Chow down at ballpark

BEYOND THE BARRY Bonds and Chase Utley contracts and the movement of Randy Johnson and Alfonso Soriano to new homes, the biggest baseball news to chew on during this offseason came out of Dodgerland.

That team announced a couple of weeks ago that it was converting the rightfield pavilion at Dodger Stadium into an all-you-can-eat section. Formerly $10 to sit there, it will cost fans $35 in advance and $40 on gameday, with the

privilege of gobbling down all the hot dogs and popcorn, etc., that they want. Beer, ice cream and candy are excluded.

Not everyone has been jumping for joy. One underwhelmed fan wrote an open letter to the owner, claiming that "Joe Fan will have to eat like a lumberjack to break even on the deal."

For sure, the Wolf Pack will have to modify their masks if they head west and camp there.

Hearing about the plan reminded the Phillies' Richard Deats about the day in 1964 that he and several friends headed to Connie Mack Stadium. One of them took a wager that he could eat $5 worth of concession food, but lost the bet. "It tells you what's changed in 40 years," said Deats, vice president for ticket sales. "Now they're charging $35 and $40 for all you can eat."

The closest the Phils come to that are Dollar Dog Days, an off-the-field entree that has turned into a huge hit. Six are set for 2007. They sold 246,842 dogs in seven dates last year.

Among the new features at the park will be the conversion of several upper-level sections just

below the scoreboard into $30 seats that include a $10 concession value. The nearly 900 seats are located in the upper level of Harry the K's.

Deats called it "a unique area that we feel has been underutilized. It will give us the opportunity to do some specials and some discounting, have some special events and different things that will enable us to get that area a little recognition." *

- Paul Vigna

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