But that doesn't fly at Gwinnett Stadium, a $64 million ballpark near Lawrenceville. Outside food is banned in the facility. The Gwinnett Braves Web site says as much.

"For the safety of fans," it states, "the following items are not permitted in the stadium: laser pointers, glass bottles or cans, weapons of any kind, lawn chairs, pets, banners and/or flags of any kind with a stick, alcohol or drugs, outside food and beverages. ..."

Hudson, an Emory librarian who lives in Lilburn, doesn't like the brown-bag ban. He learned about it on a Braves sports blog.

"It's an insult," said Hudson, a Cincinnati native who catches a few major league games every year at the Ted. "I am a huge Braves fan, but this is despicable. It will probably keep some people away. It has kept me away."

Danny Hong won't stay away. He's a Baseball fanatic who attends about 30 Braves games a year. His hobby is to travel to Baseball stadiums in other cities to soak in the atmosphere and action. In a blog comment, he called the no-food rule "a gripe" about an otherwise wonderful Class AAA facility.

"Turner Field does not have this rule," he wrote, "because they understand that families have so many expenses ... they don't saddle them with the necessity to buy expensive ballpark food."

On the phone, the Fairburn graphics designer clarified his take.

"It's a minor gripe," he noted, "but rules are rules. I think it will keep larger families away, though."

I'd say. So much for Baseball, the national pastime, and affordable family fun.

Perhaps Braves management should rethink the can't-take-it-with-you rule at its minor league ballpark, just like they did in spring 1997. Before Turner Field, there was Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. There, folks had been accustomed to toting in food and drink.

At Turner Field, fans weren't allowed the luxury when the facility opened. They cried foul ball. A Fulton County commissioner got into the food fracas. He scheduled public hearings so folk could vent about having to park their hot dogs at home, then pay outrageous prices for them inside the downtown stadium. The man whose name graces the stadium even called the concession prices "outrageous."

His response when told that a large soft drink costs $3.50: "Are you serious? I won't buy one! That's outrageous." The fans "don't have to buy it and I won't and they shouldn't, either. I'm going to drink water."

Make no mistake. The food ban of 1997 was a major error, and in July of that year the stadium's concession policy was changed.

Hudson, the Lilburn man who wants to be a Gwinnett Braves fan, would like to see a change in Lawrenceville.

"If I had gone to the stadium without knowing this," he told me, "we would have naturally brought a cooler. And I guess we would have been turned away. That would have been even more insulting. Honestly, I hope they change it."

Me too.

Rick Badie, an AJC staffer, is based in Gwinnett. Contact him at rbadie@ajc.com