The Royals’ Hot Dog Derby has been a famous, longstanding tradition at Kauffman Stadium. But a U.S. convenience store chain may have given birth to another equally beloved tradition. On Saturday, an inflatable hot dog did what John Rave’s game-tying homer or Kazuma Okamoto’s go-ahead single could not do. The fun crowd activity sent the stadium into a roar as everyone came together to assemble the scrumptious snack. As the clip went viral on social media, fans flooded the comments to share their two cents on the event.

“THEY GOT THE HOT DOG IN THE BUN,” Sportsnet wrote after posting the viral clip on X.

American convenience store and gas station chain QuikTrip has introduced a fun, interactive event at baseball games that recently went viral. Kauffman Stadium is one of the most popular venues to host the QT Home Bun Race between innings. During the event, the stadium is split into two halves. One side receives the massive inflatable QuikTrip frankfurter, while the other gets the inflatable bun. The crowd then has to work together to bring the sausage and bun together to complete the activity.

Once the scoreboard blares ‘Who Let the Dog Out?’ and starts a 35-second countdown timer, the spectators work in sync to assemble the hot dog. The activity is complete when the jumbotron flashes “HOME BUN!” on the screen. If the task is completed within the given time, the people in attendance get a free glizzy from QuikTrip.

The free hot dogs were the only consolation the home fans got on Saturday, as the Toronto Blue Jays clinched the series with a 4-3 win. The Kansas City Royals had surrendered the upper hand to the visitors from the first inning.

With Seth Lugo on the mound, Alejandro Kirk hit an infield single, but it was Josh Rojas’ throwing error that allowed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to score from first. Then Kirk himself scored on Nathan Lukes’ RBI single to give the Blue Jays an early 2-0 lead. However, the Royals did not let the Blue Jays enjoy the lead for long.

Half an inning later, Jac Caglianone and Salvador Perez hit RBI singles to tie the score at 2. The Blue Jays broke the tie first. In the top of the third, Kazuma Okamoto hit an RBI double, giving the Blue Jays their lead back (3-2).

This time, the Blue Jays’ lead did not last. John Rave launched the game-tying homer, and the score remained knotted at 3 until the seventh. With Craig Kimbrel on the mound, Okamoto hit the go-ahead, game-winning single on Saturday night. Neither Toronto nor Kansas City scored another run for the rest of the game.

With the win, the Blue Jays moved above .500 since early April. They are now tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the final AL Wild Card spot. Meanwhile, the Royals remain 9.0 games behind. So, the hot dog assembly was perhaps the most uplifting for the Royals fans at this moment.

Fans react to the Hot Dog Race at Kansas City Stadium

The Kansas City Royals are not limiting themselves to their traditional Hot Dog Derby anymore. With the traction the QT Home Bun Race is enjoying, the activity might just become a new summer tradition at Kauffman Stadium. After a clip of Saturday’s Home Bun Race went viral, fans poured into the comments.

“This is the most united America has ever been since 9/11,” commented one fan on X.

9/11 is a dark day in American history. It marks the day when a fourth plane crashed into a rural field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The whole world, alongside America, condemned the attacks.

Another fan highlighted how the crowd completed the task with 3 seconds to spare, and everyone enjoyed the free treat.

The fan wrote, “We got a free hot dog. We got the dog in the bun in 30 seconds, and it was with 3 seconds to go.”

For intense baseball games, the activity is the breather everybody needs. Some fans tagged their favorite sports teams to bring the activity to their matchups.

Tagging Auckland FC, one fan wrote, “@fc_auckland, if we don’t have these half-time shenanigans in the Upper East Stand this season, I will be very disappointed.”

Another suggested, “@EdmRiverhawks This would be fun next season.”

One user even took this moment to take a jibe at umpire Doug Eddings. The user quipped, “Did anyone ask Doug Eddings if this is ok??”

Doug Eddings recently made headlines when he asked the St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie reliever, Hancel Rincon, to straighten his tilted hat. His actions displeased manager Oliver Marmol so much that he argued with Eddings until he was ejected from the game.

One fan jokingly wrote, “Somebody call Dolores.” The fan here is likely referring to Dolores Casella, who authored the classic cookbook A World of Breads. The book contains more than 600 bread recipes adapted for home kitchens.

Baseball has a way of bringing people together, but sometimes, it takes something as simple as a hot dog to unite an entire stadium.