Joey Chestnut, Kevin Millar, and Cliff Floyd answer questions about hot dogs

It’s Tuesday in Washington D.C., and at noon sharp Joey Chestnut starts to shove hot dogs into his mouth. But instead of hitting a career high or taking home another championship belt to put on his shelf, the Nathan’s hot dog eating professional is flanked by other professional eaters and a few pro athletes as two teams face off for hot dog eating bragging rights at MLB All-Star Game festivities.

Cliff Floyd and Kevin Millar, both World Series champions, lead the National League and American League teams, respectively, as two groups of four try and out-eat their competitors. It’s silly, and a far cry from the competitions Chestnut or his fellow pro Miki Sudo are used to, but All-Star Week is centered around a lot of silliness so this event fits right in to everything surrounding it.

Millar’s American League squad (which included Joey Chestnut) took home the win after Floyd was only able to eat two hot dogs compared to Millar’s five and after many stare-downs with Floyd during the eating.

The mixed performance spurred the carnival barker-style contest host to proclaim “Never have I been so disappointed in human beings as I am today” but Millar is relishing the win anyway (I’m so sorry.) Despite being heavy with hot dogs, I caught up with Millar, Floyd, and Chestnut after the eating was over and asked some questions about hot dogs.

These questions have been edited and condensed for clarity.

How do you feel after eating the hot dogs you just ate?

Cliff Floyd: It’s not great. I feel alright. Definitely wasn’t prepared for that. But I needed some mustard and ketchup. If I had all the toppings on I would have crushed it but you know, I was struggling.

Joey Chestnut: For the Fourth of July I put two months of work into that contest. So there was no messing around, I had to be serious. I had everything set up — water, my body. So I guess I was eating slower today but it was different. It was slower, and we came out on top.

I got to enjoy it more, and it’s great having the crowd right there in front and hearing their gasps and hearing them cheer for me. For a major contest it usually takes me about two, two-and-a-half days to recover. Fourth of July especially because that’s capacity. This one I’m fine. I’ll be good in like five hours.

Kevin Millar: Good! You know there are a lot of rules that we have to go back and look at, for example Cliff and I didn’t know you have to do the bun also. So you have to do the bun, the full hot dog, and now it makes sense why they dip it in the water or the fruit punch.

I looked at the fruit punch, and when I looked at the fruit punch dripping I was like now it makes sense though, with the bun and the water and whatever liquid you have because you have to eat the whole thing. So I’m learning. I give [the pros] mad props.

How does winning compare with winning a World Series?

Kevin Millar: This was bigger than the World Series because this is now. The World Series was great in ‘04 but this when you have a trophy like this, a beautiful hot dog. An All-Star 2018 hot dog with a bun that actually looks like a real hot dog. Cliff is a big six foot-three, beautiful man with big jewelry and I’m just kind of this frumpy little guy. Yet my team are the champs.

How many hot dogs do you usually eat at once?

Joey Chestnut: It’s never just one. It’s usually three hot dogs, two beers.

Cliff Floyd: If I do it the right way, two. That means like slice it, throw it on a skillet, burn it, put it on a bun, hot bun. Two, three in one sitting is max. I don’t know how [the pros] do it, but they are amazing. Not today, but 75 in ten minutes, I don’t know how they do that. But they do it.

Kevin Millar: You have to get a hot dog a beer. One hot dog and a beer. Jack Daniels maybe? No, no. No that doesn’t even go right. It’s probably a beer.

What’s your favorite hot dog topping?

Cliff Floyd: Mustard and ketchup, and some relish.

Joey Chestnut: I love a good hot dog. An all beef hot dog grilled? Oh my god, it’s hard to beat. Raw onions and mustard. I like it pretty simple. But then I’ll go crazy and I’ll get the cheese. I love a good cheese dog. I put some weird things on it every now and then. Creamed spinach. That’s actually really good. But I’m pretty standard. Especially at a baseball game. If they have onions I’ll put them on.

Kevin Millar: I love sauerkraut. I’m a huge sauerkraut guy on a hot dog. Mustard, sauerkraut, maybe just a little ketchup if you’re going sauerkraut. If I’m not going sauerkraut, I go mustard and ketchup.

What was it like eating on a team versus eating by yourself?

Joey Chestnut: It’s different. Before the contest usually we’re trying to trash talk each other. Really trying to get in each other’s heads. This we were trying to motivate each other, going alright we’re really going to do this let’s get some personal bests. And we were trying to get each other excited to push.

Where’s your favorite place to eat a hot dog?

Joey Chestnut: A stadium. The Yankees and Mets both have Nathan’s hot dogs, but actually in Cincinnati they do a bacon-wrapped Nathan’s and they’re delicious.

Kevin Millar: At a barbecue. When you’re outside in the backyard and you’ve got a little barbecue going, the smell of a barbecue makes you want to eat a bunch of hot dogs. Or a stadium, of course. I grew up a Dodger fan so the Dodger dogs were the best as a kid.

Cliff Floyd: I’m from Chicago so they have this place down on the side of the highway right by the University of Illinois and it’s a little food truck. Everybody thinks it’s the most unbelievable hot dog I’ve ever had in my life. At night, after you have a couple and you’re getting driven, I stop and get a hot dog. But not just late night, I tried it during the day and was like “this is getting legit.”

Could you ever be a pro eater?

Cliff Floyd: My biggest question is how do you start to train for it? How do you decide to eat a whole bunch of hot dogs and then win a contest? But to answer your question no. Especially now. Maybe earlier if you told me I had a shot at winning something. Possibly! But not now.

Do you think Queen Elizabeth has ever eaten a hot dog?

Kevin Millar: I would say yes. You’d feel that everyone’s tried a hot dog. Now I could be totally wrong, but that’s the way it feels. Because that’s one of your favorite things as a kid growing up, right?

Cliff Floyd: No.

I just feel like, it would be one of those things when you have every other option. I mean I love hot dogs. Everybody loves them. But I think with Queen Elizabeth ... no. I think she has too many other options. And she’s fit she’s been fit forever so I think she’s like a salad and ginger dressing person.

Joey Chestnut: Oh yeah. Absolutely. I’m sure she has. Why would she not? I think [people who say she hasn’t] are underestimating the power of American exceptionalism. I think it gets across that little pond. Hot dogs are around the world, they’re universal. I was in China and they were eating hot dogs. People underestimate the power of the hot dog.