The Top 10 Baseball Ball Park Foods — That’s How This Man Sees It

Baseball season has officially begun.  Course, being a Texas Rangers fan, I wasn't happy with our opening day loss to the Houston Astros, but last night's near perfect game more than made up for it.  I'm a die hard fan from way back and my love of the game seems to grow every year.  And I think there's only one thing I love more than a baseball clearing the centerfield wall and that's ball park food. 

And this year, I'm helping to coach the team my youngest son Colt plays for in Haughton Dixie, so I'm probably going to spend the next couple months with a bottle of Tums in one hand and a greasy napkin in the other.

So, it occurred to me, why not list the Top 10 Ball Park Foods.  Maybe it will serve as a guide for all the rookies new to this fine cuisine.

1. Cheeseburger Meal.  The grilled right there at the concession stand double meat Cheeseburger and fries coated with Tony's.  A guaranteed heart attack in a cardboard boat, but man what a way to go.
2. Cheese Fries.  No season is complete without a hangover from these bad boys
3. Foot long chili cheese dog.  And I want enough onions on it that it looks like the concession lady cried more while she was cutting them than she did when Old Yeller died.
4. Nachos with chili, cheese and extra jalapenos.  Doesn't this one truly cover all the major food groups.
5. Popcorn.  And it really doesn't matter just how much butter or salt is added.  As long as you can smell it from the concession stand 200 feet away, you feel possessed to get a bag
6. Peanuts.  And I'm not talking "already shelled" peanuts in a bag.  I want to have the real deal with enough hulls scattered around my feet to make me 6 inches taller when I stand up on them.
7. Sunflower Seeds.  Is there really any other place that you'd actually order these than at the ballpark?
8. Chicken Tenders.  Yeah you can get these from any gas station in North America, but until you've gotten them at a ballpark, you've been denied one of the greatest joys of summer
9. Pickles.  Just like sunflower seeds, have you ever had a pickle outside the ballpark?  No one ever walks into Circle K and just orders a 6 inch long Dill Pickle.  In fact, I'm almost positive that pickles were only made 50 years ago and we're just living off of those one ball season at a time.
10. Chipped Beef Sandwich. I'm not sure just what part of the cow this meat comes from and it evidently is run through a blender long enough to remove any possible means of potential identification but they add just enough barbecue sauce to it to make this a pallet's dream.  Add fresh oversized buns, a mammoth cup of Coke and a handful of Tums and life suddenly gets a lot easier to handle.

So there they are.  The ten best reasons to show up day after day watching the kids pick clover in right field and cry when they get thrown out.  Just pace yourself and don't hit everything on the list at once.  Remember, it's a long season.  Course, that's just how this man sees it.