CJ praises ballpark fare at Slugger Field

[Robin Garr]

When I read the headline on Marty's weekly column about food today, I thought the man had finally lost it, although a closer reading of his 742-word essay on ballpark fare - significantly longer than his Saturday restaurant reviews - seems a bit more nuanced than the headline writer's breathless praise:

[url=http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070511/FEATURES02/705110314/1044/SCENE02[/url]<B>In Search of Good Food</b>
Fare at Slugger Field scores a home run[/url]

It's basically an enumeration of many food items available at the park, with specific praise for the pork chop (correct), the hard-to-find Beef de Ville sandwich (iffy) and a fruit smoothie.

All in all, though, this piece reads like PR fluff, and that's regrettable, since the fact of the matter is that just all the food at Slugger Field in recent years (except the pork chop) is lackluster and overpriced.

Hmm...A Maui Wowie smoothie with rum sounds like a winner...I will have to try one the next time I visit Slugger Field...I would love to see Slugger Field serve Maryland crab cakes like they do at another retro ball park...Oriole Park at Camden Yards...

It's doubtful that you will ever see a crab cake at Louisville Slugger Field. Most Major Leauge stadiums do offer local specilaities(crab cakes in Baltimore,cheese steaks in Philly,fish tacos in San Diego etc...) However we do have one local favorite here with the fried baloney sandwich! I would love to see a hand held version of the Hot Brown myself, although I would hate to see how dumbed down Centerplate would make it.

Marty:
this is ballpark food, after all, not fine dining.

Speaking of decent ballpark food


Robin:
All in all, though, this piece reads like PR fluff, and that's regrettable


I am kind of curious as to being critical of the food at the ballpark, what does one expect, fine dining? Marty's comments indicate that of course that is not the case. I think Marty's article was very good and informative for the average fan that doesn't know what the ballpark serves, their options and where to find the food that he is describing. I go to the ballpark a few times a season and I found the article to be informative, interesting and well written. I doubt that there is an affiliation between the paper and Slugger field so I don't see it as PR but as informative piece.

I agree that the headline is glowing compared to the descriptions of the food, however, who knows if Marty even makes the headline? If if he doesn't make it I'm sure there is someone behind the scene that puts some thought into it so that headline basically grabs the readers attention in order to get the reader to look at the article.

[Robin Garr]

I agree that the headline is glowing compared to the descriptions of the food, however, who knows if Marty even makes the headline? If if he doesn't make it I'm sure there is someone behind the scene that puts some thought into it so that headline basically grabs the readers attention in order to get the reader to look at the article.

It's true that editors, not the writers, write the headlines.

I dunno ... I acknowledged that Marty's column was more reasonable than the headline, Brian, and agreed that the pork chop is the pick of the establishment.

Having just written a similar, somewhat more critical, article for LEO last week, though, I just think Marty is more forgiving than I think proper. No, it's not a restaurant. But when you're being charged $6 for a small basket of french fries with three tiny fried-chicken tenders on top, and when the overall fare is markedly lackluster, and when it's expensive and typically served by either sullen low-wage Centerplate employees or eager but inexperienced volunteers, I really can't buy the argument that "good enough for ballpark fare" deserves much praise.

I think Marty was pointing everyone in the right direction, stick to peanuts, hotdogs and beer at the ole ballpark

And I agree that the prices are high, however, most have come to expect that at any sporting event. It doesn't matter if you go to Freedom Hall, Rupp, Indy or Cincy pro teams, they are all priced unbelievably high but people have come to expect that high pricing for food, beer and drinks at sporting venues.

I don't mind so much at Slugger if it means supporting our beautiful ballpark and keeping it viable.

And there are choices that can keep the cost down if you don't get extravagant and keep to the basics.

[Robin Garr]

I don't mind so much at Slugger if it means supporting our beautiful ballpark and keeping it viable.

