The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-02-15

 living regulations among ball player!
 In my early days 1t was purely matter of personal desire and ambi- tion. A player kept in condition, in those days simply because he wanted to make good at his job and earn a living. He knew that if he didn't stay in condition he wouldn't last loug. If he was a ball player at heart he looked after his own phy sica1 welfare There were not 50 many ball players then It was not such a profession or business-more of an individual liking for the sport.
 Supervision Necessary
 As the teams increased in number and the number of players on each team also increased, 1t gradually be- came necessary to have sort of su- pervision over their personal habits Nowadays if a player does not take care of himself he not only hurts his own chances but can interfere with the commercial progress-I might call it-of the organization. So they have to be watched to a certain ex- tent.
 It Is a rule on our club that play CTS must be in bed by 11:30 o'clock at night and must not eat too heavily in the middle of the day I have never believed in fixing an hour at which ball players should arise. In fact, I am in favor of them getting all the sleep possible. Most of my players stay in bed until 9 or 10 o'clock In the morning. It makes no difference to me.
 If they sleep very late the chanc% are that they will eat a fairly good breakfast and will not eat any lunch at all. A ball player is usually much livelier on the field when he eats a very light lunch.
 About Drinking
 In the matter of drinking l have never had any rules. When it was possible to get beer and ale I never objected to the players having glass or two in the evenings. In fact, I often have asked them to join me in glass of beer.
 It is bad to drink whisky. of course, but it is pretty difficult to stop a man from taking strong drink if he wants it. We have had some bad cases to handle, but we cannot fix any rule about it. All such in- corrigible players have to be handled individually.
 As to diet--certain kinds of food-I do not believe in it at all. There is lot of difference in training for d ball game and for some particular athletic event. The ball player has to work at his job every day for six mcnths and, consequently, must live regularly man who is to go into prize fight or a running race, you see, can train for that particular oc- casion. Then it is over with. That is also true of football teams. But a l,4n Id 1.It so as to live in a natural way, just like man in any other business or trade. It makes no difference to me what they eat so long as they keep in condition. Nature will make them want good, wholesome, substantial food.
 Toney's Mistake
 While most of the players soon discover what is best for them others never do. On one occasion Fred Toney, the pitcher, came pretty near putting himself out of the game for good by eating foolisbfy. He Is a big fellow physically and not only re- Quires considerable food. but likes to eat just for the mere pleasure of it.
 We were in St. Louis that day and the temperature was 100 in the shade one of those sweltering days for which St. Louis is famous in the hot months. Toney got up at 9:30 o'clock and ate some eggs and toast and cof- fee. That should have been enough for the day. At lunch time, though, he sat down to the table again ana ate heavy meal of calf's liver and bacon, dessert and coffee.
 Several players warned him, but he merely laughed. That afternoon on A tense heat. For a moment he stag gered and then collapsed, uncon- scious. He had to be taken to q hos pital and was in a serious condition.
 A Nine-Doiiar Breakfast
 It is customary on ball clubs to allow the players so much day for their meals and they may eat where they please, though we encourage them to eat at the hotel where we are stopping as a rule. At the time l have in mind the allowance was one dollar meal or three dollars a day Raymond had been in his room-or somewhere--for three days and had not eaten. It was our last day in that city and he figured he would have to use up all his allowance. So, he went down to the dining room the last morning and ate breakfast that cost him nine dollars! This breakfast was made up of every ex- pensive dish that he could think of. even to a planlked steak.
 The opportunity for eating a lot of food at the hotels for the first time often makes such an appeal to young recruits that they literally eat them selves out of the league. l have known several cases of ballplayers failing to make good simply because