WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 03: A fan takes his seat with a tray of hot dogs. (Photo by Jonathan Ernst/Getty Images)
Hot dogs and baseball. A perfect combination.
The hot dog's beginning can be traced back to long before the United States even existed.
Regardless, we've turned it into an American staple, but that doesn't mean Americans are in agreement when it comes to the question, "Is a hot dog a sandwich?"
“Ehh I think it is,” said Norfolk Tides catcher Austin Wynns. On the other hand, pitcher Tyler Herb disagreed.
"You've got your meat, got your buns, split the buns in half top and bottom, smush it down, it’s a sandwich," said pitcher Chris Lee.
“I don’t know," said pitcher David Hess. "I’ll say a hot dog is a half sandwich.”
Like the game of Monopoly, the hot dog debate can pit close friends against one another and the Tides are no exception.
PHILADELPHIA, PA - AUGUST 13: Former Philadelphia Phillies player Jim Thome shoots hot dogs with the Phillie Phanatic. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
“Say you were to ask me to get you a sandwich and I brought you a hot dog, you’d be pissed," Herb said to Wynns, who agreed.
“[I have] two loaves of bread. I have no deli meat so I say hey I'm gonna use a hot dog. I'm gonna slice this hot dog and I'm gonna place it in a sandwich. Is that technically a hot dog?" Wynns asked Herb.
Merriam-Webster defines a sandwich as: “two or more slices of bread, or a split roll, having a filling in between.”
A hot dog certainly fits the definition, but there are always exceptions to rules, right? Why can't a hot dog be in its own category?
Not everyone will see eye to eye on whether a hot dog's a sandwich, but there's no denying the beauty of enjoying a hot dog during a ballgame.
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 11: In a display of patriotism, mascots carry American flags. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
“That’s America," said Kenny Magner, the Tides' head groundskeeper. "That's all there is to it. Whenever someone goes to a ballgame they want a hot dog and a beer.”
Hess added, "To sit and watch a baseball game while you have a hot dog, it’s just like mom and apple pie, right?"
Motherhood, hot dogs and apple pie.
