No more Cracker-Jack at Yankee Stadium - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Mondak · 05-20-2004, 08:13 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/19/ny...19cracker.html

Quote:

Yankees Cut Cracker Jack From Lineup
By COREY KILGANNON

Published: May 19, 2004

So much for that well-known line in the old song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

The Yankees have quietly retired a longtime stadium starter, Cracker Jack. Now, young fans will have to ask, "Buy me some peanuts and Crunch 'n Munch," which is the popcorn snack the Yankees have chosen to replace Cracker Jack.

"It's sacrilege," John L. Donahue, a Yankees fan and stockbroker from Huntington, N.Y. , said yesterday. "How do I explain this to my little boy when I take him to his first Yankee game? If the Cracker Jack name means nothing to the Yankees, will they do the same to Ruth and Gehrig?"

Cracker Jack was developed in the late 1800's and has been part of the baseball experience for about a century. Not to mention that Crunch 'n Munch has no prize in the box.

But the Yankees' chief operating officer, Lonn Trost, said yesterday that fans have not been complaining. While acknowledging that the 1908 song immortalized Cracker Jack as a baseball institution, Mr. Trost added, "I would assume that Cracker Jack didn't have any competition back then."

"Cracker Jack is just a brand name," he added. "We're selling a caramel crunch that is the same thing as Cracker Jack. It's the same difference as Frigidaire versus refrigerator, or aspirin and Bayer, or Jell-O and gelatin."

David Bernstein, director of hospitality at Yankee Stadium, said it all started when he heard that Cracker Jack would be available only in bags, not boxes.

"Bags break open and don't sell as well," said Mr. Bernstein, who then taste-tested the two brands together, along with officials from Centerplate, the company that handles catering and concessions at Yankee Stadium.

"We tasted them both, and believe it or not, Crunch 'n Munch won," he said.

Charles Nicolas, a spokesman for Frito-Lay, which owns Cracker Jack, said he was sorry to hear of the Yankees' decision. But like hopeful fans everywhere, he added, "There's always next year."

"Baseball historians would say Cracker Jack and the Yankees belong together," he said, "and hopefully they'll be together again soon."

Chris Kircher, a spokesman for ConAgra Foods, the Omaha company that makes Crunch 'n Munch, said, "We'd have no heartburn if Yankee fans started standing up in the seventh inning and singing, 'Buy me some peanuts and Crunch 'n Munch.' ''

At Shea Stadium, the Mets are sticking with Cracker Jack, said Dave Howard, their executive vice president for business operations.

Tell you what. While there is tradition and all, Crunch'n Munch is a better product. The Cracker Jack always has the skins on the peanuts which leaves a bitter taste and has the husks of the corn on the popcorn which gets stuck in your teeth and is not that that appetizing to eat. Somehow, Crunch'n'Munch does not have these problems not to mention the fact that the toffee coating is just smoother and better tasteing.

I say screw tradition in this case. Yea Capitalism!

Averett · 05-20-2004, 11:02 AM

Dude, thats lame. Gotta have the Cracker Jacks at ball games!

But yeah... Crunch n Munch does taste better..

Ace_O_Spades · 05-20-2004, 03:36 PM

ive never had cracker jack in my life

buclao · 05-20-2004, 05:24 PM

Whenever I sing take me out to the ball game, I'll shed a tear and pour a 40 for Cracker Jacks.

pan6467 · 05-20-2004, 06:39 PM

Cracker Jack broke tradition first by not using boxes. But after being sold by Borden to that conglomerate, I wouldn't be surprised to see the toy disappear soon (if it hasn't already).

Frito Lay/Pepsi is as greedy a company as there is, does my heart good to see ConAgra take just a little business away.

Spartak · 05-21-2004, 12:09 AM

No Cracker Jack ? OH NO SACRILIDGE!!!

I mean seriously... Crunch n Munch probably offered the Yanks more money than Cracker Jack (I guess they were milking the tradtion thing eh ?), and its as simple as that.

Hrothgar · 05-21-2004, 02:34 AM

Damn now i feel liike going to the grocery store and conducting a taste test.

Averett · 05-21-2004, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by buclao
Whenever I sing take me out to the ball game, I'll shed a tear and pour a 40 for Cracker Jacks.

