Every year a few brave souls go on a baseball pilgrimage through the backroads and highways of America. As is the wont these days, many of these baseball travelers chronicle their journey in a blog. In my days writing specifically about Minor League Baseball, I interviewed two bloggers: one doing it for the love of baseball, and the other taking to the road to sing the National Anthem in as many parks as possible.
During the summer of 2014, self-proclaimed environmentalist mountaineer, missileer, writer, adventurer and confirmed bachelor Tom Lehr is doing his own trek. But Lehr is a man on a baseball mission to determine which stadium has the best hot dog in baseball. He is visiting all 30 Major League parks and as many Minor League parks as possible. When finished, he hopes to publish his findings in his own book.
Over the weekend, Lehr made stops at Tropicana Field and McKechnie Field to taste their culinary wares.
On Friday, he picked up a free hot dog in Bradenton. According to Lehr, it was "one damn delicious dog". Through his mostly-subjective analysis, he gave the Marauders hot dog a 49 on his 1-60 scale. Not bad, and about in the middle of his rankings.
On Saturday, Lehr visited Tropicana Field. While his analysis of the experience was riddled in errors, I'm not going to poke holes in his journal. Many traveling writers have little time to write before hitting the road again. Fatigue, cynicism, and general road weariness tend to jade their outlook and Tropicana Field is an easy target for those not familiar with the situation. Enough said there.
In regards to the hot dog however, Lehr had one major gripe. According to his write-up, the lower level hot dog vendor stand was much better supplied than the hot dog vendors in the 300 level. Lehr compared this to "class warfare". His quest for the perfect hot dog was stymied by his inability to get similar toppings in the upper deck. He also claims when he asked Rays personnel about the issue, none had a satisfactory answer why he couldn't get the same hot dog toppings as the folks in the lower level. His frustration with the toppings and disappointment in Tropicana Field led him to give the Rays dog a paltry 38.
I am always curious what people think of baseball in the Tampa Bay area. While some leave with changed opinions of Tropicana Field, or are impressed by the facilities in Clearwater, Bradenton, Dunedin, or Tampa, every once in a while there are some who walk away disappointed. Lehr seemed impressed with McKechnie Field, but Tropicana Field left a bad taste in his mouth.