Take Me Out to the Ballgame – A Visit to Yogi Berra Stadium and the New Jersey Jackals

by Alice Magdziak • September 10, 2013 • Passaic, Photography, Sports & Leisure • Comments (0) • 3361

We’ve only got two more teams to tell you about in the series we’re calling Take Me Out to the Ballgame! We’re visiting all of New Jersey’s ballparks this year and giving you the scoop on fun, food and baseball action you can find at all of New Jersey’s ballparks. So far, we’ve visited Campbell’s Field and the Camden Riversharks, FirstEnergy Park to see the Lakewood BlueClaws, Arm & Hammer Park and the Trenton Thunder and Newark’s Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium home to the Newark Bears.

Today we’re going to show you Yogi Berra Stadium in Little Falls, home to the New Jersey Jackals. The stadium is located on the campus of Montclair State University which for us meant that there was lots of free parking available. How refreshing!

We attended one of the last home games on a chilly Friday night. It was a championship series against the Capitales de Quebec. Since the Jackals were playing Quebec, the National Anthem singers also sang Oh, Canada which made it feel a little like a hockey game.

Unfortunately, the Jackals didn’t win the game on that night but they’ve forced a game seven against the Capitales tonight in Quebec! Follow along online tonight, Tuesday September 10th, at 7:05pm here.

There won’t be anymore Jackal games in New Jersey this year but here’s the rundown of what you’ll find in Little Falls next spring.

The food is standard baseball fare but done really well and not too expensive. We had dinner and a later inning snack for about $25. Not bad! A nice touch at the beer stand is that they serve Cricket Hill beer as an option. Nice to see a New Jersey beer at the stadium.

The burger was big and juicy and we could see it being made fresh behind the concession counter. You could also get a Jack Burger which was a cheeseburger with lettuce and tomato. That would have made the good burger almost great.

The real sandwich star for us was the grilled chicken sandwich. Fresh chicken breast, very lightly spiced and perfectly charred on the grill. The chicken was so tender that it nearly fell apart in my mouth after every bite. I wish I could get this tenderness at home. What a nice sandwich!

The sweet potato and regular fries were also good. Crispy and always freshly made. As we waited in line we could see trays of fries coming out so we knew that they would be hot when we got them. There were also Irish Nachos that looked amazing but kept being sold out when we got up to the front of the line. Freshly made potato chips with nacho cheese and bacon toppings. We’re coming back next year just to try those!

Jack the Jackal was seen all over the stadium and in the stands throughout the night. We loved that. Some mascots don’t really interact with the fans but Jack wasn’t afraid to get in with the crowd.

One thing we really liked was the bleacher seats have a backrest so you can lean back and get comfortable. It is the little things that count.