“‘Oh, he ate himself out of the league. Do you know,’ continued Shannon, ‘I believe more players eat themselves out of baseball than drink their jobs away. It is a fact that many men overload their stomachs at the noon meal and when they appear on the diamond they are heavy and loggy like a serpent that has gorged itself. Yes, sir, overeating has blasted many a promising player’s chances.” Spike Shannon of the New York Giants quoted in “Ate Himself Out of Job: Spike Shannon Tells Why One Pitcher Disappeared,” Brooklyn Citizen, January 10, 1907, p5
No earliest use given in 2009 Dickson Baseball Dictionary
