World Series news and notes

By MARC TOPKIN, Times Staff Writer
Published October 28, 2007

An acquired taste

The Grille works stand behind Section 144 at Coors Field offers the typical ballpark fare: a footlong brat for $6.25, a grand slam burger for $6.50 and a Rockie dog (sauerkraut, grilled peppers and onions) for $5.75.

But there's also this: an order of Rocky Mountain Oysters, for $7.50.

They're sliced, breaded and deep-fried, about the size of a potato chip and the look of a fried oyster, or maybe a thin chicken nugget.

But what are they really? Testicles of cows, and occasionally sheep and/or turkeys. "Bull balls," explained the grill chef on Saturday.

The Rox figure to sell about 150 orders each game.

Table for 50,000?

So what else does it take to feed a World Series crowd? According to Coors Field concessionaire Aramark, roughly:

22,000 hot dogs

13,750 sodas

5,700 bottles of water

4,400 bags of peanuts

2,800 lemonades

2,750 orders of nachos

2,200 soft pretzels

2,000 hamburgers

1,800 slices of pizza

1,300 bags of popcorn

1,300 pounds of French fries

900 bags of Cracker Jack

800 bags of cotton candy

450 orders of chicken tenders

220 deli sandwiches

100 turkey and veggie wraps

Afterward, 225 workers will collect two tons of recyclables and four of garbage.

Getting the signs

Forget past records, statistical analysis or computerized projections. In an effort to really project how the games are going to go, the Rocky Mountain News is running the horoscopes of the starting pitchers. For Colorado's Josh Fogg, above, it was to "utilize your valuable hours on worthwhile projects." And for Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka, "by keeping your cool you can deal with critical situations."

Foreign influence

Matsuzaka was the 10th foreign-born pitcher to start a Series game in the past seven years:

Canada

Jeff Francis, '07 Rox

Cuba

Orlando Hernandez, '00-'01 Yanks

Livan Hernandez, '02 Giants

Jose Contreras, '05 Chisox

Dominican Republic

Miguel Batista, '01 D'backs

Ramon Ortiz, '02 Angels

Pedro Martinez, '04 Red Sox

Ubaldo Jimenez, '07 Rox

Japan

Daisuke Matsuzaka,'07 Red Sox

Venezuela

Freddy Garcia, '05 Chisox

[Last modified October 27, 2007, 22:07:12]