questions and more questions about Saag’s (A’s fans, you hear me)

What happens when a 70-employee family owned and operated meat company gets eaten by a 17,600-person multinational food corporation? (Read: Hormel bought Saag’s at the end of last year). Will the sausages sold in the McAfee Coliseum food court behind home plate still be Saag (delicious and varied) or will they be Hormel (best known for Spam)? I guess we’ll find out at on April 9th (A’s opening day). Hormel, apparently, is missing “upscale” items from their catalog. Excellent. Just exactly how downscale are you when you’re reaching up to hot dogs? No offense to Saag’s, of course; their sausage is the best I’ve tasted in any ballpark. During inter-league play last year, the fake Mike Jacobs and I had a Louisiana Hot, a Hot Italian, AND a Polish sausage…AND we had dinner at Michael Mina that night. More importantly, how will an expanded distribution network play into the 74-year old Saag tradition of making sausage “the old fashioned way, in small batches” by “classically trained” wurstmeisters? Two years ago the same LA investment banker who got about $12mm for the Saags, brokered another deal for Hormel with Clougherty Packing Co, the people behind the Dodger Dog. Last question: is Lars Ekstrom (the banker) a baseball-food fan, or foe? Before you start thinking I’m overly concerned for the little guy, let me make my point: mass-produced meat = gross. That’s it. That’s all I’m saying. Having a Saag’s sausage at McAfee is like having one from a grill in your backyard (unless you’re someone who skimps at home). Okay, that’s all I’m saying.