Man dies after competing in California taco-eating contest

FRESNO, Calif. – A man died shortly after competing in a taco-eating contest at a minor league baseball game in California, authorities said Wednesday.

This Sept. 18, 2015 photo shows fans arrive at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, Calif., for a minor-league baseball game between the Fresno Grizzlies and the Round Rock Express. Fresno authorities say a man died shortly after competing in a taco-eating contest at a Grizzlies game. Fresno Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti says 41-year-old Dana Hutchings, of Fresno, died Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019 shortly after arriving at a hospital. Botti says an autopsy on Hutchings will be done Thursday to determine a cause of death. (Eric Paul Zamora/The Fresno Bee via AP)

Dana Hutchings, 41, of Fresno, died Tuesday night shortly after arriving at a hospital, Fresno Sheriff spokesman Tony Botti said.

An autopsy on Hutchings will be done Thursday to determine a cause of death, Botti said. It was not immediately known how many tacos the man had eaten or whether he had won the contest.

Tuesday night’s competition allowed amateurs to qualify for Saturday’s World Taco Eating Championship to be held at Fresno’s annual Taco Truck Throwdown, KFSN-TV reported.

Fresno Grizzlies spokesman Paul Braverman said in a statement the  eating contest was not connected to Saturday’s competition and added “out of respect for the grieving family, we are declining on-camera requests at this time.”

Neither Braverman nor Fresno Grizzlies president Derek Franks, immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.

The team did not reference the incident on any of its social media platforms Wednesday, but an ad for Saturday’s taco-eating competition remained on its Facebook page.

During the 2018 Taco Eating Championship in Fresno, professional eater Geoffrey Esper downed 73 tacos in eight minutes, the television station reported.

Competitive-eating contests have become major attractions at festivals and other events. Among the most popular is the annual Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest on New York’s Coney Island, where Joey Chestnut this year’s champion ate 71. Esper finished third. /gsg