The great thing about this whole Unvegan Hero/Unvegan Villain thing is that there are so many opportunities to praise Detroit/Michigan athletes and knock down their rivals. But when I found out a little something about Jeff Francoer, I knew I had to give a rival his due.

Francoeur plays for the Kansas City Royals, who happen to be in the same division as my Detroit Tigers. But while we are division rivals, the Royals haven’t been relevant in as long as I can remember. Plus, KC is home to some of the best BBQ in the world, so it gets a few points there. Anyway, this is more about Francoeur, who has brought unvegan delights into baseball in a most interesting way.

It began last year, when visiting Oakland, that “Francoeur tossed a ball wrapped in a $100 bill into the elevated bleacher seats above his outfield spot, instructing fans to use it to buy bacon or beer,” according to the Washington Post. This day became known as bacon Tuesday.

This year he gave the section their own personal pizzas (hopefully without veggies). Veggies or no, these gestures have made Francoeur a popular man in Oakland, despite the fact that he comes from the opposing team.

As for me, if he were playing against my team, I would have a hard time choosing between bacon and a W. I guess I would just hope that losing a game wouldn’t stop Francoeur from making baseball a much more fun and delicious game to watch.

So for your staunch support of bacon, pizza and beer, Jeff Francoeur, you are a true Unvegan Hero!

(via The Washington Post and @dvdheyman)

In honor of baseball’s opening day, while former Giant Barry Bonds may be in the headlines for ingesting or injecting some improper substances, I take great faith in current Giant Tim Lincecum for ingesting the most proper substance of all: anything but vegetables.

In an article for the USA Today, Lincecum’s favorite meal at In-N-Out Burger is revealed to be one hell of an unvegan feast. According to the report, his typical order is, “Three Double-Doubles. Two fries. A chocolate-strawberry shake. Ketchup please, but hold the lettuce and tomatoes.” You read that right: no lettuce or tomatoes. With such an order, it is no wonder that the 26-year-old 165-pounder has two Cy Young Awards and a World Series championship under his belt.

He proclaims, “I’m not a big vegetable guy,” and it’s not hard to see why. Why eat vegetables when you can be one of the best pitchers in the major leagues without them. You just know the day someone tries to slip some lettuce or tomato into his burger, his ERA is going through the roof.

So for being a great pitcher and recognizing that vegetables need no place in the diet of a finely tuned athlete, Tim Lincecum, you are a true Unvegan Hero!

(via USA Today and Dan)

In celebration of National Hot Dog Day, it’s time to write about the Dodger Dog. I’ve always enjoyed a good hot dog at a baseball game, but until I moved to LA, I didn’t realize that hot dogs were a baseball necessity.

Dodger Stadium offers two kinds of Dodger Dogs, one regular hot dog, which I assume is filled with various pork products, and their Super Dodger Dog, an all-beef version for an extra bit of money. I prefer the all-beef, so I ordered mine with a load of garlic fries, which I could smell from the moment I entered the stadium and just knew they had to be mine.

The Super Dodger Dog is actually surprisingly good, for an overpriced ballpark hot dog. The skin isn’t too thick, but it gives you a little fight before you can bite down into the soft center. The flavor is on par with Hebrew National, my usual choice for all-beef hot dogs. The garlic fries were a perfect companion to the Dodger Dog, and I’m pretty sure there was actually more garlic in the basket than fries. This was fine by me, since I think there is no such thing as too much garlic.

Overall, the Dodger Dog is a great treat for hot dog lovers. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not terribly expensive compared to other foods at the ballpark and it is sure to please. So in celebration of National Hot Dog Day, find yourself a Dodger Dog, or at least some other sort of hot dog, and enjoy!