Baseball watching is a demanding sport that requires a lot of fuel to keep a body going during those nine long innings. They downed 1.3 million bags of peanuts, put away 1.1 million pretzels, devoured 835,000 slices of pizza, and guzzled 1 million gallons of soda and 630,000 kegs of beer. Sportservice Corp., the national food service company charged with feeding the masses at those ballparks, said fans consume literally tons of food each year. And one of the biggest days of the year is opening day.
Some people come because they love the game, while others are here for the atmosphere.
Some may never come to another ballgame this season, but opening day is a party that not many will miss. Back in those days, popcorn and peanuts were the staple of the few thousand spectators who showed up for a game. Today, more than a century later, some 50,000 fans are expected to fill Cinergy field on opening day and concessions will be stocked with more than 85 different menu items. Fans are starving for ballpark food after the winter break. Every year, we take some items off the menu that didn't do well in the previous season and add a few more items to give the fans some variety.