Ball Park Will Honor Baseball’s Best Hot Dog Vendors in a Trading Card Set

Baseball cards have been immortalizing baseball players for nearly as long as the sport’s been around. But nowadays, fans often get just as excited about the ballpark food as they do about seeing the players, so it only makes sense that the hot dog brand Ball Park is creating a new kind of trading card: hot dog vendor cards.

Ball Park has put the call out for baseball fans to nominate their favorite hot dog vendors over the next few weeks for inclusion in the set which is scheduled to go into print in late September/early October — also known as playoff season, where baseball’s biggest heroes shine. “Whether fans are regulars at a ball park, ordering hot dogs from the same vendor, game after game — or — they had just one memorable experience, Ball Park Brand wants them to share their favorite hot dog vendor story on social, using the hashtag #HotDogHeroes,” the hot dog maker writes.

The brand says it will be curating the list of featured vendors throughout the summer before choosing the final vendor lineup. The hope is to end up with as many as 27 to 30 vendors in all, representative of “each baseball market.” (The cards aren’t affiliated with Major League Baseball or any specific teams, thus the vague language.)

Ball Park says this is the first time ever these hot dog “MVPs” will be recognized in card form. (It appears that the Reading Phillies mascot known as the “Crazy Hot Dog Vendor” got his own Topps card back in 2017 — and posing with my old friend Benjamin Hill, no less — but, alas, he is not a real hot dog vendor.) As a result, these “limited release” cards could prove to be a hot item for collectors. However, as of now, Ball Park isn’t providing any details on how fans will be able to score the cards once they're officially printed. So for now, just ignore the game and keep an eye out in the stands for your best hometown hot dog slinger.