So, what would be the punishment for eating nuts in those sections? Being forced to read nothing but "Peanuts" strips for a year?

The part of my brain that controls smart ass remarks just exploded. I'm not feeling so good...

I suppose it would have been too distasteful to announce this while Mike Lowell was in town.

They also declared the DH, 1B, and C sections hit free.

"Seattle Mariners declare nut-free sections at Safeco"

But you HAVE to be nuts to root for the Mariners this year. Have they thought this through?

Really, Seattle?

Really?

I think I'm going to take a minute to visit the Mariners blogoshpere. Could be good for a larf about now.

Ah, Safeco. Where you can order a beer with a Ninentdo DS but you can't have a peanut or kiss your lesbian lover.

I can see where the Mariners needed to address these complaints somehow, but reserving entire sections for lesbians? That's overkill, and it's segregation.

Ah, Safeco. Where you can order a beer with a Ninentdo DS but you can't have a peanut or kiss your lesbian lover.

Well, a quick trip to the M's blogosphere introduced me to the wonderful idea of peanut flavored lesbians. So, I've accomplished something today.

If you're afraid to go to a ballgame because of peanut allergies, I can't see why you're not afraid to step out of your house.

I say this as someone with a pile of icky food allergies (not peanut, though, thank goodness).

Oh man, this is so [sexual innuendo]. I can't believe [bad pun as regards the sanity of Mariners fans/owners]. I mean [coffee joke]. [Sexual innuendo] [double entendre].

Seattle Mariners declare nut-free sections at Safeco

Huh, which Jesse Jackson joke do I go with here?

So, what would be the punishment for eating nuts in those sections? Being forced to read nothing but "Peanuts" strips for a year?

How is this punishment?? Anyone inclined towards reading this site should track down a copy of Sandlot Peanuts. Fantastic.

Well, a quick trip to the M's blogosphere introduced me to the wonderful idea of peanut flavored lesbians.

"You got your lesbian in my chocolate!"

"You got your chocolate on my lesbian!"

"You got your lesbian in my chocolate!"

"You got your chocolate on my lesbian!"

Oh yes. This thread is going to deserve its own statue by the time it's done.

Peanuts Lowrey was pleased with the news...until that whole anaphylaxis crapxis set in.

John Kruk Night is scheduled for the second week of August

The Nats did this last year, thoroughly cleaned out a box for kids with severe peanut allergies. Don't get the snark.

Don't get the snark.

Seattle Mariners + potential for dick jokes = snark time!

Cards provide peanut-free zone

Sure, they can ban peanuts in the stands, but the Mariners pitchers just keep getting shelled.

Sandlot Peanuts: When I was just a kid reading that collection, it was amusing, but it didn't mean nearly as much to me as it does now. Schultz could be profound in his own way.

Section 313 will continue to be a total sausagefest.

Don't get the snark.

I find this impossible to believe. This "declaration" is to making jokes what Seattle pitching is to getting hits.

The Lactose Intolerant lobby asks, WTF?

Twins did it last year too.

The Lactose Intolerant lobby asks, WTF?

"And the Indians ain't saying nothing, 'cause they all dead."

A friend of mine has EXTREME peanut allergies and, despite being a big baseball fan, has never dared attend a game. While obviously there are plenty of jokes to make here, I think it's kind of cool that there will probably be some fans with allergic reactions to even the inhalation of peanut products who will get to go to their first game.

"Eunuchs Only" section? Does John Kruk only have to pay half price?

#20 -- walk off post.

I'm pretty sure someone in the Lounge posted that peanut allergies in children are happening at an exponential rate recently. I don't have any answers for what may have changed.

Back in my day they used to just drop us off in the middle of the woods with a jar of peanut butter. If we made it back home alive we were allowed to join the tribe.

Back in my day they used to just drop us off in the middle of the woods with a jar of peanut butter.

Damn Skippy!

Someone has to go to that game dressed as Mr. Peanut.

I'm pretty sure someone in the Lounge posted that peanut allergies in children are happening at an exponential rate recently. I don't have any answers for what may have changed.

Allergies of every sort are widely thought to be on the increase over the past generation or so. Some researchers believe that this is because we have "bored" immune systems. Now that the young are immunized against polio, diphtheria, etc. plus better hygiene and antibiotics to help against bacterial infections, the immune system is more prone to overreact allergically.

TVerik,

My assertion on the increase in peanut allergies is that years ago, kids with peanut allergies died. Now those kids are being saved & reproducing. Could also explain the exponential growth rate. Coming from someone with a genetic disorder (not allergy related) that probably would have produced a similar result.

Allergies of every sort are widely thought to be on the increase over the past generation or so. Some researchers believe that this is because we have "bored" immune systems. Now that the young are immunized against polio, diphtheria, etc. plus better hygiene and antibiotics to help against bacterial infections, the immune system is more prone to overreact allergically.

Bob Feller researches immunology?

