Baseball fans cheer for food

So you think Major League Baseball is all about the game on the field?

Wrong.

As any kid will tell you, it's about what you can eat at the ballpark.

I attended two Cardinal games in St. Louis over the weekend with my 9-year-old daughter. The weather was cold, but that didn't keep people from chowing down.

Bailey was no exception. She dined on everything from hot dogs to cotton candy and hot chocolate.

I had a bag of peanuts as well as some liquid refreshments, including hot chocolate to combat the cold temperatures.

Busch Stadium was packed. And it seemed virtually every fan was shelling out valuable cash on concession-stand munchies.

Unlike other professional sports, baseball has convenient breaks every half-inning. That makes it easy to find time to leave your seat and grab a bite.

There are also plenty of vendors roaming the stands to sell you cotton candy and other edibles. Of course, there are a lot of beer sales at ballgames. What would you expect when you have a stadium named after a brewery?

Regardless, it's clear that the main purpose of a baseball park is to herd thousands of hungry fans to concession stands where they willingly will spend a fortune on a hot dog and drink.

Even an overpriced bag of peanuts looks good when you're sitting in the stands.

"Play ball" may be the message from the umpire. But Bailey's ballpark refrain is "I'm hungry."

She views Busch Stadium as one big buffet line. And she's not alone.

From my experience, Cardinal fans have to be the hungriest fans around.

As a parent, I find getting through a Major League Baseball game without having to declare personal bankruptcy is a major challenge.

On Sunday, Bailey and I attended the Cardinal ballgame at the invitation of friends. We stopped at a fast-food restaurant on our way to St. Louis so we could avoid having to spend so much money buying overpriced food in the stadium.

But in the end, we still ended up spending a ton of money at the stadium concession stands.

Maybe local governments and the state of Missouri should take a hint from Major League Baseball and set up their own concession stands. Why, they could balance their budgets by selling hot dogs and soda.

While freezing at Friday night's game against the Astros, Bailey began asking for cotton candy shortly after the first pitch.

By the sixth inning, I gave in and bought her a carton of cotton candy. She and a friend preceded to devour the sugary stuff, which clearly added to their enjoyment of the game.

The Cards were thrilled to win a one-run ballgame. Bailey, however, was more thrilled with the cotton candy than the outcome of the game.

Back for another round on Sunday, Bailey once again found herself in need of nourishment.

She ate two hot dogs and slurped on a lime-green snow cone even as the Astros threatened to take the lead.

But food wasn't always on her mind. She also found time to get an autograph from Fredbird.

At times, she even cheered for the home team.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.