Bennett Jacobstein - The joy of ballpark food : from hot dogs to haute cuisine

The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine

Copyright 2015 by Bennett Jacobstein

Published by Ballpark Food Publications

www.ballparkfood.org

ISBN 978-0-692-33654-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014922527

Ballpark Food Publications, San Jose, CA

Cover design and layout by Andy Nichols

Printed by Createspace

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission.

DISCLAIMER

All ballpark food photographs appearing herein, unless otherwise noted, were taken by Deborah L. Jacobstein during the 2014 Major League Baseball season. She was a paid attendee along with the author, Bennett Jacobstein, and they personally purchased the food products shown. Descriptions are principally in the authors own words, except as otherwise stated, and any errors are unintentional. Deborah L. Jacobstein and Bennett Jacobstein are not affiliated with Major League Baseball or any of the food purveyors at the ballparks.

To my father who took me to my first San Francisco Giants baseball game in 1965, and instilled in me a continuing love of baseball.

To my wife Debbie who finally became a baseball fan during the 2010 San Francisco Giants pennant race.

To my daughter Aviva and daughter-in-law Marya who have little interest in baseball, are vegetarian-inclined, but still were able to enjoy a Fenway Frank when I took them to a Red Sox game.

CONTENTS

I would like to thank all my family and friends who encouraged me in this project.

Special acknowledgments:

to Tim Wiles and the staff of the Research Library at the National Baseball Hall of Fame for providing assistance and access to their collections.

to Fran Galt who used his extensive knowledge of both baseball and English grammar to edit the final text.

to N.E. for her assistance with research and helping me to get my thoughts down on paper.

to Ellen Gilmore for editing my initial drafts.

to Elizabeth, Kay, Gary, and the staff at the San Jose Giants concession stand who make being a ballpark vendor an incredibly fun experience.

to Mother Nature for allowing us to visit all 30 stadiums within one season without a rainout.

to Andy Nichols for providing the book layout and design.

to my wife Debbie for accompanying me to the stadiums, being my official food photographer, taste-testing foods that I didnt want to eat, and encouraging me when I needed it.

The goal of this book is to celebrate the joy of ballpark food while helping those in need of food. All of the royalties from the sales of this book are being donated directly to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties of California.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties is the trusted leader dedicated to ending local hunger. Since its inception in 1974, Second Harvest has become one of the largest food banks in the nation, providing food to more than 250,000 people each month. The Food Bank mobilizes individuals, companies, and community partners to connect people to the nutritious food they need. More than half of the food distributed is fresh produce. Second Harvest also plays a leading role in promoting federal nutrition programs and educating families on how to make healthier food choices.

PEANUTS 1957 Peanuts Worldwide LLC. Dist. By UNIVERSAL UCLICK.
Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (yes, there really is such a thing), 21,357,316 hot dogs and 5,508,887 sausages are estimated to be consumed at major league ballparks in 2014. Clearly, the U.S. sporting public agrees with Charlie Brown that a baseball game in front of a hot dog makes the hot dog taste great.

Baseball is a game that is identified with food. We even sing about it at every ballpark during the seventh inning stretch: .buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack... The famous song was written by Jack Norworth in 1908.

From the early part of the twentieth century until the 1980s, classic baseball fare consisted mostly of hot dogs, ice cream, peanuts, and Cracker Jack. Then ballparks slowly began to sell new items. Traditionalists fought against the expansion of the ballpark menu.

Now, teams around the country sell a variety of exotic food. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, if Jack Norworth were alive today, hed be turning over in his grave to see Dungeness crab sandwiches on baguettes, smoked pastrami Reubens, garlic fries and veggie burgers now being sold at baseball stadiums.

Iconic movie actor Humphrey Bogart once said, A hot dog at the ballgame beats roast beef at the Ritz. We go to the ballpark in order to put a baseball game in front of our hot dog (or today our Dungeness crab on a baguette).

In a 1988 best-selling book, author Bob Wood reports on his summer traveling to the then 26 major league baseball stadiums. Although the book mostly covered topics other than food, he chose to name it Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks: And All the Wieners in Between. Food is indeed a defining factor for baseball fans.

The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine begins with the history of the first hot dog at a ball game and concludes with a culinary tour of all 30 major league ballparks.

Dreamland, Coney Island, N.Y., 1904. Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-115624.

Literary scholars have debated for decades whether Shakespeare actually wrote the plays attributed to him. Similarly, there are opposing theories, each with its own advocates, of how the hot dog as we know it came to be.

The familiar American hot dog is a type of German sausage served in a roll and handheld for eating. It is widely believed that many butchers in America commonly sold the sausage (known as a dachshund sausage) during the nineteenth century. What is in dispute, however, is who came up with the idea of putting the dachshund sausage in a roll or bun and calling it a hot dog.

Was it...

in the 1860s when a German immigrant whose name remains unknown sold them from a pushcart in New York Citys Bowery?

in 1871 when Charles Feltman opened up a stand on Coney Island? (An employee of Feltmans, Nathan Handwerker, eventually went on to found Nathans Famous Hot Dogs.)

in 1893 when they were introduced at the Chicago Columbian Exposition by Austrian immigrants Emil Reichel and Sam Ladany?

in 1893 when Chris Von de Ahe, St. Louis bar owner and owner of the St. Louis Browns baseball team, sold them at his ballpark?

in 1901 when Harry M. Stevens sold them at the Polo Grounds, home of the New York Giants, on a cold day when ice cream was not selling well? (More about this in the next chapter.)

in 1904 when a Bavarian sausage seller named Anton Feuchtwanger sold them at the St. Louis Louisiana Purchase Exposition? (As the story goes, he loaned white gloves to his customers to hold his hot sausages. Most of the gloves were not returned. He reportedly asked his brother-in-law, a baker, for help. The baker improvised long, soft rolls that fit the meat, thus inventing the hot dog bun.)