(a widely recognized Anaheim baseball fixture reacts to a hidden camera video showing how the nachos are prepared)

Citing a study published in the latest issue of Portfolio, the New York Daily News’ Rick Shapiro gloats, “as New York fans watch their beloved teams from near-gleaming stadiums, several teams in the south and west play in ballparks mired in filth.”

California-based stadiums have the worst health records, according to an analysis of violations in 2007.

The Los Angeles Angels and the Oakland A’s “had far more food fouls than any other team,” the magazine says in its June issue. “While most were minor, some were, well, disgusting.”

Angels Stadium racked up a whopping 732 violations last year, including a cockroach infestation in the Stadium Club kitchen last August.
There was also a major vermin violation in April that forced the shutdown of a food stand.

The A’s McAfee Coliseum reported 493 violations, several of which came from food being exposed to “overhead leakage, dirt, insects, rodents and chemical contamination.”

Shea Stadium, on the other hand, had only 58 violations in 2007 “ though there was evidence of mice, rats and flying insects found in food areas during a June inspection.

Yankee Stadium had an even cleaner record last year. It was cited for a mere 45 violations.