The Minor League alternate identity you can trace back to ... Dinglewood Pharmacy?

By Benjamin Hill | 10:15 AM EDT

Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.

On three occasions this season the Columbus Clingstones will transform into the Scrambled Dogs, paying homage to a local culinary specialty at their home of Synovus Park.

When asked to describe the scrambled dog, Pete Laven, general manager of the west Georgia-based Double-A Braves affiliate, prefaced his remarks with a warning: "It's not for the fainthearted."

"It's a hot dog and bun submerged in chili and then cut up with the bun still on the hot dog," Laven explained. "They say the red hot dog is the best one to use, to add color to it, and then the chili kind of wells up to the edge of the bowl. Then you add shredded cheese. Oyster crackers are part of it. Then you can add onions, pickles, whatever you need. Some people put hot sauce on it. Anybody that's from Columbus has grown up with it, so I learned pretty quickly [when I moved here] where to get the best scrambled dog."

That would be Dinglewood Pharmacy, where Lieutenant Stevens (his given name, not a military rank) began serving up his version of the scrambled dog in the 1940s. A historical plaque in front of this iconic establishment traces the dish's development over a 100-plus year period, mentioning the three presidents (FDR, Eisenhower, Carter) who have consumed them as well as the fact that "Prince Charles was treated to the scrambled dog served on a sterling silver plate."

"You walk in there today and you feel like you're walking back in time a little bit," said Laven. "They still have the pharmacy. You can still buy your normal daily needs there. But it also has the long bar with the soda jerk-type fountains and the circular seats, and scrambled dogs are still on the menu."

The Clingstones began work on the Scrambled Dogs' alternate identity prior to their 2025 inaugural season, preparing it to join a Minor League Baseball alternate identity landscape that already includes the dish's Northeast equivalent, the Rochester Plates.

The Scrambled Dogs' primary logo features an anthropomorphic red hot dog emerging from a morass of chili, joyfully holding the spoon that will soon be used to deliver him into the mouth of a ravenous human. The look was brought to life by Studio Simon's Dan Simon, a veteran logo designer who collaborated with a local artist, Mike Jones, who also co-owns the Columbus hot dog restaurant Frank's Alley.

Laven said that, prior to the revealing of the Clingstones name prior to the 2025 season, many local fans suggested using Scrambled Dogs as the team’s primary identity. That notion has a long history. In 1989 and 1990, the city was home to the Columbus Mudcats, who then relocated to Zebulon, N.C. and became the Carolina Mudcats. That iconic catfish moniker was chosen over the runner-up: Scrambled Dogs.

"That [history] just reinforces that we made the right decision with our first alternate identity," said Laven. "It'll make a lot of sense to people and it'll make a lot of people happy."

The Clingstones will play as the Scrambled Dogs on May 30, July 31 and Sept. 5. And, yes, you’ll be able to get a scrambled dog at the ballpark. The team debuted a version last year and now they're tweaking the recipe.

"[Clingstones concessionaire] Oak View Group is already working on that," said Laven. "But you know, you’ll always hear 'Well, there's only one place you've got to go to.' … This is just paying homage to the people at Dinglewood Pharmacy and Lieutenant Stevens."

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