Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today’s games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here.

Have you heard the one about the guy riding around on an ostrich hurling hot dogs into the stands at a Minor League Baseball game? You haven’t? Well, that just won’t fly. Frankly, we relish the opportunity to help you catch up.

As a little prelude to July 4th and the Hot Dog Eating Contest that goes along with it, we present to you Matt Jackson, the man affectionately known as The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor, who has been a main attraction at Double-A Reading Fightin’ Phils games for over two decades. His job is simple but essential. During the second inning, he gallivants around the diamond on the back of a stuffed ostrich (apologies if we duped you into thinking the ostrich was real; it is not, in fact, a live ostrich), and whips wieners into the eager hands of hungry fans.

From the very first day back in 2004 that Jackson donned his signature spectacles, red bowtie, red-and-white pinstriped vest and white vendor hat, his mission was clear: “Run out there and act as crazy as you can.” It’s right there in the name, and he takes it to heart. 

Much like the players on the field, who are also big fans of his act, Jackson has to get his arm loose before he goes to work. This is no cannon T-shirt toss. These franks don’t simply float down from the skies like they did at a Mariners game at T-Mobile Park last year. The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor has to put his whole body into it to deliver these dogs, one accurate toss at a time.

“I usually go into the batting cage and throw around 70 pitches just to warm up,” he said.

The antics of The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor got us thinking about other indelible characters at Minor League ballparks across the country, so we went to someone who knows best -- our own Benjamin Hill, who is something of an indelible Minor League character himself (he once spent a day as an apprentice for The Crazy Hot Dog Vendor, after all). Ben came back to us with three of his favorites, and we present them to you here.

Mr. Celery (Wilmington Blue Rocks): This is not the team mascot, let’s be clear. Mr. Celery emerges onto the field after the Blue Rocks score a run, celebrates wildly, then retreats into his hidden lair. He’s a complete enigma and a franchise icon. 

The Trash Monster (Portland Sea Dogs): A walking trash can that allows you to dispose of your waste while you grab a photo. As Ben – who packs a pun with the best of ‘em – put it, “that’s an offer you can refuse.”

The Grounds Crew Gorilla (Lake Elsinore Storm ) – “I once witnessed this apoplectic primate rip out a section of plastic fencing separating the berm from the concourse, all because he lost a dance contest,” Ben said, and that really tells you everything you need to know about this since-retired ballpark st-ape-le.

We urge you to check out your local Minor League ballpark guide and make a trip of it. A true cast of characters awaits. 

-- Scott Chiusano

Now through Sunday, you can watch nearly every game free as part of MLB.TV's holiday weekend free preview. The Pregame Lineup will be celebrating the Fourth tomorrow, so here's a peek at some of this weekend's best free games:

• Yankees @ Mets, Fri., 3:10 p.m. ET, Free on MLB.TV: Even if both clubs are wobbling at the moment, the Subway Series never fails to get New York riled up. Tonight's Yankees-Blue Jays finale will dictate whether the Yanks enter this one atop the AL East or looking up at another club for the first time since April 13. The Mets, coming off their first losing month since last May, will look to close the all-time Subway Series gap vs. the Yankees, who have an 82-67 record vs. the Amazin's, not including the 2000 World Series, won by the Yankees in 5.
  
  

• Cardinals @ Cubs, Sat., 2:20 p.m. ET, Free on MLB.TV: There's no less juice -- and a significantly longer history -- to this classic rivalry, which returned with a four-game split in St. Louis last month. The Cubs, who boast MLB's best run differential at +108, hold a slight head-to-head edge all time, with 1,275 regular-season wins to the Cardinals' 1,223. The Cards hope the rivalry will bring out the best in their offense, which was just shut out in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Pirates.
  
  

• Astros @ Dodgers, Sat., 7:15 p.m. ET on FOX, Free on MLB.TV: In case you needed any more reasons to watch a rematch of the 2017 World Series, Shohei Ohtani will be on the hill for this one -- on his 31st birthday. This will be Ohtani's fourth start this year as he builds up stamina in his return from Tommy John surgery, but if his personal-best 101.7 mph heater last time out is any indication, the reigning NL MVP isn't holding anything back.

CC Sabathia was obviously an excellent pitcher -- his Hall of Fame induction is mere weeks away -- but who knew he was an expert on numerology? As CC noticed, the dates for the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby (7-14) and All-Star Game presented by Mastercard (7-15) are both hallowed numbers in baseball, specifically as pertaining to the Braves, the host of this year’s festivities.

As CC noted, Babe Ruth’s 714th home run, the standard for nearly four decades, and Hank Aaron’s 715th homer, which broke Ruth’s record, both came while playing for the Braves (though Ruth's tenure came when the club called Boston home). As such, this year’s Derby participants will honor these icons by repping their jersey numbers. The NL Derby sluggers will all feature No. 44 on their uniforms in honor of Aaron, while the AL sluggers will wear No. 3 for Ruth.

"We'd be doing ourselves a disservice to not do the storytelling,” Sabathia told ESPN. “Especially behind Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Atlanta. The history of our game, you know, we have so many opportunities to tell stories and just with the date and the number I thought it would be so cool to tell this one."

We concur, and we look forward to the Derby sluggers further honoring the memories of the Bambino and Hammerin’ Hank by launching dozens of majestic homers into the night sky in Atlanta.

-- Bryan Horowitz

By now you’ve probably heard that Clayton Kershaw last night became the 20th pitcher in history to reach 3,000 career Ks. (Who, if anyone, will become the 21st? Our Brent Maguire tackled that question, beginning with a reigning Cy Young Award winner who is less than 500 K’s away.)

As for Kershaw, he’s just the fourth lefty to accomplish the feat and just the third player to notch them all for one team. But leave it to MLB.com researcher extraordinaire Sarah Langs to dig even deeper for some cool Kershaw 3,000-K-related trivia:

• Kershaw struck out 959 different players en route to 3,000. Each of the three batters he fanned on Wednesday -- Miguel Vargas, Lenyn Sosa and Vinny Capra -- were first-timers on Kershaw’s strikeout ledger.

• His most strikeouts against any batter were 30, against Brandon Belt. Belt’s primary team over his career, the Giants, was on the receiving end of the most Kershaw strikeouts. He has 413 against the Giants.

• Kershaw has thrown to 14 catchers in his career, with at least two strikeouts to each. His most strikeouts are with A.J. Ellis behind the plate -- 920 of them.

Check out Sarah’s article here for more interesting tidbits, then try your hand at our 3K strikeout-themed Sporcle quiz.

– Ed Eagle

Can you Beat the Streak? Try to top Joe DiMaggio's record hitting streak of 56 games by selecting a player each day to record a hit. If you get to 57, you can win $5.6 million. Plus, new for this year, a chance to win unique weekly prizes.

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