Ball Park Treats

The Pizza Hut guy. Hot and freshly made on site.

This is the pizza. Looks kind of gross, doesn't it? It was pretty good actually.

Kibis and Piedras. Kibis are mashed fried garbanzo balls. Piedras are little balls of masa with hamburger or something inside.  Both are served with a little shredded cabbage and habanero salsa. 

This kid has what appear to be apples on his stick.  They didn't look like apples up close though, unless half of them are covered in chile.  How old is this kid, about 7?

Tortas. In my opinion the most common food eaten here, your basic ham and cheese sandwich on "francés" (white bread bolillo).

A cooler full of chicken wings. Not appetizing, will skip these.

Cotton Candy. A staple at any Yucatecan gathering.

Fresh fruit.  Jicama and mango. Very impressive.

The lady in front of me bought one. She had some syrup poured over it, and I see it has a spearmint garnish. Hah, unless that is a hot chile!

Elotes and Esquites.  Corn, on the cob or off the cob. Served with medium cream and limón. 

Nestle Ice Cream Treats. 

Of course, the CHICLET salesman.

The guy behind us caught a foul ball.

That should about cover food at the ball game! 

Take Me Out to the Ball Park!

Kukulcán Sports Center.

Last Friday, April 2nd, Pablo and I attended our first LEONES DEL YUCATÁN baseball game of the season. The season started last month, we just got around to going. The Leones beat the Veracruz Rojos del Águila,  9-8.

Pablo bought me a Leones Tshirt. Now I am ready for more games!

We learned Fridays are two for one nights.  Therefore we splurged 90 pesos for seats in the butaca baja (lower Mezzanine?) and found seats at the first base line with a great view of the batters and entire field.  It wasn't very crowded since it was Good Friday, residents mostly in church or at the beach.  

The seats are made of the hardest plastic ever made, and they sit low to the ground.  I practically had to look over my knees to see the game.  I didn't think to take a cushion, and my bony ass and confused back could only handle 7 innings.  We drank one large beer each per inning, and we don't even like beer that much. Especially Modelo, blaaaahhhh.  They sell Corona too, but again, blaaaaaahhh.  

The game was long and boring.  I hate to say this, because baseball is always kind of a slow game.  I love going out to the ball park!  It's just that they walked practically everyone, usually with a full count.  So at 6 pitches per batter, that's a lot of time and spitting. Since I was physically uncomfortable and forcing down those beers, it just seemed like the night moved in slow motion. 

Things did pick up eventually, Fernando Valenzuela Jr. hit one out of the park, bringing in at least one other guy with him.  I was yelling, "Vamonos, Fernando!  Uno para tu papá"...of course I was the ONLY person yelling (what's up with that?) and whammo! Home run!  It was just an unexciting game, but we do want to return to watch them play again soon.  I have their site bookmarked so maybe there will be a more exciting game to report on later.

At most US baseball games, THE most popular food item (not counting beer) would be some variation of HOT DOGS.  Plus the french fries, more fried things, and variations on junk food.  I was fascinated with the food sold at the local baseball park last time and managed to get some good shots of these venders last week.

This is the peanut guy. These guys have pillow case type carriers made out of a sheet, I think.  The pockets hold plenty of delicious HOT fresh roasted peanuts!

Pepitas (roasted shelled salted pumpkin seeds), peanuts in chili powder and salt, plain roasted peanuts with or without pepitas....with chile-salt and fresh lime added. Served with a utensil..fork or spoon...I am getting these next time.

Here we have the Modelo beer guy on the left, and a vendor of a variety of marshmellow candies.

These are my favorites, the white ones, but I can't remember what they are called.  Pablo says they call them chicharrones or fritura. They are like puffed up styrofoam in texture and crunchy, but they melt in your mouth. The white ones are made with potato or potato flour.  They serve them with hot chile poured over the top. 

I really did want to post photos of all the different foods they walk around selling. It is so different from our NOB customary baseball game.  So, tomorrow's post will show photos of more of the vendors from the baseball game.  

PS.  They sell beer during the entire game, they don't stop sales during the 7th inning. 

Play Ball! Lions and Tigers!

The baseball stadium at the Parque de Kukulcán, home of LOS LEONES DE YUCATÁN.



Wednesday, March 25th was opening day for baseball....or beisbol....season here in México. Our team, the Leones de Yucatán played against the Tigres de Quintana Roo. It was an entertaining game. The Tigre opened the first inning with a run and the Leones followed with five runs! Off to a good start.

The last time I went to an inaugural baseball game was the LA Dodgers in 1979 (I think) where Fernando Valenzuela was the star, and thirty years later I watched his son, Fernando Valenzuela, open the season for the Leones in Mérida. Fernando hit a grand slam in the first inning, but slowed down considerably as the innings wore on. Hey, first time out for the season so I see it as a warm up game. We hope to have a strong season. We have some great players who last won the national championship in 2005. Wednesday The Tigres beat the Leones 10-8, but we put up a good fight.


The stadium reminded me of the days my brother Jay took me to see the Mudhens play in Toledo, Ohio. I don't remember the exact size, but it looked like a similar layout. Above the teams are being introduced. The Leones, whose colors are green, orange and white, on the left, and the Tigres on the right. We didn't catch any foul balls but we had great seats near the first base line.



A few differences I noted: They do not stop selling beer after the 7th inning. What if there are extra innings? A fan needs his beer. I noticed they were selling beer even after the game ended.

They have cheerleaders! For me that was a first at a baseball game. They didn't lead any cheers but they kept the male fans entertained during inning changes with their sexy salsa dances.

Although they have bat boys, they have ball girls. Good looking girls in short shorts and tight tops bounce out to the umpire with new balls every other pitch.

They eat different foods at Mexican ball games. Below is the kibi/piedra salesman. In his glass box he has the Lebanese treats ready to dress up with their repollo. Below him is the pepita, pistacchio and cacahuate (peanut) vendor. The vendors walk around with hot pizza in individual boxes, platters of fresh made tortas (sandwiches) on bolillos, tamales, corn on or off the cob with seasonings, candied apples of some sort, probably tamarind, air puffed chicharrones, cotton candy, frappuchinos, strawberries and cream, something that looked like Chinese stirfry but was actually Mexican nachos, home made potato chips and fried banana chips, candies, gum, cigarettes, etc. Also they walk around the stadium tossing out promotional items. This week I got a new pen and a handful of new cookies made by a local cookie producer. There was a lot going on, the atmosphere was light and happy, the spectators were good sports, and we had a lot of fun.