Vincent Price was a big hot dog fan, especially at the ballpark

I don’t see or hear much of Vincent Price anymore, except maybe when Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ is played on the radio. But when I was growing up, Price was prevalent, either in some old movie played on KTLA, or as a voice over in, well, lots of things.

So it was a nice blast from the past to see this old photo of Price at Dodger Stadium this week, from 56 years ago.

The more I looked into Vincent Price’s connection with baseball, I stumbled a few times around the fact that Vincent Price really liked hot dogs, and specifically those at a baseball game.

Thanks to Charles Maher in the Los Angeles Times (July 24, 1970), we know that ‘The Vincent Price Cook Book’ included this: “No hot dog ever tastes as good as the ones at the ballpark (and) we have included Chavez Ravine ... among our favorite eating places in the world.”

Tom Arthur, then the Dodgers manager of concessions, was shown the praise of Dodger Stadium from Price. “We’ve arrived,” Arthur told Maher. “Hot dog.”

From the Dinner is Served 1972 blog, they delved even deeper into Price’s love of hot dogs, and found another edition of his cook book, this one entitled, “A Treasury of Great Recipes by Mary and Vincent Price.”

Scroll down for the Prices’ recipe for stuffed frankfurters, but also notice this ode to the wiener from Price:

“Here, in all its glory, is the great American hot dog. Originally a sausage invented in Frankfurt, the hot dog is now as American as blueberry pie, and under the proper circumstances it can be one of the gourmet treats of the national larder…there is nothing more soul-satisfying than the first succulent bite into the juicy frankfurter. Whether you slather your hot dog with mustard, relish, and onions, or eat it purist style with just a delicate dab of mustard, it is, in that brief time, the perfect food.”

So while it might seem odd that Price for one brief moment in 1965 was slinging hot dogs at Dodger Stadium. But perhaps it wasn’t so weird at all.

Links

• Max Muncy is hitting the ball harder this season and chasing pitches outside the zone less, fueling his team-leading production at the plate. Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs explores.
• The Albert Pujols we knew is gone, but his legacy will endure, writes Ken Schultz at Baseball Prospectus.
• David Waldstein at the New York Times noticed that Major League Baseball is very close to scoring the two millionth run in its history.
• Jack Harris at the Los Angeles Times talked to Houston’s mayor and several fans in the city about how they are trying to move on from the Astros’ cheating.