A friend directed my attention to a web site called Series Eats and its topic of the day is one that is near and dear to my heart: where are the best places to get hot dogs near major league ballparks? If you have ever struck out when buying a dog while walking up to the park you will know why it is important.

I had a terrible one outside of Safeco Field a few years ago and a very good one outside of Fenway (was that really 11 years ago?) in Boston. Then in the Bay Area nether the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum nor the Giants at AT&T Park seem to have had much of anything going on in terms of food being hawked outside the gates, for very different reasons.

There are a number of other parks that I have enjoyed a dog outside of, including Wrigley while it was snowing once. It is a great thing to sit or walk around and watch the festivities, particularly early in the season when optimism abounds and before you realize that your star outfielder is 40 pounds overweight and has lost two steps and birds land on his bat mid-swing.

So take a walk through the slideshow and maybe next time you head out to the ball yard you will have a new place to nosh pregame. I cannot tell if the Colombian dog available near the Marlins new stadium makes my heart twitter or prepare to explode. Not recommended for the squeamish or the vegetarian.