Citizens Bank Park: The Vegan Dog

It was bound to happen eventually. No one can stay perfect forever; not even Eric Gagne, who was pretty much unhittable for three seasons with L.A. - 84 straight saves, for God's sake! But where is he now? Stuck with a minor league contract in Milwaukee, coming off a 2008 season that saw him dropping 7 of 17 opportunities while racking up a ginormous 5.41 ERA, and implicated in the Mitchell Report. So I'm not entirely certain why we expected anything more from Brad Lidge, but we did. When he took the mound tonight in the ninth inning with a one run lead, most of us thought it was going in the win column. After watching it happen 41 times in 2008 (not to mention the postseason), I'm quite certain that the entire Philadelphia dugout thought so, too. Frankly, I'd be willing to bet that most of the Padres probably also thought the same thing, except for maybe Brian Giles and Kevin Kouzmanoff, who hit their way into a four-run Padres ninth, sinking Lidge's consecutive streak at 47 and ending our hopes of a Phils victory. Disappointing, sure, and there were no shortage of Philly sports bloggers ready to string him up by his socks for it, but I think we should cut Lidge a break. Better to see a blown save two weeks in than with two weeks left, I say. Plus, recent history suggests that the Phils are late bloomers: last year on April 18, they were then (8-10, .444, 3 games back) almost exactly where they are now (5-6, .455, 5.5 games back) and I would imagine that most of us still remember last October 29 quite well, thank you very much. So maybe now is not the time to judge our closer on one blown save. Instead, let's focus on more immediately troublesome pitching issues (Chan Ho Park? Really? Who keeps giving this guy contracts?!?) and puzzling developments with the offense (is Rollins really starting the season 5 for 41??). And, of course, we certainly can't forget to discuss the incredibly veg/vegan-friendly oasis that is Citizens Bank Park ...

If you're willing to give a custom order, there's absolutely no shortage of vegan options at the ballpark. Although tomato pies aren't on the menu, any of the pizza places - Logan Square (Field Level and Ashburn Alley) or Washington Square (Club and Terrace Levels) - can hold the cheese on request; Planet Hoagie (Ashburn Alley) has a number of salad options that can also be de-cheesed and veganized. Fantastic options, indeed, but if you're a purist like me, not really so exciting. I don't want to eat a salad at a baseball game. I want a hot dog. An over-condimented belly buster that requires the dexterity of a brain surgeon to eat without staining your home jersey but still takes a small tree's worth of napkin products to get the residual fixins off your fingers. Something that looks remarkably similar to this bad boy right here:

Oh yes. A warm not-dog ($3.75, only available at the South Philly Market by Section 128 on the Field Level) on a soft, chewy bun with ketchup, mustard, onions, and relish. This is the kind of dog that was custom-built for county fairs, boardwalks, family reunion cookouts, and ballgames. The kind of dog that tastes like summer. The kind of dog that finally lets vegans mean it when they sing, "I don't care if I ever get back" and root, root, root for the home team.

If you're like me and don't want to special order, hot dogs aren't the only menu option. There's also a vegan burger available (South Philly Market locations on all three levels). I can't offer a firsthand opinion, but it sure looked good and I think it's probably safe to say that Jessica enjoyed it:

Uh, damn, girl, save me a bite!

I should also point out that Citizens Bank Park was named PETA's most vegetarian-friendly ballpark in 2007 and 2008. Those years also marked the Phillies' first postseason appearances since their World Series loss to Toronto in 1993. Correlation or causation? You be the judge. All I have to say is "go veg" and "go Phils!" [[justin]]