Disputed Calls: Peanuts or pâté -- which foods are fair game at the ballpark?
When the camera panned to Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher digging into some fancy fare at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, Giants broadcaster Jon Miller offered this bit of commentary: "Somebody get them a hot dog. This isn't right -- this is a ballgame." Is Miller correct? How should fans chow down at the stadium?
What’s the first thing you think of when someone mentions hot dogs, peanuts or Cracker Jack? Besides "high cholesterol," your answer should be baseball.
Like pine tar, bubble gum and overweight first basemen, these foods have been stadium staples for decades. Some teams have even put their own spin on the classics -- witness the Fenway Frank, the Astros' Smokey Joe and the Boomstick at Rangers Ballpark.
And now some baseball stadiums are supplementing these timeless treats with grilled chicken and Caesar salads? With sushi? I guess those are healthier options – and I’m all for being healthy (not really at all) – but raw fish just doesn’t scream "baseball" to me.
First of all, these newer foods are much more difficult to eat. You don’t need plates or utensils to chow down on hot pretzels or peanuts. You just pop ‘em in your mouth -- can o’ corn.
But sushi? Chopsticks, forks, knives, tiny soy sauce packets … the list goes on.
And let's talk about ease of delivery. Stadium vendors can toss a bag of peanuts or a foil-wrapped dog from 10 rows away. The food comes right to you. Now imagine a summer corn salad or some kind of vegan veggie soup hurtling through the air. Things could get very messy, very fast.
The point is, peanuts, hot dogs and the like are what the old ball game is all about -- and I have baseball’s most iconic song to back me up.
I'm in the economics game. When it comes to food, I'm constantly seeking the biggest bang for my buck. And that's precisely why I forgo eating all the "traditional" foods at ballgames and go straight for the fancy stuff.
You might be thinking to yourself, "But Jeremy, buying sushi is going to be so much more expensive than some peanuts and Cracker Jack!" That's a valid point. But are you really getting what you pay for?
We all know that food at baseball games isn't cheap. Only at airports and ballparks do I expect to pay more than $4 for a soda. So if I'm going to lay out good money for some grub, wouldn't I rather get something special than something generic?
No offense to the peanut industry, but peanuts are kinda plain. I've never gone to a store and thought to myself, "Man, I'm pumped to shell out $6 for a bag of peanuts." However, I have been to a sushi restaurant and decided to spend $10 or more on a roll or two. So why should that change when I'm at a baseball game?
For all this talk about traditional ballpark food, we're forgetting about an evening greater tradition: Eating so much food at the game that you can't even stand up by the time the seventh-inning stretch rolls around.
I don't know about you, but I don't want to get full on a bunch of lame snacks. I want sashimi. And I want a lot of it.