The kid who went viral for dropping a hot dog at a White Sox game and shaking his face in regret is a quirky local 4-year-old ‘obsessed with the digestive system’

After a local 4-year-old allowed his hot dog to slip off the bun and onto the ground during a recent Chicago White Sox game, the little mishap became an instant classic.

A video circulating on social media shows Matthew Hubler of suburban La Grange during the Sox game against the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 14 with a hot dog sitting on his father’s lap. He took small bites until the sausage slipped away, leaving Matthew with a sad, empty bun.

In the video, Matthew looked down regretfully and smacked his forehead with his palm. The adorably devastating — and intimate — moment reverberated throughout the Twitterverse and beyond.

“He does that a lot,” said Matthew’s mom, Liz Hubler. “And I didn’t realize how much he did it until there was a video where we were playing at the dinner table and something went wrong in his turn and he put his hand to his forehead. I said, “Oh, I guess you do that a lot.”

The family spotted the clip everywhere from WhatsApp groups and Instagram to ESPN’s SportsCenter.

“It’s been a lot of fun, people texting or calling to say how wonderful and funny Matthew is and how he made their day,” Hubler said. “We get it a lot. It wasn’t easy, so it’s nice to have something fun for a change.”

Hubler said Matthew enjoys watching the video of his first ever Sox game, but he’s not exactly sure what the fuss is about. His younger brother, who is almost two years old, has already taken up the “facepalm” and has also seen him several times.

“Suddenly the other day, as he was walking, he said, ‘Brother does,’ and made a face! “I was dying,” Hubler said. “I didn’t even realize he was paying so much attention, but he does everything his big brother does.”

Although the White Sox snapped a three-game hitting streak with a 5-3 win against the Tigers, it was Mathews who became the headlines. He also caught the attention of Chicago’s cheeky Wieners Circle, which offered the 4-year-old and his family an all-you-can-eat hot dog on Saturday and a lesson in holding a hot dog.

“We’re a fun, irreverent brand, and we love to have a say in all things hot dog in Chicago,” said Ari Levy, co-owner of The Wieners Circle. “So when we saw a poor kid drop his hot dog and it went viral, we thought it would be fun to bring him out.”

The Wieners Circle put out a call on Twitter to find the boy and then received a direct message from the father, Robert Hubler.

“No kid should eat a bun without a hot dog,” Levy said by phone. “He’s a very funny kid — I went up to him and met him and said, ‘Are you the guy who lost his hot dog and then did this?’ I was doing the palm with both hands,” Levy explained. “And he said, ‘It was one hand!'”

Hubler, who took her boys to lifeguard swimming lessons on Tuesday, said Matthew is a typical kid with atypical interests.

“He’s obsessed with the digestive system and the stomach is his favorite organ,” she said, trying not to laugh as her boys slept in the back.

Matthew turned four at the end of July and had an organ birthday party for which Hubler was looking for “any anatomical structures” to decorate.

“One of the funniest things was when I asked him what color he wanted his cake to be, he said, ‘yellow like stomach acid,'” Hubler said.

“It is, as it were, his business. If he sees something that might resemble a digestive system, such as a toy car, he will start with the ‘mouth’ and work his way through the entire system,” she added.

Hubler, an Oak Park native, said they’re a family that’s broken up when it comes to a lot of things. Her husband is from Michigan, but they’re going to let the kids decide their sports team loyalty.

“Matthew usually just picks his favorite animal or color,” she said.

The Detroit Tigers invited the family to a home game over Labor Day weekend, and Hubler is excited for her boys to experience another ball game up close. Matthew, who deals with sensory issues, will probably wear headphones again to drown out the loud noises and fireworks.

Hubler said the Aug. 14 moment was a “good reaction day” and wonders if he would have eaten a real hot dog if he hadn’t fallen.

“He’s definitely a nice guy,” she said. “Who knows – he’s a typical kid, they’ll eat things in weird ways.”

Between the hot dog mistake and its proximity to the human body, Hubler said it’s been fun sharing her son’s little world with people who are interested in getting to know him.

“It’s hard to describe him because he’s calm, but he’s goofy and so curious about everything and how it works, so the digestive system,” she said. “Then he’ll go around calling everyone ‘poop.’ So… you know.’

zsyed@chicagotribune.com

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