Chestnut crushes concessions for a cause

When you go out to a Minor League Baseball game, it's a good idea to show up hungry.

Maybe nobody is more familiar with this wisdom than Joey Chestnut, the 16-time champion of the annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest. On Saturday night, Chestnut brought his appetite to a Toledo Mud Hens game.

America's most famous competitive eater put together two noteworthy performances at the home of the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate. Chestnut swallowed four pints of Toft's ice cream in one 60-second period and gulped down 36 nuggets of fried walleye ("Walleye Bites") in another 60-second cram session.

Chestnut's exhibitions came after a pregame "Eat & Greet" with fans, which was a fundraising event for the Toledo-based nonprofit Connecting Kids to Meals. He also threw out a first pitch ahead of the Mud Hens' 3-2 walk-off win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The Colossus of 'Kraut is no stranger to Minor League concessions. After making a similar appearance for the Mud Hens last year, Chestnut returned to Toledo for a preseason menu reveal in March.

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He also astonished the world by devouring a world-record 13 olive burgers in five minutes last August at a Minors park in Michigan's capital city, where the A's High-A affiliate paid homage to the regional specialty (a beef patty with a mayo-and-olives mixture) by suiting up as the Lansing Olive Burgers.

In 2022, Chestnut wowed crowds at Victory Field in Indianapolis a couple times. The Pirates' Triple-A affiliate hosted him as he practiced for -- and ultimately succeeded at -- setting a popcorn-related world record. That Aug. 16, he warmed up for the attempt with some serious potato chip munching and by guzzling the contents of a 24-ounce beer bat in five seconds.

A week later, on Aug. 23, he swallowed 32 24-ounce servings -- that's 768 ounces, or 48 pounds, for those keeping score at home -- of popcorn in an eight-minute window.