MLB Opening Day Calls Adventurous Eaters To The Plate

MLB’s opening day is Wednesday, and with the first pitch in ballparks across North America comes the reveal of convention-defying snacks.

There’s a bit of state fair shock value on the menus in stadiums serving as home base for the 30 MLB teams. Dogs and beer are perennial MVPs in ballpark snacks, but there are also choices for adventurous eaters who want to check a bizarre gastronomical indulgence off their bucket list.

Some of the freaky ballpark foods featured below are new, while others are returning fan favorites.

Get Over ‘It’s A Bug’ Phase

It’s not much of a leap to say that when it comes to weird ballpark eats, the toasted grasshoppers sold at Seattle Mariners home games jump to the top of this list. On the menu at T-Mobile Park since 2017, the crunchy snacks are served with a savory chili-lime salt seasoning.

“Not a fan,” SwaggertyHam said on Reddit. “Honestly, the flavor made me gag. I know many enjoy them; I’m just not sure why.”

“If you can get past the ‘they’re a bug’ phase, meh,” Jazzlike_Ad_9692 chimed in. “Not bad, not good. Kinda like a fry/chip with little to no seasoning on it. …”

It Does Not Taste Like Chicken

At American Family Field, home of the Milwaukee Brewers, there’s a stand filled with Wisconsin State Fair favorites, including an obligatory stab at something seemingly unsuitable for skewers: nachos, according to Brew Crew Ball.

At another stand, fans might think they’ve stumbled on a chicken leg like the ones Great Granny fried in pure lard before her arteries clogged.

This treat does not taste like chicken.

Not Fried Chicken is a drumstick-shaped dessert with chocolate at its core and topped with butterscotch and caramelized cornflakes.

Pickle Pizza ‘In That Perfect Zone’

The sheer number of variations of pickle snacks at state fairs is mind-boggling: battered deep-fried pickles, pickle popsicles, pickle lemonade — so, so many pickled things that it’s a pickle is to pick one.

Pickle pizza was a Minnesota State Fair food before it was a Minnesota Twins food, and not everyone is cool with it becoming more universally available.

“Was hoping Pickle Pizza would just stay at the state fair,” a user who goes by brak104 said on Reddit.

Calling it “a beautiful little agent of chaos,” Seat Geek said the ballpark’s pickle pizza “lives in that perfect zone between ‘that sounds completely wrong’ and ‘I absolutely need a slice.’”

Get Your Bone Marrow Here

Fans can meet the nutritional guidelines of the newly flipped food pyramid, which puts a heavy emphasis on protein, this year at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, including with Cochinita Pibil Bone Marrow, a pork dish that comes with bone marrow, blue corn tortillas and pickled onions.

After eating Loco Moco Bowl, which has a beef patty, rice, gravy and an egg, Dodgers fans may need to be reminded to refasten the button on their pants before rising for the seventh-inning stretch.

As Wrong As Sandals And Socks

A snack at Rogers Centre, the home of the Toronto Blue Jays attempts to satisfy the almost impossible to satiate craving salty sugar.

As the name suggests, Cotton Candy Fries are topped with a tuft of blue-colored spun sugar and drizzled with a blue mayo concoction.

“Cotton … can…dy? Why, why do that?” s2_genie wondered on Instagram.

“Ok, cotton candy fries remind me of people who wear socks [with] sandals. Both are completely wrong. Although, to their credit, in both cases, they would be the kind of regrettable mistake some sad sack who’s had too much to drink might make,” Insta user marksavona said. “But hey, what do I know?”

Never Have I Ever

Texas is famous for what it does with briskets, so it’s no surprise the Houston Astros are offering Brisket Donuts at Daikin Park. Lest you think brisket has been mixed in the deep-fried dough, it’s actually worse than that.

These ballpark snacks are made with the fattiest part of the cow, the brisket, which is ground like hamburger, shaped like a doughnut with a hole in the middle, deep-fried, and slathered with barbecue sauce. It’s served with a side of mac and cheese.

“I lived in Texas for 10 years, and not once have I thought to deep fry brisket,” randomdude4113 commented on Reddit.