Since 1957, Ball Park® has been focused on making hot dogs that are meaty, juicy and bold. Now we’ve gone a step further with our Flame Grilled Beef Patties, Angus Brats and Angus Beef Hot Links. We don’t claim to understand guys any better than you do, but we do know what they like to eat. So when he’s just being himself, good luck. But when he’s hungry, think Ball Park®.
The Ball Park® brand was launched in 1957 in response to a request from the owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team. The Ball Park® Frank quickly became such a success, it was expanded nationally. Ball Park® is now a national premium brand of hot dogs with a reputation for great taste and quality. Today, you can find Ball Park® franks in supermarkets, convenience stores and Detroit’s Comerica Park.
Ball Park has always focused on quality and delivering bold juicy flavor. That's why we DO NOT use Finely Textured Beef Trimmings or what has been characterized in the media as "pink slime" in our products.
Since the Dawn of Guys, their food has followed a few simple rules. Make it tasty. Make it fast. And it doesn’t hurt if you can cook it over a fire on a stick.
Those rules haven’t changed much over the years. But one thing has: Ball Park makes guy food a whole lot easier.
After all, understanding guys might be hard, but feeding them shouldn’t be.
Sausage is one of the oldest forms of encased meat, having been mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey, composed around 700 B.C.
Frankfurt, Germany is traditionally credited with originating the frankfurter. It’s said that the frankfurter was developed there in 1487, five years before Christopher Columbus set sail for the new world.
This claim is disputed by those who assert that the popular sausage – known as a “dachshund” or “little-dog” sausage – was created in the late 1600s by Johann Georghehner, a butcher living in Coburg, Germany. According to this report, Georghehner later traveled to Frankfurt to promote his new product.
However, the people of Vienna (Wien), Austria, point to the term “wiener” to prove their claim as the birthplace of the hot dog.
It is likely that the North American hot dog comes from a common European sausage brought here by butchers of several nationalities. Also in doubt is who first served the dachshund sausage with a roll. One report says a German immigrant sold them, along with milk rolls and sauerkraut, from a push cart in New York City’s Bowery during the 1860’s.
Since the sausage culture is German, it is likely that Germans introduced the practice of eating the dachshund sausages, which we today know as the hot dog, nestled in a bun.
In 1871, Charles Feltman, a German butcher, opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand.
In Chicago in 1893, the Colombian Exposition brought hordes of visitors who consumed large quantities of sausages sold by vendors. People liked this food that was easy to eat, convenient and inexpensive.
Also in 1893, sausages became the standard fare at baseball parks. This tradition is believed to have been started by a St. Louis bar owner, Chris Von de Ahe, a German immigrant who also owned the St. Louis Browns major league baseball team.
How the term “hot dog” came about is also in question. Some say the word was coined in 1901 at the New York Polo Grounds on a cold April day. Vendors were hawking hot dogs from portable hot water tanks shouting “They’re red hot! Get your dachshund sausages while they’re red hot!” A New York Journal sports cartoonist, Tad Dorgan, observed the scene and hastily drew a cartoon of barking dachshund sausages nestled warmly in rolls. Not sure how to spell “dachshund” he simply wrote “hot dog!” The cartoon is said to have been a sensation, thus coining the term “hot dog.” However, historians have been unable to find this cartoon.
Into the early 1900s, with the rise of immigration and urbanization, these sausages in buns were becoming increasingly popular at public events – baseball games, boxing matches, fairs, carnivals and horse races. It made sense – they were cheap and easy to produce in mass quantities. They were already cooked, so they just needed to be re-heated. Fans and consumers liked them as well – hot dogs were an inexpensive, warm, hand-held food and that tasted great. Same holds true today.
Source: National Hot Dog & Sausage Council www.hot-dog.org
If you have questions or comments about Ball Park® or any of the Ball Park products, let us know. Click on the link below to submit your comments on the Hillshire Brands' website. We’re always interested in hearing from our consumers.
Ball Park® has served up this list of the nation’s most mouthwatering hot dog recipes -- showcasing the diverse variety of ways guys across the nation prefer this American classic!
Popular in lower Alabama, these hot dogs are topped with ketchup, mustard, chili, sauerkraut and pickles.
Native to both North and South Carolina, these franks are served with chili, cole slaw, mustard and onions.
Popular within the nation’s capital, this hot dog is typically a beef frank topped with banana peppers, onions, diced red peppers, sliced pickles and served on a steamed potato hot dog bun that has been spread with mayonnaise.
Served on a toasted white bun, this southern classic is usually topped with mustard and a spicy chili made with beans and large chunks of diced raw onions.
Essentially the hot dog capital of the nation, New York City’s infamous street cart dog is boiled and then served with a special onion sauce and deli-style yellow mustard, or in some cases sauerkraut.
As one of the nation’s most famous franks, this hot dog is boiled and grilled, then served in a New England-style bun topped with mustard and relish.
Served in a poppy seed bun, this legendary hot dog is layered with yellow mustard, green relish, chopped raw onion, fresh tomato, a pickle spear and topped with a touch of celery salt.
This Michigan favorite is topped with an all-meat, bean-less chili, diced yellow onion, yellow mustard and is typically served on a steamed bun.
This west coast wiener is wrapped with bacon and is topped with grilled onions, jalapeño or bell peppers and salsa.
This spicy offering from Texas is generally a beef frank topped with spicy chili, cheese and jalapeño peppers for an extra kick.
It’s not rocket science. It’s grilling science. Check out this expert guidance on how to grill up some guy time greatness.
Give your guy the delicious, hot-off-the-grill taste of Ball Park, now in beef patty edition. Ball Park Beef Patties are made with 100% beef and available in three flavors: Beef, Beef & Cheese, and Beef & Onion. Even better, they're microwave ready in about a minute, so he can take the edge off in no time.
Try it. Just say the word "Angus" and watch the look in his eyes. He knows that means a big, bold taste is on its way. Only this time it’s from a genuine Ball Park Angus Beef Frank, made with 100% Angus Beef. Available in original, bun size, or even a low fat/full flavor configuration.
When it comes to guy food, you can’t go wrong with beef. After all, it’s been a part of guy time from the beginning. That’s why it’s a good idea to keep these Ball Park Beef Frank options on hand. Made with 100% beef, they’re full of the can’t-miss flavor that tells hunger to hit the road.
When you have to trust your man’s appetite to one hot dog, make it the one that’s been stopping hunger in its tracks since maybe even before your man became a man. We’re talking about the original plump, juicy Ball Park Frank, of course. But you knew that.
Dial up the lean while you dial in the flavor. Ball Park Turkey Franks are so packed full of classic Ball Park satisfaction, don’t be surprised if he thinks he’s eating an original Ball Park.
What do you do when your guy wants to cut the fat, but keep the flavor? That’s where these Ball Park possibilities come in. Each one is leaner than our regular meat or beef franks, so you can find the one that’s just right.