Now that you mention it, I do recall running into this theory in Robert Bork's "Slouching Towards Epinephrine"

There's likely a number of factors. I'm not sure that you can reasonably attribute the growth to purely genetics. The increase has happened quite quickly, which would suggest some environmental component.

Of course a part of this is likely just an increase in diagnosis. Minor food allergies were likely just never diagnosed back in the day when men were men and wouldn't choke to death on a cookie made with small traces of tree nuts.

Would you prefer a more technically precise description?

That's how a former high school classmate (immunologist) explains it to his patients, including my sister and her kid.

I read an article that said that children that grow up on farms never have allergies. Babies have to be introduced to dirt and bacteria, and if they are not, the body will misinterpret harmless things (like cat hair). Raising babies in antiseptic environments is the problem.

As a kid I think there was some overlap between the allergic-to-everything kids and the oversheltered kids. Frequently the same ones.

I read an article that said that children that grow up on farms never have allergies. Babies have to be introduced to dirt and bacteria, and if they are not, the body will misinterpret harmless things (like cat hair). Raising babies in antiseptic environments is the problem.

As a kid I think there was some overlap between the allergic-to-everything kids and the oversheltered kids. Frequently the same ones.

I used to think the same thing. My wife and I have a dog, 2 cats and we are not hyper about the germ thing. Supposedly, having pets reduces your chances of having allergies. My wife loves peanut butter. I used to, still occasionally like it.

My daughter has a huge peanut allergy. Can you explain this one?

I used to think the same thing. My wife and I have a dog, 2 cats and we are not hyper about the germ thing. Supposedly, having pets reduces your chances of having allergies. My wife loves peanut butter. I used to, still occasionally like it.

My daughter has a huge peanut allergy. Can you explain this one?

I don't think anyone was suggesting that 100% of peanut allergies could be explained by sheltering kids and keeping them away from germs...

A friend of mine has EXTREME peanut allergies and, despite being a big baseball fan, has never dared attend a game. While obviously there are plenty of jokes to make here, I think it's kind of cool that there will probably be some fans with allergic reactions to even the inhalation of peanut products who will get to go to their first game.

I have a friend who also has extreme peanut allergies. I've seen him leave a room where people were eating peanuts because the dust was giving him trouble breathing. He goes to several baseball games each year (every game the Dodgers play in Shea) and has never had any problems.

My daughter has a huge peanut allergy. Can you explain this one?

I don't know. What I posted above was the entirety of my knowledge on the subject; I don't claim to have it all figured out.

The article I read did specifically mention farm animals. Dogs and cats might not be enough - they live indoors, are very clean, and you dispose of their waste in a sanitary manner. Farm animals #### on the ground, they have flies living on them, they are dirty as all hell. They piss on their own food. If you are a kid crawling around on a farm, you are going to be constantly ingesting miniscule amounts of feces and the like. If you pet a baby goat and then lick your finger you are getting a heavy does of nature that a house cat does not offer.

Babies have to be introduced to dirt and bacteria, and if they are not, the body will misinterpret harmless things (like cat hair). Raising babies in antiseptic environments is the problem.

Have you ever been to a typical suburban or urban child care center?

My assertion on the increase in peanut allergies is that years ago, kids with peanut allergies died. Now those kids are being saved & reproducing. Could also explain the exponential growth rate.

Yeah, instead of death by anaphylactic shock it would be that they choked to death.

Regarding the idiocy about over-sheltered kids, I don't buy it. My kid was three months old when it became apparent that he was allergic to dairy. You give a kid a sip of milk and watch his face break out in hives and you get a sense that it's not compatible with him. Same with eggs, one bite and kaboom, a huge body rash. We got him tested, and were unsurprised to see nuts were an issue as well.

There might be something to the antiseptic environment theory, but it doesn't really hold up to scrutiny when you see allergic reactions in infants, unless it's a failure to pass the proper antibodies on to the children during gestation. But my son's mother didn't live in a bubble before or after pregnancy and is quite healthy, so I'd need to see more evidence.

I think - and Oliver Sachs talks about this in one of his books - that it's just something where MDs are now recognizing something is more common than they did in the past, and diagnosing it more frequently. I think he might have been talking about Tourette's. Same with autism, despite Michael Savage's insane comments about it.

My kids don't have allergies, but a surprising number of their friends and cousins do. There seems to be a correlation between "mom going on an unusually 'healthy' diet during pregnancy" and "kid being born with food allergies". Just anecdotal, of course, but worth study. Indeed, I'm sure it probably has already been studied.

There seems to be a correlation between "mom going on an unusually 'healthy' diet during pregnancy" and "kid being born with food allergies".

Not my son's mother, her diet was all meat, carbs, cheese and ice cream. It was not dissimilar from her diet pre-pregnancy either.

The number of people who die from peanut allergies in the U.S. is somewhere within rounding error of zero. It's a lot of hysteria. The idea of people with peanut allergies somehow spontaneously combusting because they happened to walk near a peanut is urban legend at best. I'm sure it happened once, somewhere, kind of like a cell phone causing a gas station to explode.

