Monday, May 9, 2022

Friend Encounters: Chicago Dogs' Ketchup & Dave Zeman

The Chicago Dogs open their season this Friday. Once again, I will be "On the Beat" covering the Dogs here, on Patch.com and GlobalTravelerUSA.com. Who better to celebrate the start of the Dogs season than their much-maligned mascot Ketchup and baseball historian Dave Zeman.
It's been well-documented here how much I enjoy mascots. Actually, I think today's friend loves mascots, too (or maybe he just indulged me). When Dave Zeman and I attended a Chicago Dogs game, I sought out the mascots as always. I got my picture with Ketchup and Dave got one, too.
I'm usually not in favor of inanimate objects being mascots. I do like Ketchup though, although oddly, I rarely use ketchup.
The Chicago Dogs have two mascots. Ketchup's mascot colleague is Squeeze (mustard), which often brings funny interplay during games. Fans even get into the act by playfully booing Ketchup, because everyone knows, ketchup does not belong on Chicago (hot)dogs.
Dave is the co-author of The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia, a look at rookie crops from 1872 through 2003. Dave and co-author David Nemec did an exhausting, but fantastic job on this book, which I happily own.
Having Dave pictured with Ketchup gives respect to this mascot. If a baseball scholar and historian like Dave can embrace a mascot, everyone can.
Go to ChicagoDogs.com for more info and scheduling of the Dogs. Look for The Baseball Rookie Encyclopedia on Amazon.
Squeeze and Dave Zeman in Rosemont, IL-June 2018.

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