You won’t be able to buy those peanuts and Cracker Jacks at Dunkin’ Donuts Park anymore.
During an unveiling of the Hartford Yard Goats promotional schedule Wednesday, officials announced that the stadium is going peanut-free.
Kerry Adamowicz, holding her two-year-old son Sam, was thrilled to learn Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford will be peanut-free this upcoming baseball season.
“Sam has a life-threatening peanut allergy. So he’s been young enough that we’ve been lucky enough to contain it from him. But as he gets older that makes things very difficult,” she said.
Earlier Adamowicz and others had approached the Yard Goats to talk about kids’ food allergies. The team’s general manager, Mike Abramson, heard their concerns.
PHOTOS: Yard Goats Unveil 2019 Promotions Schedule
“I am very serious about this being everybody’s ballpark. So our diversity initiatives, our Pride nights, our allergy sensitivity initiatives. It is all geared around making sure that anybody who wants to come here feels like they can and are comfortable coming here,” Abramson said.
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Abramson says it was the team that decided that the ballpark should go peanut-free, which means not selling shelled peanuts or Cracker Jacks.
“I think we’ll get flak on social media and that sort of thing. They be like it’s in the song, it’s peanuts and cracker jacks,” he said.
Sure enough, the team’s announcement on Twitter upset many fans. One responded: “Sad day for baseball.”
Some expressed support for the move, and the team hopes when people see kids like Sam like they will fully understand why this decision was made.
“It’s a huge relief. It’s a really good feeling to come to park and know that’s one stress that is taken away and we can breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy baseball,” Sam’s mother said.
We’ve been looking and so far only found other ballparks around the country which had peanut-free games or sections.
The Yard Goats are now starting a contest to come up with new lyrics for “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
Other promotions this season include 21 nights of fireworks, giveaways, specialty jersey nights and more.
