Scoreboard Gourmet

Astros Coca Cola Value Nights

Coca-Cola Value Night Package Includes:
* four (4) Mezzanine level tickets
* four (4) hot dogs
* four (4) 20 oz. bottles of any available Coca-Cola product and
* two (2) Astros branded baseball caps

That's $145 worth of stuff for $75. Tickets may be purchased beginning one week prior to the "Value Night" game date. Offer not valid if event is sold out of designated tickets.

Here are the dates/games:

Friday, May 02 (on sale tomorrow)
Friday, May 23
Friday, June 06
Friday, July 18
Friday, Aug. 01
Friday, Aug. 15
Friday, Aug. 29
Friday, Sept. 12
Friday, Sept. 26

MLB Earth Day: Astros, Giants, Mariners

Today is Earth Day so I'm starting a new category: green.

The Astros are giving away canvas shopping bags and green caps today (players will wear the same). The SFGiants are not home today but everyone already knows they're the first team with a solar-powered scoreboard, right? Plus, they gave away reusable shopping bags last week.

And the Mariners are going Carbon-Neutral today (which means they will offset the global-warming impact of energy used at Safeco Field during the game).

MLB Global Warming Impacts Include:

*Emissions associated with electricity and natural gas used to operate the ballparks.
* Disposal or recycling of waste generated during the game.
* Air travel emissions for both teams and umpires for the game.
* Hotel-related emissions visiting teams and the umpires.
* Ground travel to and from the ballpark by staff and fans.

Are other teams dropping the ball here or are their plans a secret?

Opening Day at Minute Maid Park

Tomorrow is Opening Day in Houston. While the Astros play the Cardinals, fans will be chowing down. Following is what aramark thinks Houstonians will eat at the game:

10,500 Hot Dogs
6,000 Bags of Peanuts
2,900 Orders of Nachos
2,200 Pounds of French Fries
2,100 Slices of Pizza
2,000 Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches
1,200 Bags of Popcorn
1,100 Bags of Cracker Jack
1,000 Soft Pretzels
1,000 Orders of Chicken Tenders
1,000 Gallons of Ice Cream

2,600 Gallons of Soda
4,000 Bottles of Water
18,000 Pounds of Ice

MLB Players Turned Concessionaires

This is fun. Following is a list of the 6 ballparks who have former players, managers, announcers who now flip burgers and sign autographs on game day. Great idea, Aramark.
That's the Manny Sanguillen autograph I got last year (pictured). I had no idea who he was but there was a big line of people wanting to see him and eat his bbq so I stood with them and had him sign my ticket. TFMJ didn't know who he was either but that didn't stop us from putting the ticket up on our magnet wall of favorite things. In case you're wondering, he played for the Pirates from 1967 to 1980, not including 1977 when he played for the A's. He turned 64 on March 21st. Happy Belated, Manny.

• Former Orioles MVP Boog Powell - Boog’s BBQ: Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards

• Former Phillies homerun hitter Greg “The Bull” Luzinski - Bull’s BBQ: Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park

• Former Red Sox pitcher Luis Tiant - El Tiante’s: Boston’s Fenway Park

• Former Astros manager Larry Dierker - Larry’s Big Bamboo: Houston’s Minute Maid Park

• Former Pirates catcher Manny Sanguillen - Manny’s BBQ: Pittsburgh’s PNC Park at North Shore

• Braves announcers Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren - Skip & Pete’s Hall of Fame Barbeque: Atlanta’s Turner Field

Round Rock Express Food Concessions Map

Wow I can't believe this picture actually transferred to Scoreboard Gourmet.

It's a directory of concession stands at the Dell Diamond (home of the Round Rock Express, the Triple-A Astros) All permanent concession stands feature coke fountain drinks, draft beers, other drinks, and nachos, popcorn, cotton candy, pretzels, cookies, candy, etc.

If you want to see the 'real' map click here.

The first Home game of the Round Rock Express season is 4/11 at 7:04p v the New Orleans Zephyrs (Triple-A Mets). That Monday (same series) is the Express' first One Dollar Hot Dogs & Sodas Night.

Dine with Mr. October in Round Rock

The 8th Annual Round Rock Express Winter Baseball Banquet will be held at the United Heritage Center at the Dell Diamond on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 6 p.m.
The event will feature special guest speaker, Hall-of-Famer Reggie Jackson.

The banquet, benefiting Round Rock Sertoma, will recognize the 2008 Pre-Season High School All-Star Team, Collegiate Player of the Year, Collegiate Pitcher of the Year, Express Pitcher of the Year, Express Player of the Year, Professional Player of the Year, the 2008 James Keller Award recipient and The Jackie Moore Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Seating for the event is limited. Tickets are $75 each and are available through the Round Rock Express by clicking here to download the order form.  Reserved Tables of eight seats are available for $600, and corporate sponsorships are available for $800.  Please contact Laura Whatley at 512-238-2210 or lwhatley@rrexpress.com for more information.

