Take Me Out To (Eat At) the Ballgame

The awesomeness that is bacon on a stick

The last place anyone would probably expect to find me is in a place where sports - particularly team sports - are played. I simply cannot get excited about cheering for a bunch of guys just because they happen to be wearing the right uniform.

That said, I will go just about anywhere to have a food adventure. And so when I was invited to take part in the Foodie Tour at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I put all my sports ennui aside and threw myself into the spirit of the thing.

The deal is this: Camden Yards is part of a growing number of ballparks highlighting local and regional cuisine rather than simply serving up wan hot dogs and institutional slop. A whole bunch of new items have been added to the stadium offerings in honor of the park's 20th anniversary. Foodie Tour participants were given a ticket listing eight items, each of which were available at no charge for a limited time:

Ready, set ... eat!

We were told to try as few or as many items as we liked. Well, you know Poppa Trix and me: We ate as many as we could.

First up: The crab mac and cheese dog from Stuggy's.

You know, as much as I love all three things on this bun I am not sure any of them are well served by putting them all together in one place. The dog is head and shoulders above your standard ballpark hot dog - no surprise if you're familiar with Stuggy's of Fells Point in Baltimore - but all that crab and mac and cheese sort of got in the way. Also, when I tried to eat it the mac kept falling off and landing on the floor.

That said, it's a fun idea and I didn't hate it. Maybe this would have worked better for me if I had a fork and a knife.

Next we tried the Camden Giant, a burger topped with a crab cake, courtesy of much beloved area franchise Gino's:

It's not particularly "giant," but I guess it's all relative. Yes, this is fast food, which I don't normally eat, but if I did I think I would be down with this. Before I tasted it, I doubted that the beef and crab flavors would both come through, but they did. The fries were surprisingly good - I didn't mean to eat them, but then ... I did. Oops. The Hoegaarden beer was a nice accompaniment.

But I suggest that you save your calorie allottment for the beer battered soft shell crab sandwich from the Old Bay Seafood Stand:

This was very crunchy, and way meatier than I was expecting. Poppa Trix was a huge fan. Home run.

By the way - get a load of those seats we were comped. Right behind home plate! I actually cheered when the guy with the stick hit the ball and everyone ran around the bases. Neat.

Another hit: Boog's pit beef sandwich (as in former Oriole Boog Powell):

I had heard mixed things about this Camden Yards staple - some people aren't fans, others rave about it. Normally, I want rare pit beef, but at a ballpark? Not so much. I was surprised, then, that at how moist the meat was, given its well done state. Poppa and I also quite liked Boog's mustard and barbecue sauce. A surprise success.  (But my heart will always belong to Jake's.)

Finally we hit up the Jack Daniels stand to score some bacon on a stick (that's what I'm chomping on in the top photo).

What could be wrong with a huge slab of bacon that's been smoked, grilled, and dipped in maple syrup, covered in Old Bay spices  and then stuck on a stick?

The answer: nothing.

Yes, we really ate all of that in one evening. The only things we didn't sample were the rockfish tacos and salad from Dempsey's and a giant pretzel in the shape of the letter "O." For Orioles. Get it?

In my defense, I already wrote about the tacos here, I figured I had ingested enough carbs without adding a pretzel to the mix, and I just couldn't see having a salad at the ballpark.

Overall, I have to say that was some pretty decent grub for a ballpark. There are worse things than grazing your way through a stadium's offerings, watching a ballgame on a breezy summer evening, and taking in some local color and scenery:

Just don't expect me to start rooting for any sports teams just yet. I am still firmly on Team Food.