Let the record reflect that our little company has been a Club Level season-ticket holder since Slugger Field opened, and I've eaten many a "dinner" there.

And there are choices that can keep the cost down if you don't get extravagant and keep to the basics.

Nevertheless, as a restaurant, it bites.

[Robin Garr]

I think Marty was pointing everyone in the right direction, stick to peanuts, hotdogs and beer at the ole ballpark

The hot dogs are okay. The Slugger Dog is very good, and one concourse station sells something called the Grand Slam ($5.25) that's an all-beef Nathan's, literally a foot long, with their own fixins bar that includes neon-green Chicago-style relish. This may be the second-best item in the ball park after the pork chop, and two can easily share one of them.

The beer, as Marty pointed out, although perhaps with insufficient wrath, is Budweiser and Bud-owned labels.

Peanuts? Problematical. The cello-wrapped packets are often stale. I used to love the stand that sells them hot from the roaster in brown paper bags, but twice last year they were selling perceptibly rancid nuts, and that was the end of that story for me.

I think I need to write a follow-up to the LEO article ...

Ok, so how bout we narrow it down to suggesting that you smuggle in a pint of bourbon and your own bag of roasted peanuts

I think I need to write a follow-up to the LEO article ...

Why bother Robin? It's a ballpark. Peanuts and cracker jacks are popular I hear. I am gonna go out on a limb and say most people don't go there for food. Besides, good food may actually ruin the experience. When I see articles about ballpark food I tend to skip over them and become deflated. I like to hear about restaurants in food articles. New ones and ones I have yet to patronize. Not to say that there aren't those who may like the whimsical change to talking about ballpark food. I go to watch baseball and then starve because I am not paying ridiculous prices for average to below average food.

If you do decide to hit the ballpark, why not hit the flea markets and movie theaters and high school football games and Freedom hall and Kentucky Kingdom........?

[Robin Garr]

If you do decide to hit the ballpark, why not hit the flea markets and movie theaters and high school football games and Freedom hall and Kentucky Kingdom........?

Actually, I've done most of those!

I figure if it's food, and people are being asked to pay to eat it, then it's fair game.

If you do decide to hit the ballpark, why not hit the flea markets and movie theaters and high school football games and Freedom hall and Kentucky Kingdom........?

Actually, I've done most of those!

I figure if it's food, and people are being asked to pay to eat it, then it's fair game.

I know you have.

I understand the motivation and the possible factors involved. I would also like to open a dialog into which items served at ballparks for human consumption is food and which isn't.

I think Marty was pointing everyone in the right direction, stick to peanuts, hotdogs and beer at the ole ballpark

Exactly. When I go, I drink beer, get some peanuts and a baloney sammy. I have to admit that Maui Wowie with rum sounds quite tempting.

I think I need to write a follow-up to the LEO article ...

Why bother Robin? It's a ballpark. Peanuts and cracker jacks are popular I hear. I am gonna go out on a limb and say most people don't go there for food. Besides, good food may actually ruin the experience.

At sporting venues throughout the country, the range has been broadened, to the profit of teams and satisfaction of non-traditional fans. Last year I had sushi and locally brewed IPA at Safeco Field in Seattle. I almost cried.

But here in Louisville, which races ahead in virtually every other measurable respect, we get stuck with the King of Beer (aka mass produced pet shampoo) and the King of the Luddites (Bats management).

Each year, Bats management declares its contempt for the modern world, and for some reason people look for ways to let them off the hook. It's only baseball ... it's all about lowbrow, anyway ... hell, stale peanuts were good enough for me when I was a kid ... etc, etc.

In point of fact, its inexcusable that Bats management continues to practice the tried and true low-com-denom placement routine instead of embracing a successful marketing concept, one that almost every other sporting operation has done: Recognize that there is a whole different group of fans who'd like to have a legitimate choice at a ballgame.

Then again, dumbing down just isn't my cup of tea (Lipton).