Yankees Cut Cracker Jack From Lineup [size=-1]By COREY KILGANNON[/size] Published: May 19, 2004 o 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.
I'm a die hard Red Sox fan, but this, this is just too much. Team Loyalty right now can't be part of this right now. Cracker Jack and Baseball is like Peanut Butter and Jelly. You can't separate them. I've been singing the Cracker Jack song since i was four when I started playing Baseball. Going to games, be them Major League, Minor League, College, H.S. or Little League, Cracker Jacks has been part of the overall great experience of watching the game. It is not just a Brand Name, Cracker Jacks belongs in the Baseball Hall of Fame. , The striped red and white box good times, good times. If the Yankees can do this, then my team or your team might end up doing it. Its wrong, they can't do this to Baseball fans. No more Crunch N' Munch, Bring back Cracker Jacks!!! [size=-1]"Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd. Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack, I don't care if I never get back, Let me root, root, root for the home team, If they don't win it's a shame. For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out, At the old ball game."[/size]
Actually I was at a Yankee game last Saturday and a few drunks started bitching at the vendor because they couldn't get their Cracker Jacks. I have nothing against Crunch 'n Munch, but now how am I supposed to keep myself entertained during the 7th inning stretch with no "fold point A to point B" puzzle to do? I guess Steinbreinner has to find SOME way to pay off A-Rod's contract, but this is going too far. I demand Cracker Jacks dammit!
With all the shit that is happening to people all over the world, I hope you are kidding about being upset about this. I like baseball but it's not that important
cracker jack just isnt good anymore, there arent any peanuts half the time, theres a few at the bottom but whatever they used to do to stick them with the popcorn isnt there anymore. And the prize is only what can be done with 1 square inch of paper. But anyway, this really doesnt matter to me, just saying to be fair, cracker jack has gone down hill.
I think that using brand names to denote products can effectively destroy competition and create name oriented monopolies. I mean, take band-aids, most people do not know that they are called adhesive strips, and buy the Band-Aid brand just because in popular language that's what they are called. Besides, having a monopoly is a sure way for a company to get lazy and start producing shoddy, low end merchandise that people would never even touch unless it had the brand name. So, yeah, fuck cracker jacks. (they always get stuck in my teeth)
Usually kids used to dream of doing important careers like Doctors, Lawyer, and Teacher or whatever would contribuate to society. Why do teachers shape the kids for the future but get paid less then a professional sports player? Ball players go on strike or threaten to change teams because they don't think they get paid enough....and for what, all they do is play ball.
because they DO contribute to society and tens of millions of americans are devout followers to the 4 major sports in the US Let me say that no one is worth like 250 mil(thats what A-Rod got i believe)....teachers are underpaid and sports players are overpaid. Ones publically funded and the other private. You cant compare the two.
I can compare whatever I like. I guess whoever funds the sports must think they are worth so much. If someone asked their boss for a raise and the boss refused to give it to them would that mean they weren't a good worker or a worthy employee and would someone quit their job to find one that paid more? Hey maybe all teachers should quit teaching and go play ball. But anyways, thanks for at least making this a thread about something to protest on.
several hundred thuosand a day go....the yankees home game averages 47k a game... http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
And lots of people go to school too, so where would you be if all the teachers left to become ball players or something else?
uh...no offense, but what kind of hypothetical is that? There cant be jobs paying everyone 20 million a year, only a few can have that, which is why they are paid so much. Not everyone has the talent to be a baseball player, or an actress or other. So whats the point of your hypothetical? Lets not pay baseball players that much because all the teachers are gonna leave and start practicing to become baseball players?
So are you saying that sports players are more important and that is why they should paid more? Usually when men & women get married they fight over money because whoever makes the most is the boss & more important & more worthy of making choices in their families life. So I guess more money makes you #1 at home and in the job world.
I never said they wree more important, i said they are important. I wasnt aware that whoever made the most money was boss at home, i'll have to remember that for when i get married. How much do you want baseball players to be paid? I'm sure baseball owners would love your idea, they would make BILLIONS more when they dont have to pay so much for baseball players.
obviously less then jobs that help people live life (doctors) or teach them how to live(teachers). Hope whenever you do get married that you are lucky enough to never know the problem of having a spouse that thinks just because he works at a better paid job that they are "boss". I was dumb enough to get married when I was 17 and learned it real fast....and no not because I was pregnant because my daughter wasn't born till 13 months later.
When I was a kid Cracker Jacks had a fair amount of peanuts in it, but I noticed over the years they were putting fewer and fewer peanuts in it. Cutting corners as the price goes up. Fuck 'em.
