the student section as they gradually realized the competition of Herculean proportion taking place next to them.

The first couple hot dogs went smoothly. We all continued to feel confident and were able to banter back and forth with each other. A youth travel ball team by this time had also appeared behind me and one of them told me that he had “bet his lunch money” on me to win the contest. Certainly, I knew that I would not be able to bare the weight of guilt if I caused this 12-year-old kid whom I had not previously met to lose his lunch money. So, I persisted.

Around the stadium other events happened between innings. A 90-second mini hot dog eating competition, a hot dog race across the outfield which saw the winner literally dive across the finish line before he got passed, a hot dog toss from the bar in right field and 500 free hot dogs given out at the gates as people entered the stadium. Even players on both sides got in on the fun, yelling words of encouragement as they entered and exited the field every inning. 

The first eliminations came in the 3rd inning, as simultaneous “reversals of fortune” as it is so called in the world of competitive eating disqualified two contestants, to the delight of the still growing crowd behind us who had seemingly started to pick favorites.

I came into the competition saying that my magic number was 10. I knew I could reasonably put away 10 hot dogs and feel confident in my chances. So, I got worried when, by the time the tenth glizzy came, there had only been one more elimination. The 3rd man bowed out respectably before he added his name to the list of victims of an average digestive system. I was still vocally confident and by this point had won over the crowd, as well as my new travel ball friends. 

Hot dog number 12 in the bottom of the 6th inning is when I was finally able to outlast my final foe, who got halfway through his staple of American cuisine and could not continue. By this time, I must admit, I don’t know how much longer I could have persisted, but I knew I had to complete the mission I was sent to complete. 

Being a champion feels great, but speaking as a fan of OSU athletics, and as someone who wants to see every program at the university do well, “Glizzy Games” were an incredible success and I was happy to be part of it. The crowd showed up, the team got a much-needed win, and O’Brate felt like it always has, a truly fun place to spend an evening watching baseball and enjoying life, even if that requires several antacids at the end of the night.