Baseball Insiders Interview: Joliet Slammers' Night Train Veeck talks record-setting hot dog drop

On Tuesday, July 22, at exactly 6:35 p.m. ET during the team's game against the Gateway Grizzlies, the Independent Frontier League's Joliet Slammers will be attempting to make their mark in history by dropping more than 2,500 hot dogs from a single helicopter, in just one hour, over the entire stadium, aiming for a Guinness World Record (for Biggest Wiener Drop, not Craziest Thing).

Night Train Veeck, the Slammers' owner/executive vice president, sales & marketing and a fourth-generation Veeck/ballpark promotion innovator, spoke with FanSided on behalf of Pabst Light. Fans could use promo code WIENER26 online for $2.60 tickets to the spectacle, but when we spoke to Veeck ... they were already sold out.

For those who are just beginning to tune into the Minor League Baseball revolution after HBO's John Oliver sparked the Moon Mammoths ... welcome. Glad to have you. Wild, uninhibited nonsense is going on down here every single day, taking advantage of baseball's dominance as a "local" sport and building fans for life by crafting once-in-a-lifetime experiences for both the young and young at heart.

That enterprising spirit can be attributed, in large part, to the Veeck family. Bill Veeck — that's Veeck, as in "wreck" — was the game's foremost innovator in the promotional space, whether imploring fans to manage from the stands while watching the St. Louis Browns, hooking up a shower in the outfield or building the exploding scoreboard at Comiskey Park. Bill's son Mike once built another very famous set of explosions, too, putting the infamous Disco Demolition Night in motion with the help of local DJ Steve Dahl.

Veeck is, essentially, honored each and every time a baseball club winks at its fan base and agrees to have a little fun. His direct bloodline honors him a bit more explicitly these days, though, through their ownership of the Joliet Slammers, where Night Train Veeck works alongside Mike (and celebrity Minor League entrepreneur Bill Murray) to make certain the creative juices continue to flow — in some cases in the form of condiments, directly onto hot dogs dropped from a helicopter in the sky.

"I just kind of ... was in it one day. I didn't even really realize, and just sort of fell in love with it over time," Veeck told FanSided. "I can't tell you how many child labor laws I probably broke back in the day actually rolling up hot dogs, filling up sods and just doing everything at the ballpark." [Eds. Note: He was joking, ha ha, no child labor laws were broken probably]

"I remember learning everything that makes these things tick, learning how to make the fan experience great, and one day, I just fell in love with it. It found me, I suppose, and I found it, and I guess that's where we are," Veeck noted. "This was just a funny idea that made me say ... why not?"

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Night Train Veeck discusses Joliet Slammers' record-setting wiener drop

The Veeck family has been guided by a "Why Not?" ethos for decades upon decades, as baseball has gone from the great American game to an affordable day at the park to an unaffordable day at some parks. That makes Night Train's ongoing quest to honor the game that "found" him and continuing to build up the sport's local legacy of joy even nobler.

For those curious enough to scroll this far, each hot dog dropped from above will be wrapped, cooked and ready to eat. There will be Pabst Light representatives on the concourse with condiments, prepared to serve. There might even be a special surprise still remaining.

"Be ready for a show. Be ready for a packed house. You never know. Anybody might show up. With helicopters and this many hot dogs involved, just ... keep your eyes out," Veeck winked.

If you aren't lucky enough to get a dog dropped in your vicinity and Hoover'd up by hungry brew enthusiasts, don't worry: The next Veeck Concoction is just around the corner.

"I'm going to need probably another hour and several Pabst Lights for you [to discuss all the ideas we're still working on]," Veeck chuckled. "You'll get an open Pandora's Box there ... in terms of the White Whale, there are so many."