CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK / SCOTT MILLER : Strict Rules, High Cost of Food at Titan Field Eat at Fans

An Indecent Proposal: Trying to eat something while watching a baseball game at Titan Field.

The baseball is among the nation’s best, the facility is first-rate, but something has to be done about the food situation, where a hot dog costs $2.50--a quarter more than they charge for a slightly smaller dog at Anaheim Stadium--and a candy bar--bigger than you would get in a store but certainly not jumbo size--costs $1.75.

Want something to drink? A 22-ounce Pepsi--one size serves all--will set you back $2.00. You try to watch your diet? A bottle of water is $1.50.

And there are no drinking fountains on the premises.

Forget about bringing your own supplies. The casual days when a college baseball fan could bring a cooler and spend an afternoon in the sun are as quaint now as non-cable television. Until this year, everything but bottles and cans could be brought while watching the Titans. That all changed this spring, in the first spring Titan Field has been in full swing.

Now, if you can eat or drink it, you are forbidden to pass through the gates with it.

The University Foundation--apparently the same people who operate the concessions in movie theaters across the country--runs the place.

“The pricing is a very deliberate effort on our part to price what we believe to be the appropriate level for family entertainment,” said Bill Dickerson, executive director of the University Foundation. “We use the model commonly called ‘theater pricing’--a range from fast-food to major entertainment.

“The prices are much like what you would pay if you go to the movies.”

No kidding. An evening at Titan Field turns into “The Crying Game” if you want to snack. A pretzel? A box of popcorn? They’re $1.50 each. The fans are being held hostage. If you haven’t eaten before the game, either ante up or starve until afterward.

The sad thing is, you’ve come to expect ridiculous prices at the movies, where the domino effect of Mel Gibson’s millions trickles right down to your wallet as the price-per-Jelly Belly continues its ascent. But we’re talking college baseball here. Last time we checked, the players weren’t making any money and the budget was so tight that they had to bus seven or eight hours to play Nevada Las Vegas.

Oh, and not a dime of the concessions goes to the Titan baseball program. Or, for that matter, the Fullerton athletic department. Profits go into the general university fund.

Titan players’ parents are so angry that they would just as soon watch games while sitting atop the dugout in their nightclothes than purchase something from the concession stands. Staffers at Titan Field have seen older couples turn around and not return when told that they will have to take their cooler back to their car. And Sunday, a lady who was halfway through a cup of iced tea when she arrived was told she had to either pitch it or hurry up and drink it before entering.

Sal Rinella, Fullerton’s vice-president for administration, said they are working on a plan to improve food service in the baseball and football stadiums. But what they are working on is permanent concession trailers, bringing in Carl’s Jr., which already operates on the campus’ food court, and maybe woo a pizza franchise.

They are not contemplating lowering the price structure or allowing people to bring in their own food.

“(The current pricing structure) will remain,” Rinella said. “We are not enabling people to bring their own food for a variety of reasons. Some are related to safety. You always examine the responsibility of the way you implement things. . . .

“I think what we’re running into is the normal learning curve. We’re learning as we go along and improving as we go along.”

He did say water fountains will soon be installed.

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Although the Titans are not panicking after being swept by Cal State Long Beach over the weekend, Coach Augie Garrido is considering replacing right-hander Derek Fahs, who has been third in the pitching rotation, with righty Kimson Hollibaugh.

Hollibaugh was sharp in Sunday’s series finale, yielding one run and four hits in six innings. It was his first start of the season, and he didn’t learn he would be on the hill until he got to the park Sunday.

Now, after 17 relief appearances and one cameo as a starter, the junior transfer from Sacramento Community College might have a new duty.

“It’s certainly a possibility,” Garrido said. “He did everything he could (Sunday). Fahs has struggled in the third role.

“We’re not giving up on Derek Fahs. He has the ability to be a very fine pitcher. He just hasn’t had the ability to get it done yet.”

Hollibaugh is 3-2 with a 3.30 earned-run average. Fahs is 3-2 with a 6.81 ERA. In nine games--eight starts--Fahs has only pitched 35 2/3 innings.

In other baseball news, the Titans dropped to 10th in the Collegiate Baseball poll (from second) and ninth in the Baseball America poll (from third).

Long Beach moved from 29th to 19th in Collegiate Baseball and from 26th to 16th in Baseball America.

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Basketball Coach Brad Holland on the new 35-second shot clock, down from 45 seconds: “My initial reaction is that these rules make us closer to the NBA game, which I don’t like. I like our game the way it is. My philosophy is, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

“I think this is radical.”

Titan Notes

The Fullerton men’s basketball banquet is Thursday at the Fullerton Marriott. Tickets are $20 apiece; a reception starts at 6:30 p.m. and dinner is at 7:30. . . . Three Fullerton wrestlers were named to the Pac 10 all-academic team: Michael Grubbs, Christian Holiday and Laszlo Molnar.

Big West Baseball

League Overall School W L T W L T CS Fullerton 14 4 0 26 12 0 CS Long Beach 11 4 0 25 15 0 Nevada 5 4 0 24 9 1 San Jose State 8 7 0 27 14 0 New Mexico State 4 8 0 24 17 0 Nevada Las Vegas 4 8 0 17 18 0 UC Santa Barbara 4 8 0 17 21 1 Pacific 4 11 0 23 20 0