As scientists search for all the secrets of the human genome, no doubt some day they will find within our genetic makeup a gene for “ballpark food.”
It’s the gene that, when you hear the crack of a bat or the roar of a crowd, triggers a craving for a Fenway Frank.
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Not only can you blame this ballpark gene — let’s call it HtDg1 — for your hot dog jones, it also blocks receptors for things like fruit and salads. People who would ordinarily never let a hot dog touch their lips will wolf them down like real dogs if there’s a baseball uniform anywhere in sight.
It’s the same gene that caused Red Sox player Dustin Pedroia to leave the Red Sox clubhouse in the middle of a game last month so he could buy three hot dogs at a concession stand.
“I was hungry,” Pedrioa said, according to news reports. “The Red Sox have no food.”
Matt Drivas, concessions manager at Hadlock Field in Portland, is intimately familiar with the ballpark gene. It’s the same gene that once caused him to order two hot dogs, a pretzel and two beers at a Celtics game, even though he’d just had a nice dinner out in Boston.
“Some people would like to have more healthy food, which I understand, but the problem is not many people buy healthy food when they come here,” he said. “It’s kind of your respite from healthy food when you come to the ballpark, you know?”
So, what will Sea Dogs fans find on the menu on opening day Thursday at Hadlock Field?
Along with the usual steak-and-cheese sandwiches, pizza, fries, popcorn, fried dough and Sea Dogs Biscuits, you’ll find better-tasting burgers that are now made from Pineland Meats. Drivas said the staff was impressed by how much better the local meat was compared with the generic frozen patties they usually serve at Hadlock. (The Pineland burgers are actually processed in Massachusetts, then shipped back up to Maine.)
“We tried them and fell in love with them,” Drivas said.
The price of the hamburger will remain the same, $4.50. The cheeseburger will be going up a quarter to $4.75.
In late May, baseball fans will find a new frozen yogurt umbrella cart over by left field selling Shain’s of Maine frozen yogurt. Shain’s, the same company that makes the popular Sea Dogs Biscuit, makes 15 flavors of frozen yogurt.
Owner Jeff Shain said he hasn’t decided yet which flavors he’ll sell at Hadlock, but the cart will likely feature two of the company’s most popular flavors, Coffee Toffee Crunch and Chocolate Peanut Butter.
Both items sound like good additions, but they’re not exactly going to wow the fans like a homer smacked right over center field. Some minor league ballparks get really creative with their fare, as seen in a Sports Illustrated article last year that named the “Top 10 Minor League Ballpark Foods.”
The Sacramento River Cats serve their fans salmon tacos with shredded cabbage, fire-roasted salsa and julienned radish. They’re both healthy and mouth-watering.
Fans of the Memphis Redbirds chow down on barbecue nachos.
The folks who do the food for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals have created a hybrid of the hot dog and the funnel cake called the “funnel dog.”
Perhaps the most creative (but also the most disgusting) item on the Sports Illustrated list is the Gateway Grizzlies’ (Sauget, Ill.) version of a ballpark burger, known simply by the cocky name “Baseball’s Best Burger.” This popular burger is made with two slices of bacon and sharp cheddar cheese, and is slapped between two slices of a Krispy Kreme Doughnut. Chances are, after eating one of these, you may actually have a heart attack after the ump makes a bad call.
Drivas said he is constantly considering new additions to the Hadlock Field menu, and he takes suggestions from the public seriously. The idea for the new yogurt cart, for example, came from some fans who had requested it.
But Drivas also thinks about what kind of things he’d want to buy himself at a ballgame. Lobster rolls, for example, are offered in the skyboxes at Hadlock Field, but there is no concession stand version yet, despite their iconic status in Maine.
“I figure if I’m going to get a lobster roll, I know where I’m going to go to get the lobster roll I want,” the native Mainer said. “And I don’t know that I would want to buy a lobster roll at Hadlock Field, coming up to a concession stand.”
Food brokerage companies start visiting the Hadlock staff around January or February to show off items they think fans would like. Every now and then, something clicks.
One item the behind-the-scenes staff loves is partially pre-fried fried dough. It comes into the ballpark frozen, and you just throw it in the fryolator. Yes, fresh is usually better. But Drivas points out that, at a ballpark, most things come pre-packaged because the people waiting in line at concessions would rather get back quickly to the game than wait for fresh dough balls to be cut and shaped for fried dough.
If it’s any consolation, the pizza dough was once frozen but is now made fresh, with dough from Al’s Variety in Scarborough.
The need for speed is also the reason why the menu can’t be expanded too much, although Drivas admits he is constantly on the lookout for new ballpark food when he travels.
“I call it a busman’s holiday,” he said. “Every time we go someplace, I’m always looking around.”
The most popular items at Hadlock are hot dogs and Sea Dogs Biscuits. The players love those Sea Dogs Biscuits as much as the fans, and the clubhouse manager periodically comes down to the food service area to grab a case or two for them.
Drivas said he’d still like to add something healthier to the menu — it’s just a matter of finding the right product. There’s a veggie burger already available, but when Drivas tried selling fruit — both sliced and whole — it was a financial flop.
He also has to worry about shelf life. Fruit not sold at one home game may not last until the next time the Sea Dogs are in town.
He’s still considering adding a salad of some kind, but sounds skeptical about how it will be received by the fans.
“There is something about baseball and hot dogs” he said.
Blame it on HtDg1.
Staff Writer Meredith Goad can be contacted at 791-6332 or at: mgoad@pressherald.com
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