It’s hard sprinting around dressed as a giant sausage. But some have it wurst than others.
“Nobody wanted to be Chorizo,” said Steven Radmer, a Milwaukee photojournalist who, in an earlier career, was one of the anonymous performers in a sausage costume racing around the Milwaukee Brewers’ baseball stadium. The wide-brimmed sombrero worn by the Latin-themed racing sausage adds a lot of weight and flaps around in the wind, costing speed and making turns a bit spicy, Radmer said.
As the Brewers savor their first World Series victory after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4–1, in Game 5, the racing sausages have gained an international audience.
The only-in-Milwaukee races pit five humans dressed as cartoon-inspired franks — Bratwurst, Polish Sausage, Italian Sausage, Hot Dog and Chorizo — against each other in a race that happens in the middle of the sixth inning and takes about 20 seconds.
“The fans go absolutely nuts” for the races, said Monte Owens, a longtime Brewers grounds crew member who is also a sausage-racing alum. “I just love it.”
The first sausage race in World Series history goes to …
pic.twitter.com/sEdg0qElNR
— MLB (@MLB) October 24, 2026
With the Brewers in their first World Series since 1982, the people in shorts and absurdly large, top-heavy costumes have been hailed for making history as the first sausage racers to be featured in the World Series.
The sausages even took the field during the Brewers’ World Series away games. Fans packed into Milwaukee watch parties at American Family Field on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday still got to cheer on their favorite sausage while the Brewers faced the Rays 1,200 miles away in Florida.
Italian Sausage, Polish Sausage, Chorizo and Hot Dog won the races during the first four World Series games. Chorizo won again in Game 5.
The Brewers did not respond to requests for comment, and current sausages generally keep a low profile, refusing to speak even to other employees on game day. Former racers said the adoring fans don’t necessarily appreciate the difficulty involved.
“It’s definitely a learning experience because you’re so top-heavy” as a sausage, Radmer said.
The costumes weigh something like eight pounds and give the racers a height of about eight feet. The getups are made of a mix of foam, PVC pipe and straps the racers must hold on to so the tops don’t fly off. They can barely see through the mesh opening that may or may not align with their eyes. One advantage: the anonymity.
“Nobody knows who you are,” Radmer said. “You get to get paid to have a good time.”
Radmer preferred to race as Brett the Bratwurst to pay homage to his German heritage.
The races honor Wisconsin’s history as a meat-packaging powerhouse, an industry inspired by traditions brought over by European immigrants in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Major sausage brands Usinger’s, Klement’s and Johnsonville continue to call the state home. Klement’s used to sponsor the races, and Johnsonville does now.
30 years of the speediest sausages ever. Tonight, we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Famous Racing Sausages! pic.twitter.com/1tXoMCn6pF
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 8, 2023
The races got their start in the early 1990s, when the Brewers still played at County Stadium. They were a brainchild of a local graphic designer. When the team moved to its new stadium in the early 2000s, now called American Family Field, the sausage races continued at every game.
They remain a staple of Brewers’ games and have inspired other similar races at different ballparks. The Washington Nationals host the Racing Presidents. You can see the Great Pierogi Race at Pittsburgh Pirates games.
“A lot of teams have started following us,” Owens said. “But we started this. We’re the originators.”
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