That's not to say that there are no people out there with serious peanut allergies. But the notion that they're going to die from being near peanuts, as opposed to from eating them, is ridiculous.

I don't buy the idea that oversheltering kids leads to more allergies. I think it's more likely the other way around. Kids who have lots of allergies tend to get oversheltered.

A cell phone has never caused anything larger than a man's abdomen to explode.

That's not to say that there are no people out there with serious peanut allergies. But the notion that they're going to die from being near peanuts, as opposed to from eating them, is ridiculous.

I tend to agree with this. I'm allergic to peanuts but I've never been sick except from actually ingesting something with peanuts as a primary ingredient. Nor, from talking to various doctors throughout my life and reading literature on allergies, have I heard of someone becoming seriously ill without actually eating peanuts. For me, being near peanuts was more a psychological rather than medical issue. It is a serious issue, but there is also a lot of overreaction.

Per Wiki (with external references) CDC says 12-20, while NIH and other government agencies estimate 125.

But the notion that they're going to die from being near peanuts, as opposed to from eating them, is ridiculous.

They may not die from it, but anaphylaxis need not be fatal to be either really damn scary (especially involving a kid), as well as terribly uncomfortable.

It's not that dissimilar from tobacco smoke. There's an overdramatized fear of second-hand smoke, but for most people its harmless when exposed to trace amounts in open-air. But for a few, even the slightest exposure causes an allergic reaction. As such, most stadiums (possibly all now?) prohibit smoking, initially in select areas and now universally except in designated sections.

I guess Lawanda Page won't be sitting in that section

http://youtube.com/watch?v=qDmD5TPD_5I&feature=related

Per Wiki (with external references) CDC says 12-20, while NIH and other government agencies estimate 125.

No; that's for all food allergies, not peanuts.

It's not that dissimilar from tobacco smoke. There's an overdramatized fear of second-hand smoke, but for most people its harmless when exposed to trace amounts in open-air. But for a few, even the slightest exposure causes an allergic reaction. As such, most stadiums (possibly all now?) prohibit smoking, initially in select areas and now universally except in designated sections.

I don't think they prohibit smoking because of allergies; I think they prohibit smoking because of general health fears (hysteria) related to ETS.

(And I think for the most part that such bans are at the legislative level, not a mere matter of stadium policy.)

I get a newsletter that frequently reports on food allergy deaths. Generally, the deaths are where (a) the person didn't know they had an allergy, or (b) they knew of the allergy, but didn't have an epinephrine shot with them. Also, it typically is a teenager or young adult, rarely a young child.

Hey, I've got tickets to the August 5 game! Not in those sections, though...

That's the actual headline--cool.

"My daughter has a huge peanut allergy. Can you explain this one?"

Your wife's sleeping with the mailman, and has been for years.

On the bright side, you can apparently murder him in an untraceable fashion.

They may not die from it, but anaphylaxis need not be fatal to be either really damn scary (especially involving a kid), as well as terribly uncomfortable.

What doesn't kill ya makes ya stronger, kid.

Oh, and 58 officially wins the thread. Drive home safely.

On the bright side, you can apparently murder him in an untraceable fashion.

But how are you going to get the peanut butter on her <removed by editor>?

anaphylaxis need not be fatal to be either really damn scary (especially involving a kid), as well as terribly uncomfortable.

Sounds like a standard Mariners game to me.

But how are you going to get the peanut butter on her <removed by editor>?

If I remember the joke correctly you use a German Shepherd to get it off, but I don't remember how exactly it got on there.

"you use a German Shepherd to get it off"

See, it's funny because it means two different things!

From the PoV of the Mariners, does it really matter whether the risk is overstated or not? If there are people out there who don't want to get near peanuts, it costs the Mariners nothing not to sell them in a couple of sections - I've not checked, but I'm guessing they aren't selling out many games this year - and they get to sell tickets to people who wouldn't otherwise buy them. Sounds like good sense to me.

i'm still waiting on a lesbian section.

I get a newsletter that frequently reports on food allergy deaths. Generally, the deaths are where (a) the person didn't know they had an allergy, or (b) they knew of the allergy, but didn't have an epinephrine shot with them. Also, it typically is a teenager or young adult, rarely a young child.

That has been my experience as well. Little johnny thinks he is all grown up and doesn't need money yet he is too stupid to figure out that eating at a Thai restaurant might pose a problem for him.


For questions like these I often ask myself what does George Carlin think about it?

George Carlin

"My daughter has a huge peanut allergy. Can you explain this one?"

I could but you wouldn't like it.

i'm still waiting on a lesbian section.

Is it going to be exclusively for lesbians, or will they allow peanut butter and German Shepherds as well?

i'm still waiting on a lesbian section.

RTFA -- this is the announcement of a lesbian section.

RTFA -- this is the announcement of a lesbian section.

Exactly. The Mariners didn't say "peanut free," they said "##### free."

Big difference.

Conclusion jumping! Just because they won't be seating people WITH nuts doesn't mean they'll only be seating people who don't like 'em.