Baseball season is in full swing and the biggest news is from the concession stand. Since Dillard’s BBQ, long-time Bulls game concessionaire, met its demise (well, mostly) in the offseason, my hometown Durham Bulls have brought in some new ‘cue. Does the BBQ come from long-time Durham Bullock’s? Nope, they are only AA BBQ. Relative newcomer Backyard BBQ Pit? No again. The Bulls have made the barbecue equivalent of signing a big name, albeit overhyped, free agent. “Now introducing, for your hometown Durham Bulls, our new barbecue vendor: The Pit restaurant from Raleigh, North Carolina!” (Of course, soon enough The Pit will be from Durham too.)
I must say, at $6 for a sandwich The Pit’s ballpark barbecue is annoyingly overpriced like all ballpark concessions, but the ‘cue is a significant upgrade from Dillard’s. To put it in baseball terms, the Dillard’s barbecue was like veteran pitcher Jamie Moyer: okay for five or six innings but not too special and likely to give you some heartburn before the game ended. The Pit ain’t exactly Phillies ace Roy Halladay–maybe it’s Cole HAMels?–but it’s a big step up from Moyer: wood-cooked, good texture and generally capable of filling mealtime needs well into the late innings. (For the record, I’m not a Phillies fan and I’m not sure why I am using a convoluted Phils-centric analogy… deal with it.)
A picture of my too small, overpriced but fairly tasty The Pit barbecue sandwich is above. Note the crappy, from-a-plastic-container coleslaw, which is unforgivable. Still, better than an shriveled hot dog and a more than adequate representation of North Carolina barbecue; something we can be comfortable with the many out of town visitors to Bulls’ games tasting if it happens to be their first exposure to North Carolina barbecue.
Take me out to the DBAP,
Take me out with the crowd/
Buy me some peanuts and bar-b-q,
I’ll eat ’em both ’cause I’m the BBQ Jew/
Let me root, root, root for the D-Bulls,
If they don’t win it’s a shame/
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game!
PLAY BALL!
Filed under: 'Cue Culture | Tagged: Barbecue Sports, Durham, Durham County, Wood-cooked |
BBQ Jew 
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Got to disagree with you on Moyer. He may not be at the top of his game anymore but the dude is like 45 years old and still pitching in the majors. If anything he is part of a dying breed of pitchers who don’t rely on upper 90’s fastballs. He also negotiates all of his own contracts. That is old school if you ask me, kind of like places that still cook over wood.
I do have to admit I haven’t really watched him pitch since he was with the M’s though.
keenfactor, I must confess you make a good point. you make a good argument that Moyer is just like good BBQ: old school, traditional and a little slower to the plate!
well said porky.