Awesome

Viking1064 · 05-23-2004, 03:59 PM

I was at Shea Stadium last night and bought a bag, not box, of Cracker Jacks. There were hardly any peanuts in the bag. When I was a kid it seemed like half the box was peanuts. I swear there were maybe 10 peanuts in the bag, if that. I never did like the peanuts anyway. The bag costs $4.50 at Shea, as much as a hot dog. Damn.

jayman2004 · 05-24-2004, 09:45 AM

Just goes to show that nothing is sacred anymore...

Mondak · 06-03-2004, 09:28 AM

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...-regional-wire

Well THAT did not last long. . .

Cracker Jack is back

Hrothgar · 06-04-2004, 01:56 AM

Wow the Yankess crumbled on that one.

WarWagon · 06-04-2004, 02:13 AM

Its not as though the Yankees needed the extra money from Crunch n Munch. What are they going to do with the extra cash, buy more players?

cameroncrazy822 · 06-14-2004, 06:14 PM

A small price to pay to feed a player payroll that rivals/exceeds many third world nations'.... Please accept my apologies if I don't shed a tear.

05-20-2004, 11:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
Averett Is In Love Location: I'm workin' on it	Dude, thats lame. Gotta have the Cracker Jacks at ball games! But yeah... Crunch n Munch does taste better.. __________________ Absence is to love what wind is to fire. It extinguishes the small, it enkindles the great.

05-20-2004, 03:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ace_O_Spades The Death Card Location: EH!?!?	ive never had cracker jack in my life __________________ Feh.

05-20-2004, 06:39 PM	#5 (permalink)
pan6467 Lennonite Priest Location: Mansfield, Ohio USA	Cracker Jack broke tradition first by not using boxes. But after being sold by Borden to that conglomerate, I wouldn't be surprised to see the toy disappear soon (if it hasn't already). Frito Lay/Pepsi is as greedy a company as there is, does my heart good to see ConAgra take just a little business away. __________________ I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

05-21-2004, 12:09 AM	#6 (permalink)
Spartak Bang bang Location: New Zealand	No Cracker Jack ? OH NO SACRILIDGE!!! I mean seriously... Crunch n Munch probably offered the Yanks more money than Cracker Jack (I guess they were milking the tradtion thing eh ?), and its as simple as that. __________________ I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

05-21-2004, 02:34 AM	#7 (permalink)
Hrothgar He's My Girl Location: The Champagne Douche	Damn now i feel liike going to the grocery store and conducting a taste test. __________________ The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar.

05-20-2004, 05:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
buclao Insane	Whenever I sing take me out to the ball game, I'll shed a tear and pour a 40 for Cracker Jacks.

05-23-2004, 03:59 PM	#9 (permalink)
Viking1064 Insane Location: New Jersey	I was at Shea Stadium last night and bought a bag, not box, of Cracker Jacks. There were hardly any peanuts in the bag. When I was a kid it seemed like half the box was peanuts. I swear there were maybe 10 peanuts in the bag, if that. I never did like the peanuts anyway. The bag costs $4.50 at Shea, as much as a hot dog. Damn.

05-24-2004, 09:45 AM	#10 (permalink)
jayman2004 Upright	Just goes to show that nothing is sacred anymore...

06-03-2004, 09:28 AM	#11 (permalink)
Mondak Industrialist Location: Southern California	http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...-regional-wire Well THAT did not last long. . . Cracker Jack is back __________________ All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed Second, it is violently opposed and Third, it is accepted as self-evident. ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788-1860)

06-04-2004, 01:56 AM	#12 (permalink)
Hrothgar He's My Girl Location: The Champagne Douche	Wow the Yankess crumbled on that one. __________________ The fortunes of war favored Hrothgar.

06-04-2004, 02:13 AM	#13 (permalink)
WarWagon Loser	Its not as though the Yankees needed the extra money from Crunch n Munch. What are they going to do with the extra cash, buy more players?

06-14-2004, 06:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
cameroncrazy822 Junkie Location: MD	A small price to pay to feed a player payroll that rivals/exceeds many third world nations'.... Please accept my apologies if I don't shed a tear. Last edited by cameroncrazy822; 06-22-2004 at 09:17 AM..