Let’s play ball! Toronto Blue Jays are finally home – and we’re celebrating with traditional ballpark foods

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Batter up! Baseball season has finally arrived – and not a moment too soon, with Canada’s beloved Toronto Blue Jays playing their home opener on Friday, taking on the Texas Rangers for an evening performance at Toronto’s Rogers Centre that has everyone breathless with anticipation.

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And why not? It’s been a long, drawn-out two seasons of the Jays — and other teams — playing away from home, while the world struggled with the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, the boys of summer are back in town and chomping at the bit to just play ball!

Excitement among the fans is palpable as everyone gets ready to stand for the anthems, sit for sustenance and pray for a flyball. Because there is truly nothing more grassroots than the game of baseball, especially with the warm weather arriving and that special buzz in the air from the proverbial field of dreams fantasy that comes our way every spring.

Toronto sure is ready — especially with the offer of free TTC streetcar rides starting at 5:30 to 11:30 courtesy of Polar Ice, the official Canadian vodka of the team. And streetcars bring back a ton of memories to that very first game played in Toronto back on April 7, 1977. The Toronto Blue Jays were playing the Chicago White Sox in the city’s Exhibition Stadium, and the field was blanketed with snow before the first pitch was thrown. And yes, it was a nine to five victory for the Jays!

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The games gave everyone an appetite, especially when sitting in the sun. Hot dogs were the beloved go-to treat — produced in massive volume at that time — steamed, wrapped and ready to go, along with the obligatory popcorn and peanuts. Beer was just a dream at the time, but was introduced a few years after the games first started.

And, while the menu seemed mighty humble at the time, it was a reflection of everything that stood for the game — solid, rib-sticking fare that tasted like heaven when wolfed down in the open breeze. It was, quite simply, euphoric.

Today’s Blue Jay fans have an unbelievable variety of goodies to choose from, including the inclusion of Mary Brown’s Chicken for the first time ever. As for the hotdogs – you can get ’em field roasted, grilled, gluten-free even kosher Coney Island-style. You’ve got your foot long and your loaded cheeseburger dog and something  called the “Schneiders Stadium Hot Dog” — not available on Tuesdays.

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And, along with the chips and peanuts and crackers and ice cream — you can also order a Bavarian pretzel, because it wouldn’t be a baseball game without a pretzel in hand.

Considering brown-bagging it? Rogers Centre has a great food and beverage policy that allows guests to bring outside food into the stadium “as long as the items are wrapped, bagged or left inside a container to avoid spillage. Food containers must comply with bag policy and are soft-sided and small enough to fit under the  guest’s seat,” according to a recent media release. Plus plastic bottles and/or cans holding 600ml or less and non-alcoholic beverages will also be permitted — bringing your own alcohol is a no-no as are any edible cannabis products.

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Are hotdogs the most popular stadium snack?

Well, put it this way — baseball without hot dogs is like Romeo without Juliet, or Babe without Ruth.

Research shows hot dogs – franks, red hots, wiener dogs – were first sold at baseball games back in 1893, and they continue to be the fan favourite stadium fare, with a long and illustrious association that has transcended the history of the game – never mind what’s in the mystery filling. Or if we’d like our dog plain, grilled, steamed, smothered in a million toppings or, in some instances, injected with a quick hit of Jack Daniels.

The reality is the humble hot dog, is, without a doubt a beloved national institution in the world of sports, with millions consumed before season’s end. Many see the hot dog as an emotional attachment to the game, much like a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation.

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“The perfect hot dog is a classic baseball tradition,” said executive chef David Burns on the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council website (hot-dog.org), in a past interview. “The hot dog is ultimately customizable, which is why it appeals to a wide range of fans.”

“The hot dog is celebrated as not just fun food, but as a presentation of how North Americans think about themselves,” write authors Bruce Kraig and Patty Carroll in the excellent Man Bites Dog — Hot Dog Culture in  America (Altamira Press). “Everyone knows that hot dogs have always been the quintessential public dining treat.”

DID YOU KNOW:

* Children prefer hot dogs (first choice) to hamburgers (second choice) and ice cream.

* The average hot dog is consumed in 6.1 bites. (average-sized mouth tested)

* Mustard remains the most popular hot dog topping — 88% of hot dog eaters use mustard.

* Babe Ruth once ate 12 hot dogs and drank eight bottles of soda between games of a double header. He was reportedly rushed to the hospital after the game with a severe case of indigestion.

— weirdfacts.com