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Minor League Baseball Stadiums Are Offering Curbside Concession Pickups

In Friday’s Hot Clicks: ballpark food is available for takeout now, ESPN’s upcoming Tom Brady project and more.

Dan Gartland

Take me out to the ballpark parking lot

If you’re craving some junk food from your local ballpark, you may just be able to get it to go. 

Several minor league teams across the country are offering curbside pickup of their concession items. You might not be able to enjoy a night out at the park with your family but you can at least eat like it. 

The best part of the minor leagues, of course, are the prices. The Rochester Red Wings’ signature “Trash Can” is still just $6, or you can get a six-pack of domestic beer for $10. A hot dog from the Burlington Bees costs $3, or you can get a burger for $4. The Lake County Captains are selling meal kits that serve a family of four for $40. 

Some teams included sweet bonuses in their plans. The Clinton Lumberkings offered a free bobblehead with orders over $25. If you ordered a meal kit from the Sacramento RiverCats, you got a free bottle of wine.

With restrictions easing in some states, a few teams are able to offer in-stadium dining. The Pensacola Blue Wahoos’ waterfront stadium is open seven days a week for dining, including a Sunday brunch. The Cedar Rapids Kernels opened their ballpark to fans on Wednesday to eat lunch on the concourse.

It’s a smart move for teams. They’re sitting on a stockpile of perishable food that was meant to serve thousands of fans on a nightly basis. Making food available for pickup allows them to unload that supply while maintaining a connection to the community. The Fort Wayne Tincaps took some of their surplus concessions food and donated it to a local medical facility. 

Not every franchise is doing curbside concessions orders but if you’re missing the ballpark experience, it’s worth checking out whether the team in your area is allowing you to take that experience home. 

This is gonna stink

Fresh off the success of The Last Dance, ESPN is working with Tom Brady on a nine-part documentary about Tom Brady. 

It’s going to be nothing but hero worship. Just look at what Brady had to say about the project. 

“I’m excited to have my company 199 Productions be in business with ESPN and Disney along with our Religion of Sports partners to launch this new series that gives an inside look into the championship moments I’ve been blessed to experience,” Brady said in a statement. “Through the series, we’re defining the key moments and challenges that were seemingly insurmountable, but through hard work and perseverance, became career-defining triumphs, in both victory and defeat.”

It’s exceedingly difficult to produce a compelling documentary about a person when you also have to get their approval for everything, especially with a person as image-conscious as Brady. Any worthwhile Brady documentary would have to meaningfully address Deflategate and what a shameless huckster Alex Guerrero is, but we won’t be seeing any of that in whatever kind of fluff ESPN and 199 Productions plan to make. 

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Dan Gartland
DAN GARTLAND

Dan Gartland is the writer and editor of Sports Illustrated’s flagship daily newsletter, SI:AM, covering everything an educated sports fan needs to know. He joined the SI staff in 2014, having previously been published on Deadspin and Slate. Gartland, a graduate of Fordham University, is a former Sports Jeopardy! champion (Season 1, Episode 5).

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