Take me out for some pulled pork.
I don’t care if we ever get back — as long as I can have a pork chop sandwich at some point as well.
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Ballpark food is a huge part of the live baseball experience. And I’ve been lucky enough to sample the live baseball experience in a couple dozen minor league ballparks all over the country.
For several years, I planned my vacations around visiting minor league parks in places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or Batavia, N.Y. It’s a great way to see small-town America and a great way to find out what’s cooking in those regions.
Here’s a quick list of the best baseball food I’ve had while watching minor league baseball, and where the tasting took place. All of the teams have websites accessible through minorleaguebaseball.com.
PULLED PORK SANDWICH — Savannah Sand Gnats, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, Ga. This was the pulled pork I always imagined was available in the South but was never quite sure really existed: a mountain of falling-apart-tender pork with just a touch of sauce. It wasn’t smothered like pulled pork in the North.
The Sand Gnats, a class A affiliate of the New York Mets, play in a beautiful brick 1920s ballpark, located on a mossy, tree-lined street just 10 minutes or so from the downtown. The other concession bonus was that unlike some ballparks, they trust you to drink responsibly in Savannah. I was able to purchase a 20-ounce microbrew with my sandwich, so I didn’t have to leave my seat later for a second beer.
PORK CHOP SANDWICH — Cedar Rapids Kernels, Veterans Memorial Stadium, Cedar Rapids, Iowa: In Savannah, it was the way they cooked the pork that caught my attention, but in Cedar Rapids, it was the pork itself. In a region known for prize-winning hogs, this was by far the best pork chop I ever had. It was about 3 inches thick and tender as butter. I added a little brown mustard, but it was great plain.
The stadium — home to the class A Cedar Rapid Kernels, an affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels — is less than 10 years old, with nice seats and views of residential neighborhoods.
AWFUL AWFUL — Norwich Navigators, Dodd Stadium, Norwich, Conn.: When I went to Dodd Stadium — a beautiful, fan-friendly park oddly placed in an industrial park — it was home to the Norwich Navigators, an Eastern League rival of the Portland Sea Dogs. But now the park has a new tenant, the Connecticut Tigers, a low class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
The food star when I went a few years ago was the best chocolate milkshake I’ve ever had, dubbed the “Awful Awful” and made by Rhode Island-based Newport Creamery. “Awful big and awful good,” the slogan goes. I only found out later that the Awful Awful doesn’t have ice cream; it uses frozen ice milk and is filled with “secret” ingredients.
The concessions at Dodd Stadium are located on a concourse above the seating bowl, so you don’t miss any of the game while waiting for your food and drinks.
FUNNEL CAKES — Harrisburg Senators, Metro Bank Park, Harrisburg, Pa.: Every region has its own variation of a fried-dough treat. Here in New England, we use the creatively named “fried dough,” while in Harrisburg and other places, it’s “funnel cake.” They are made by pouring the batter through a funnel into the oil and sort of doodling little patterns with the dough as you go. So the consistency is different than fried dough, because it’s basically a mass of connected fried dough tubes.
OK, I’m getting too technical. It was hot, crispy and delicious, with powdered sugar.
The stadium is on an island in the Susquehanna River, connected by bridges to downtown, so it’s a beautiful place to see a ballgame. The day I went, the Sea Dogs were in town to play the Senators, as they’re both in the class AA Eastern League.
KIELBASA SANDWICH — New Britain Rock Cats, New Britain Stadium, New Britain, Conn.: Locally made Polish sausage on a sub roll, with sauerkraut. It had a whole range of flavors and textures you just don’t get in a store-bought kielbasa. The Rock Cats, another of the Sea Dogs’ Eastern League rivals, play in a very nice stadium with several dining decks and patios in view of the field.
SEA DOGS BISCUIT — Portland Sea Dogs, Hadlock Field, Portland: People often take for granted what is most familiar to them. But I can tell you, after sampling food in at least two dozen ballparks, the Sea Dogs Biscuit is a standout. Yes, there are other ice cream-cookie sandwich treats, but in many, the cookies get hard, or the ice cream is inferior and prone to melting. The Sea Dogs Biscuit gives you the best of both tastes. Every time.
Staff Writer Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at: rrouthier@pressherald.com
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