For many of us food is a big part of travel and for some, visiting ballparks can be another fun thing to do when traveling. If you like both of these things you’ll want to read on…
In recent years I’ve chosen some domestic trip destinations based on the local Major League Baseball team being in town.
To date, I’ve seen games at 15 MLB ballparks (including 2 for each NY team) and toured one other during the off-season. I also enjoyed seeing a game in Japan’s professional league, seeing the Yokohma BayStars back in 2013.
Food at baseball stadiums has been improving over the past few years with some stadiums even serving what we could consider really excellent food.
Check out a couple of food-related baseball posts:
Last month I received an e-mail about a very interesting book that came out in January 2015. The book sounded like a great resource and one that I was curious to check out.
I gladly accepted a review copy of “The Joy of Ballpark Food“.
Bennett Jacobstein and his wife visited every Major League Baseball stadium during the 2014 season. The main purpose of their trip was to check out the food options at each of these parks.
The book starts off with a brief introduction about ballpark food and then goes on to discuss the hot dog’s history and connection to baseball. Interesting stuff…
Other food-items are discussed like Cracker Jacks and peanuts along with “old-time food offerings and prices” with a bunch of cool photos.
The Joy of Ballpark Food is well researched and offers lots of details about newer ballpark foods. The part I was most interested in was checking out the “Culinary Tour” of Major League Parks.
I find the book most useful (to me) as a reference to find out about ballparks I plan to visit in the future.
Going through the book made me quite hungry! I payed extra close attention to the section on the Mets (and Yankees) since I’ve been to the park so many times. The author didn’t seem to cut corners in listing the foods available at each park.
The next time I plan a visit to a ballpark I’ll be sure to check out this useful book to get an idea of what kind of food I’d like to try.
Will it be Latin food at a Marlins game? Poutines if I visit Toronto again? Bumpy Cake and Bavarian Pretzel Sticks look like tasty snacks to try in Detroit! If you happen to go to a Braves game, I’d recommend trying a burger from Holeman and Finch. You also can’t go wrong getting something from Shake Shack at a Mets (or Nationals) game.
In Conclusion:
While the book is a great resource for ballpark food, the author also wrote it for a great reason, to help out and give back.
The Joy of Ballpark Food “is independently published using the Createspace feature on Amazon.com“. And what’s most impressive is that 100% of the royalties from book sales go directly to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties in California.
I really enjoyed reading through The Joy of Ballpark Food and if you like baseball & food, my guess is that you would like it too!
The book can be purchased on amazon.com in paperback for $27.50.
Other Baseball Posts:
