ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Dollar Dogs may be a thing of the past in the City of Brotherly Love, but the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have relished the opportunity to continue offering up a great deal on frankfurters at their first Friday games.
And last night, the hockey team proved it takes its dogs seriously, crushing a record not even celebrated competitive eater Joey Chestnut could surpass.
The Philadelphia Phillies recently called it quits when it comes to their popular Hatfield Dollar Dog Night — a promotion that had been around for 27 years — because of complaints from some fans that it was not a good experience.
But the Lehigh Valley’s sports teams are more than happy to continue the tradition.
“We wanted to have some fun tonight. We don't have a lot of promotions going on for Fridays except dollar dogs, so we wanted to double down and really have some fun with it."Lehigh Valley Phantoms Vice President of Ticketing and Marketing Jordan Cannon
The Lehigh Valley IronPigs Manager of Broadcasting and Media Relations Sam Jellinek guaranteed last week that Coca-Cola Park would never abandon its Dollar Dogs.
“Hot dogs are kind of integral to who we are with the IronPigs," Jellinek said. "It’s right in the name, you know?"
Being baseball and the IronPigs are synonymous with hot dogs, that’s no surprise.
But the Phantoms also have held their own Dollar Dog promotion for several years. And in true Lehigh Valley fashion, they’re not stopping anytime soon.
“We've historically done it, and we're going to continue to do it in the future," Phantoms Vice President of Ticketing and Marketing Jordan Cannon said.
"Hopefully, we don't run into any issues like the Phillies have. But yeah, it's a hot topic recently for sure.”
Asked whether there have ever been issues with fans brandishing hot dogs as weapons or throwing them onto the ice, Cannon said, “We have not yet. Let’s hope to keep it that way tonight.”
Mustering up a record
Thankfully, fans were respectful and refrained from making a mess.
At Friday’s game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Phantoms set out to do something special — set a record for Dollar Dog sales within a single period.
And thanks to some dedicated fans — and maybe a bit of help from mascot MeLVin and a mysterious figure known only as The Hot Dog Man — they crushed the record of 1,936 dogs by totaling 2,420 wiener sales in just 20 minutes.
“We wanted to have some fun tonight," Cannon said. "We don't have a lot of promotions going on for Fridays except dollar dogs, so we wanted to double down and really have some fun with it."
And Phantoms fanatics ate it up. Literally.
Randy Chase, of Bethlehem, a Phantoms season-ticket holder, said he appreciated the special deal.
“We come out all the time, so it's nice to have something that's at least a little bit of a break,” Chase said.
“They know what we want."Aidan Sheeran of Allentown
Aidan Sheeran, of Allentown, made it a special point to come out to Friday’s game for those Dollar Dogs — and to see his girlfriend, who works at the rink.
“It's the first Friday of the month, so I know that means Dollar Dogs, so I’m stocking up for the game,” Sheeran said just before the start of the first period.
Sheeran said he’s still disappointed in the Phillies for ending their promotion.
“It's going to be a loss," he said. "It's kind of hard to deal with. I'm still trying to bear with the news.”
He said he was proud to see his hometown teams keeping a good value alive.
“They know what we want,” Sheeran said.
Grilling Hot Dog Man for answers
One of the biggest drivers of Dollar Dogs has to be the local legend, The Hot Dog Man — don’t ask for his legal name, he’s not at liberty to divulge that information — a figure decked out in a loaded hot dog suit and a pair of shades.
The Hot Dog Man was featured numerous times on the Jumbotron, working up the crowd and encouraging fans to indulge in some cheap-but-filling eats.
“I give the energy back, and the team and the fans give it back to me. It's a beautiful thing.”The Hot Dog Man
And Friday’s appearance wasn’t a one-off.
“Every Dollar Dog night, I’m here,” he said.
“I’m proud of my fan base for coming out tonight and showing up. I never had a doubt in my mind that we wouldn’t break [the record] tonight.”
The hero the Lehigh Valley both needs and deserves — sorry Batman, this is Hot Dog territory — encouraged fans to come join him in the festivities each and every first Friday game of the month.
“I give the energy back, and the team and the fans give it back to me," he said. "It's a beautiful thing.”
Despite — or maybe because of? — the fuel from those Dollar Dogs, the Phantoms were edged out by the Penguins 3-2 on Friday.
Perhaps with a few more games with the protein power of those Berks frankfurters, perhaps they can turn the season around.
