Detroit’s Singing Hot Dog Man Is Sometimes Loved, But Mostly Hated, By Fans

A hot dog vendor who worked at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park would sing while selling hot dogs and some fans loved it while others hated him for it.

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Hot Dogs At A Baseball Game

One of my fondest memories as a child is when my dad took me to Tiger Stadium and we had hot dogs together while we watched a game.

On the way to the game, I remember my dad saying you have not had a hot dog until you've had one at Tiger Stadium...and he was right.

Eating a hot dog at a ballpark is about as American as apple pie and something everyone should do at least one time in their life.

There are a lot of unique hot dog vendors at ballparks but there was one that worked at both Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park that fans have not forgotten, some, for very different reasons.

Former Hot Dog Vendor Charlie Marcuse

Charley Marcuse worked as a hot dog vendor at Tiger Stadium and Comerica Park from 1999 to 2013 and was best known for being Detroit singing hot dog man.

As you can see in the video above Marcuse really gets into selling hot dogs. This might be fine if you hear it once or twice during the game and he moves on but he would do this the entire game and if you were in his section, that is what you would hear the entire game.

If you wanted a hot dog from Charlie with ketchup, his response would be "There is no ketchup in baseball." Fans who wanted ketchup were not happy with the response but his lack of ketchup on hot dogs did earn him some fame with his own line of mustard called "Charlie's Ballpark Mustard" which is sold in 65 establishments in Michigan.

Some Tigers Fans Loved Charlie, While Most Hated Him

As you can see in the clip above the baseball fans in this group loved Charlie the singing hot dog man.

There was a social media post recently of Charlie on Vintage Detroit Collection Facebook page and fans were not as kind as the group in the above video.

The very first post from Jeff Lane really began what turned into being more of a roast of Marcuse when lane said, "His schtick got old very quickly when he made my little girl cry when he wouldn't give her ketchup."

Note that there are a few fans in this thread but the rest seems more like a Comedy Central Roast of the singing hot dog man.

Charley gets a little more love on the second thread but not much. Tony DeSantis said, "could hear him sing when I listened to the games on the radio."

There were certainly a lot of mixed emotions from baseball fans regarding Charlie Marcuse. Joe Morgan said, "Absolutely a nuisance. Happy he's gone. If you're selling hot dogs and you can be heard on the broadcasts you're doing it wrong."

Love Charlie or hate Charlie, nonetheless, he made his mark in Detroit baseball history without even swinging a bat or throwing a pitch other than his tenor pitch.