The Hartford Yard Goats are taking ‘peanuts and Cracker Jacks’ out of the ballgame.
Beginning in April, the Yard Goats will be the first team in Minor League Baseball to go peanut-free for an entire season. As a result, a change is being made to another ballpark tradition.
The ‘peanuts and Cracker Jacks’ lyric is being phased out of the version of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” sung at Yard Goats games.
Responding to concern from fans about serious peanut allergies, the Yard Goats have instituted a peanut ban for the 2019 season.
“We always knew from the beginning when this came up and we were going to take peanuts out of the ballpark that we would have to do something with the song because it makes sense – one – and two, it’s just another opportunity to engage the fans and have them feel part of the process,” said Mike Abramson, the team’s general manager.
JJ Pabst of Southington had been credited for the ‘Hot Dog and Yard Goats Cap’ substitution.
“It actually wasn’t the first one I thought of, but the second one,” Pabst said. “I switched it out because I thought it was great from a sales and marketing standpoint.
Pabst is a supporter of the team’s peanut-free initiative. He won season tickets for submitting the new lyric to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame.”
“I felt like they [hot dogs and Yard Goats hats] were also two staples of baseball -- whenever I go to a baseball game, I have to eat a hot dog,” Pabst said.
You can hear the new version at the ballpark for the first time during a game on Thursday, April 11 – the Yard Goats home opener.
