Five pounds of apple crisp, apple dumplings, ice cream and caramel, all served up in a batting helmet. What baseball fan could possibly pass up on such a treat? For serving such a delight at the ballpark, the Fort Wayne TinCaps’ BIG APPLE was named Best New Food Item in the annual awards from Ballpark Digest.
“Really, the way we chose the best new food item of the year was by how hungry we were after reading the description,” said Kevin Reichard, Ballpark Digest publisher. “The TinCaps do a great job in promoting the brand around apples and Johnny Appleseed, and this new food item works both as a fun item and something you’d expect from a team constantly working to impress fans.”
“The BIG APPLE was a no-brainer idea for us,” said TinCaps and Parkview Field Culinary Director Scott Kammerer. “Our theme is BIG FUN, so we challenged ourselves to come up with something BIG that would get our fans talking, much them hungry, but also fit in our ballpark theme. We just kept adding ingredients and the BIG APPLE was the result. We found there was no truth to the expression, ‘too much of a good thing’ with the BIG APPLE!”
If this description of the item from the TinCaps doesn’t make you hungry, nothing will:
Weighing in at five pounds, the Big Apple is a family-sized, batting helmet-ful of deliciousness. The foundation of the Big Apple’s decadence is four heaping helpings of Parkview Field’s signature Apple Crisp. Four handmade apple dumplings are lovingly placed on top of that apple-y goodness.
If that’s not enough, the remaining real estate in the TinCaps souvenir batting helmet are filled with five rich scoops of creamy, vanilla ice cream. The Big Apple is then topped with whipped cream, drizzled with hot caramel, and garnished with — what else — delicious red apple slices. It’s a dessert that would most certainly make apple aficionado Johnny Appleseed proud.
“Excessive? Absolutely,” Reichard said. “You don’t go to a ballpark to lose weight. But these days you go to a ballpark for some great food, and the BIG APPLE certainly qualifies as great food.”
Each year Ballpark Digest honors noteworthy accomplishments in the baseball world, whether it be Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, independent baseball, summer-collegiate baseball or college baseball. Here’s a list of the 2014 awards, both already awarded and to come:
Broadcaster of the Year: Steve Klauke, Salt Lake Bees
Best New Logo / Branding: Akron RubberDucks
Organization of the Year: Big Top Baseball
Best MiLB Promotion: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Best Summer Collegiate Promotion: Kalamazoo Growlers
Editor’s Choice: Granderson Stadium, University of Illinois at Chicago
Nov. 10: Best New Food Item, Best Ballpark Improvement
Nov. 11: Best Ballpark Renovation, Best Marketing, Executive of the Year
Nov. 12: Team of the Year, Best New Ballpark (Announced in weekly newsletter)