Out, About: Take me out to the ball game… for dinner?

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“Why are you on your phone at a sporting event?”

It’s a judgmental thought I’ve had so many times at games in recent years, but I will admit: This was totally me this week.

I was at the Nashville Sounds game with some WPLN staff, as one of them pointed out the new-ish pitch clock to another, who hadn’t suffered through the lengthy clock-less games past. And I knew I had to bring it up, especially among coworkers, but I didn’t want to be scrolling for so long on my phone.

I debated for a while before fishing my cell out and searching “robots” in my inbox. And there it was, Mack Linebaugh’s perfect breakdown of the AI umpires. Skimming it again, I deemed breaking my own rule worth it, as I passed my phone down.

Mack’s fun Sounds feature had kept me from mentioning the team again in a NashVillager I wrote, but then I saw, across the field, my answer to how to plug the home team once more: The Band Box.

Hey batter, batter

You may be familiar with The Band Box, the first concession stand after the main entrance in First Horizon Park.

It’s already got higher-end concession fare — the closest thing I’m getting to the Citi Field cornucopia in Tennessee. The menu starts off strong with their version of a stadium dog, topped with pimento cheese, crushed potato chips and pickled onion and served on a potato bun. (If you don’t trust me, believe Nashville Public Radio’s resident hot dog expert Justin Barney’s endorsement of the combination.) And its a wide variety after that of everything from Chivanada empandas to sweet potato waffle fries to Beyond meat hot Italian sausage, all of which are great.

But on Thursdays, the stand kicks it up a notch.

The guest chef batting order

I’m a sucker for any sort of pop-up or chef takeover, but especially in a setting like this.

Duking it out for reservations at St. Vito Focacceria for pre-brick-and-mortar Bad Idea’s pop-up was a lot, when I can now have a taste of what the place has to offer for the cost of my $11 ticket for entry and <$20 menu item. Plus, the medium encourages creativity. This isn’t fine dining, though it may be cooked by a James Beard award-winning chef.

First up to bat this season were The Titans Press Box chefs, for a fun little crossover that yielded a meatball parmesan hoagie. Then came Big Al’s Deli owner Alphonso Anderson, who I happened to see recipe planning his chipotle raspberry chicken and okra rice earlier in the day when I stopped at my favorite Salemtown spot for lunch. And last night, the Frankie’s crew made fennel sausage with roasted peppers, caramelized onions and marinara, all on a potato roll. (BTW, reader, if you were casually hyping up the NashVillager podcast to your friends outside of Frankie’s last Friday night, I heard you and just didn’t want to interrupt!)

Looking at the rest of the season’s lineup, there is not one Thursday offering that doesn’t make me raise an eyebrow and text my friends: “I mean, we could…”