TRENTON — What do you get when you combine a baseball stadium tradition with a Trenton tradition?

A hot dog wrapped in pork roll and cheese.

When the 2014 Thunder make their season debut April 3 at Arm & Hammer Park, the franchise will also debut its new Thunderdog, which the organization promises is no longer your run-of-the-mill frankfurter.

“A Thunderdog is a jumbo hot dog, wrapped in cheddar cheese and then wrapped in pork roll on an Italian Peoples Bakery, 7-inch torpedo roll,” said Chris Champion, the first-year director of food and beverage at Arm & Hammer Park.

The Thunderdog will be available exclusively at the Riverfront Grille, located down the right field line. Champion said the price of a Thunderdog will be $8.

“It’s two distinct flavors clashing,” Champion said “We tossed around some ideas. We thought about a pulled pork hot dog and a pulled chicken hot dog.

“There was also the suggestion of a cheesesteak hot dog. That was a little too much Philadelphia, though.”

Champion said it was his wife, Sarah, who tied the city and the sandwich together.

“She said you’re in Trenton, why not give pork roll a try?” Champion said. “So we made one up at home.

“My wife is an avid runner and never eats anything like that,” Champion explained. “But when she couldn’t put it down, I knew we struck gold.”

Call it a junk-food epiphany.

“We look at the ballpark as a special place to eat special food,” said Thunder general manager Will Smith. “We wanted something unique, but not crazy.

“Besides,” he said. “What’s more synonymous with Trenton than pork roll?”

“It’s an odd combination and not two things you think of together,” Champion said. “It may take some time for the fans to be introduced to it, but we think it will be a hit.”

Champion, who has been with the Thunder since franchise inception, said the ballpark has always had a Thunderdog.

“It’s been a staple for 20 years,” Champion said. “But it was just a jumbo frank on a bun.

“We just felt like a Thunderdog should be a signature item,” Champion said. “The name should carry some weight. It should have some power to it.”

And now, thanks now to a combination that could rival chocolate and peanut butter, the Thunderdog has some juice.

“You could use ketchup, mustard or maybe even some hot peppers,” Champion said. “You can’t go wrong either way.”

Champion insisted on keeping the brand of pork roll that’s on the Thunderdog — Case’s or Taylor — a secret.

The Thunderdog is just part of a ballpark menu that was tweaked over the winter.

“I don’t want to say the menu was stale, but we felt like we needed to try something new,” Champion said.

Smith and Champion said pizza by the slice, baked in a wood-fired oven, will be offered at Fitch’s Place down the left field line.

“We haven’t offered pizza by the slice in a while,” Smith said. “Fitch’s Place will offer submarine sandwiches, too.”

Another new offering will be Mega Nachos, where fans can build their own nacho platter.

"We turned a cart into a self-serve nachos stand," Smith said. "There will be meats, cheeses, veggies and beans. You can build it any way you want it.

“We haven’t had real appetizing nachos,” Smith admitted. “They weren’t as big and messy as our fans want them.”

The team also will introduce a self-serve, soft-serve ice cream station. Richman’s Ice Cream will offer sundaes, gelati and Philadelphia Water Ice along with a variety of fountain drinks.

“Richmond’s has been around the area for 100 years and Philadelphia Water Ice brought it back and it will be sold at Arm & Hammer Park exclusively,” Smith said.

“We wanted the food to be more fun,” Champion said.

The new menu items will require more napkins and more stained shirts.

“That will be perfect,” Smith said. “We’re having an OxiClean giveaway on opening night, too.”

Joe Zedalis can be reached at jzedalis@njtimes.com.

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