Tastiest Ballpark Eats, says Wine X, Part 1

Here's why the internet is so great...I was searcing for something completely unrelated to Scoreboard Gourmet and I found something on winexmagazine.com that's perfect for me (and You):
The Wine X Guide to Gourmet Eats at the Country's Tastiest Ballparks (!):

Anaheim Angels
Shredded-beef tamales.

Arizona Diamondbacks
Find the “Fielder’s Choice” farmers’ market or slurp down a smoothie. For a little less sobriety, try the Sonora and Fat Tire microbrews.

Atlanta Braves
Why brave a hot dog when there’s grilled chicken, veggie wraps, fruit and cheese plates, and fresh fruit smoothies? The park also features an upscale wine bar on the Lexus Level, with bison burgers straight from bison raised on Ted Turner’s ranch.

Baltimore Orioles
Pick up BBQ chicken sandwiches, BBQ chicken wraps, smoothies, fresh fruit salads and veggie wraps. Wash it all down with Talus semillon-chardonnay, Talus cabernet or any of 13 microbrew beers like Clipper City IPA and Wild Goose Porter.

Boston Red Sox
Sox fiends crave California rolls, grilled chicken sandwiches, and Hilltop steak and turkey tip sandwiches.

Chicago White Sox
Dine on grilled chicken breast sandwiches, veggie burgers, Italian beef sandwiches, chicken gyros, steak pitas and fresh fruit.

Cincinnati Reds
They’re playing in a new ballpark this season, so they’ve gone a little crazy at the concessions, adding smoked salmon, grilled lamb, veggie dogs and chicken rice rolls.

Cleveland Indians
Chicken fajita salads, veggie burgers, fruit salads, grilled chicken breast and salmon sandwiches and fried shrimp baskets compete for fans’ affections with the classic Cleveland treat — pierogies.

Colorado Rockies
Skip the Rocky Mountain oysters and go for New York strip steak sandwiches, veggie wraps, buffalo burgers, buffalo hot dogs and Chinese chicken salad. The park also boasts the first microbrewery inside a U.S. sporting facility.

Detroit Tigers
Bavarian cream churros — yum!

Florida Marlins
Cuban sandwiches (crusty bread toasted with boiled ham, roast pork, salami, Swiss cheese and pickles) and high-octane Cuban coffee to wash it down.

Houston Astros
Beeline for breast of chicken sandwiches, crab cakes (when the Giants are in town), fish tacos (when San Diego is the visiting team), fresh fruit juices, Vendange wines (chardonnay, zinfandel and cabernet) and local microbrews like Fat Tire and St. Arnold’s.

here's the full story: click here.

Seats Limited for Monday's Astros Caravan Lunch in Round Rock

The 2008 Houston Astros Caravan Luncheon will be held from 11:45a on Monday, January 21, in the United Heritage Center at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock (home of the Astro's Triple-A team, the Round Rock Express). Doors open at 10:45 a.m.

The luncheon at the Dell Diamond is a yearly tradition and gives Express fans a peek at the team's parent club, less than three hours away from Round Rock. Houston Astros front office representatives and players will be in attendance discussing Astros baseball. There will also be an autograph session immediately following the luncheon.

Tickets are $30 per person and $225 for a reserved table of eight.
Limited spots remain for Monday, and tickets are subject to availability. Please click here to download the order form for the event. Payment is due upon the placement of your order.

There are several ways to order your tickets:

Email to lwhatley@rrexpress.com

Call the Express office at 512-238-2210

Fax to the Express office at 255-1558; Attention: Laura Whatley

Mail to the Express office at 3400 E. Palm Valley Blvd.
Round Rock, TX 78664
to the attention of Laura Whatley

Free Sundaes at Joe Bruno Stadium

After tonight's 5pm game v the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (shortseason-A Indians), the Tri-City ValleyCats (shortseason-A Astros) are giving out Free Sundaes to all fans as part of the birthday celebration of their mascot SouthPaw.

That's all well and great, but what I really need to do is apologize for missing Tri-City's June 19th promotion: food and wine night. I guess I missed it because it was 4 days before the season started but still...

1st annual wine and food pairing at Joe Bruno Stadium. June 19th. A night of fine wines, gourmet foods, live music. Admission is $60 per person and includes over 100 different types of wine, plenty of entertainment and a ticket to ValleyCats Opening Day on June 23rd! For more information: 518-629-CATS.

Labels: astros, MiLB-shortseason

Round Rock's Got Milk Today (4/21)

Today the 2007 Milk Mustache Mobile Tour stops in Round Rock from 5-7pm (CT). That means an Oak Farms Dairy sampling station, a Beverage Breakdown station (where you can analyze your beverage/health habits), interactive computers with recipes and games, and a Milk Mustache Photo Area.

If that doesn't sound cool, what about this: there's a pool in the park! and a hot tub, and cabana, all for rent for up to 50 fans. Pre-game buffet of burgers, hot dogs, chips, cookies, sodas, water, iced-tea, and a keg is part of the basic rental. call 512.255.2255 for more information.

The Round Rock Express (Triple-A Astros) play the Oklahoma RedHawks (Triple-A Rangers) at 7:05pm What's better than milk? BBQ Grill Sets...come back May 26th for that excellent giveaway (for the first 3,000 fans)