CLEVELAND — Guardians fans, our long local nightmare is over.
After 75 fruitless tries, complete with hard-hitting investigations and even a trip to the minor leagues, Mustard has finally won his first Sugardale Hot Dog Derby of 2022. The beloved condiment raced across the finish line during Saturday night's game against the Kansas City Royals, muscling ahead of rivals Ketchup and Onion to snag the elusive victory.
Appropriately, Mustard's win occurred on "Fan Appreciation Weekend," where Cleveland is also celebrating the Guardians' American League Central Division Championship and impending playoff appearance. Already in a jovial mood, tens of thousands at Progressive Field were eager to shower Mustard with raucous cheers.
It truly has been a difficult season for Mustard, and his failures did not escape those around the area. Back in August, 3News' Austin Love even went to the stadium himself to scrutinize allegations of "foul play" involving the hot dog trio, something we were sadly unable to definitively rule out.
The losing streak became such an embarrassment that the Guards were forced to take matters into their own hands, optioning Mustard all the way to High-A Lake County. The trip to Eastlake was brief, and Mustard appeared to be on the comeback trail after winning a race at Classic Park. But once he arrived back in Cleveland, the futility continued, and there was even an element of heartbreak when an apparent first-place finish was subsequently overturned by replay review.
Additionally, it wasn't like Mustard has always handled his adversity with... class. Just this week, the organization took to Twitter to admonish the embattled hot dog for not being "a good example for our youth."
Yet through all of the taunting, all of the hardship, and all of the doubts, Mustard and his supporters never stopped believing glory would ultimately be there's once again. The title belt is now, deservedly, his, and he has thankfully avoided putting himself in the same category as the 2017 Browns.
Good thing, too, because we're going to need everyone to be on top of their game once the postseason starts!
