It started the same way so many other of these races had. In a pack after rounding first, Relish bumped Mustard aside. Ketchup returned the favor as the animated Hot Dogs rounded third. The sequence had frequented the animated Hot Dog Races played on the Camden Yards scoreboard through the Orioles’ first 34 home games. The race always ended with Mustard or Ketchup crossing home plate first.
But Sunday was different. Relish, which hadn’t managed a single Hot Dog Race victory through five Orioles homestands and lost the first two races of this one, finally defeated its longtime condiment foes for the first time in 2021.
Relish is now 1-34, with Ketchup and Mustard at 17 wins apiece.
Fans in the ballpark had begun to root for the underdog, often booing when Ketchup bumped Relish and groaning when the result once more didn’t go the way of the hot dog donning green.
Sunday’s result then prompted hysteria. After playing Kermit the Frog’s “It’s Not Easy Being Green” after showing disappointed Relish fans on the video board after the race the previous two days, the cameras could find only jubilation Sunday.
“Sweet Victory,” a song by David Eisley and Bob Kulick featured on the cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants,” echoed through Oriole Park. One fan wearing a Relish shirt, part of a team giveaway on National Hot Dog Day in 2019, had two tubs of the condiment dumped on him amid the celebration.