Food & Entertainment
The lodging atthe brand-new 5th Ave. Hotel built for baseball got old in a hurry, and so did the food. As I mentioned with the Hotel, the smell from underneath as well as the food was so bad that the Phillies pulled out mid-training in 1916. Even earlier, the Browns owner had been quoted in mid-March of ‘14 that when they came back the next spring (they didn’t) the Browns would “have our own and better facilities.” Hedges found the accommodations “not as they should be.”
Being a peninsula surrounded two large bodies of water in Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, seafood was a staple of life in Pinellas. Not all seafood is appreciated the same and how it is prepared can make a large difference in its enjoyment.
While Branch Rickey had the Browns return to the hotel to eat midday between practice sessions, Pat Moran of the Phillies had his men’s lunches delivered to the ballpark. Mainly they received a piece of fried fish, head-on, between two slices of bread. The ballpark had a kind neighbor who allowed the players to pick oranges from his grove which became the main alternative or supplement to the fish.
It wasn’t always fish. The hotel featured three types of roast beef on its menu: hot, medium and cold. It wasn’t much of an improvement over the seafood.
At dinner, Phillies pitcher Grover Alexander showed up one time with a hammer and nails. He nailed a slice of roast beef to the bottom of his shoe and paraded around the room. St. Petersburg was not flush with restaurant offerings. The players had few options to get a bite to eat. The Brooklyn club in Clearwater in the 1920s would also struggle with lodging and food issues.
Rickey forbid card playing and drinking in camp. He did lease a player piano, so many nights were met with lousy singing. Manager Moran of the Phillies didn’t continue with the piano, but did allow poker with a 10-cent limit. The only other night activities would be going to the one theatre in town. The show started at 8:00, ended at 9:30 and the players noted everybody went straight home from there. Occasionally, the hotel would host a dance, or they would find one elsewhere.
On the rare off day many players went on offshore fishing excursions while some just scouted out the area. Golf was not much of a factor until the 20s. The players, during breaks at practice, fished off the dock built to bring in teams and spectators for the games.
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