take me out ballgame

Forget hot dogs and hamburgers, the food that we are used to eating at the ballpark is on its way out.

Camden Yard has some of the best food options of any ballpark in the MLB.  Two items that are huge fan favorites are Boog’s BBQ and the crab nachos at the Chipper. Of course, crab is going to be very popular since its right in Baltimore, Maryland, a state known for its crab and seafood. Another fan favorite is the Chesapeake fries which is waffle fries covered with mounds of fresh Maryland crab dip. 

IMG SOURCE: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg6xQRml4f5/?utm_source=ig_embed

Having delicious and interesting food is so important for parks and stadiums to offer these days. Good food is now just another part of the fan experience.

IMG SOURCE: https://www.thebostoncalendar.com/events/2018-boston-red-sox-home-opener

Fenway Park is the oldest baseball park at 106-years-old.  After being around for over a century, Fenway has to work hard to keep up with amenities that newer parks have, but also keep the history of the park alive.

Over $300 million has been invested in the improvement of Fenway Park since 2002. Gilbane Inc., with offices in Boston, was the general contractor for the 2017 improvements.

Improvement includes:

• Dugout Expansion
• Tully Tavern
• New Day-of-Game Suites
• Right Field Terrace Video Board
• Removable field wall in front of bullpens
• Virtual reality batting cage
• Expanded Rooftop Space
• Pesky Pole Refurbished
• Dell EMC Club
• New Concession Offerings

Even by making new improvements and modernizing different aspects of the park, Fenway still has the feel of a classic, historic park.

Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, PNC Park,  is one of the most beautiful ballparks in baseball. With views of the downtown Pittsburgh skyline, the Allegheny River and Roberto Clemente bridge. On game day, only pedestrian traffic is permitted on the Clemente Bridge, which is something every baseball fan should experience.

With a capacity of 38,362, PNC Park is one of baseball’s smallest ballparks. The main grandstand at PNC Park features two main seating decks that extend from the right field foul pole to home plate and around to the left field foul pole. Club seats, located on the lower section of the upper deck; and the press box, located at the top of the upper deck, allow for the upper-level seats to be much closer to the field. Luxury suites are between the lower and upper decks. In the outfield, fans can sit in the section of bleachers in left field or sit in right field and try to catch a home run ball.

 

IMG SOURCE: https://pixabay.com/en/pnc-park-pittsburgh-pennsylvania-1587285/

PNC Park has many options for food like, Smorgasburgh that offers popular items from some of Western Pennsylvania’s favorite eateries and Pop’s Plaza that offers more traditional ballpark food. Other areas include shops along General Robison Street such as Diamond Pizza and Atria’s Restaurant, that are accessible from inside and outside PNC Park. The River Walk, gives fans views of the city, the river, and the field.  In the right field corner is the Budweiser Bowtie Bar, a U-shaped bar where fans can enjoy a beer or other alcoholic beverages while watching the game.

Between the food, views and the great baseball, PNC Park is everything a trip to a ballpark should be.

MLBTradeRumors is an established baseball blog. It is not overseen or run by the MLB.  This blog provides fans with rumors and information about players and possible trades. It is essentially a baseball gossip blog.

The site does a great job of generating interesting and engaging content for its reader. In the post, Pirates Outright Nik Turley, the author Steve Adams does a great job of explaining the rumors and then extrapolating the facts to support the rumors.

This blog is a bit different than smaller scale blogs like mine. There are multiple people who write and create content for the site. To keep posts consistent in style and flow, Adams and the other authors follow AP Style which works to make sure that the author’s messages are accurately received by both their audiences.

I recently read a blog post from Joe Posnanski titled, Ranking the Stadiums. In this post, Posnanski breaks out the 30 MLB parks into seven categories, giving a detailed explanation as to why each park is in its specific category.

I really enjoyed reading this post and learning more about baseball parks from someone else’s point of view. Posnanski evaluates the overall appearance of the parks and game watching experience from the fan perspective.

I think that this could be more detailed and include other factors into this ranking that are more specific, instead of being so broad. I am very interested to see how and if the rankings would change with more factors added in.

Hello! My name is Kate Waggoner and I am a junior at Elon University. I am a strategic communication major and a sports management minor. I am a long time sports fan. My favorite sports are baseball and basketball.

Welcome to Take me out to the Ballgame! I plan to write about the MLB parks that provide best fan experiences. This is based on new technology they are using, accessibility, food and drink quality, and more! I hope you enjoy!