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Minor League baseball can be exciting work, but at times, it's hardly a glamorous way to make a living.

From a player's standpoint, it can be particularly demanding when it comes time to get something to eat. The money these guys make, especially at the lower levels such as the Appalachian League, doesn't afford much of a lavish culinary lifestyle. In fact, it's a wonder some of these young men don't starve to death. Either that, or overdose on cholesterol, not necessarily a happier fate.

The problem is this is the first time some of these players have been away from a guaranteed source of meals, whether that be Mom's kitchen, the school dining hall or a fraternity house.

Players sleep late and stay up later, which adds to the nutritional challenge.

Say you play in Pulaski, like members of the Calfee Park tenant Blue Jays. By the time you're done playing at night, everything's closed.

The humanitarians who run these teams have often taken pity on these victims of dietary deprivation and occasionally tried to provide a postgame clubhouse spread. At most clubs, that amounts to leftover hot dogs from the concession stand with an accompanying vegetable. The vegetable is either chopped onions going brown around the edges or alarmingly green relish.

Humble though they may be, dogs beat the other choice: sandwiches. The sandwiches are usually in two varieties, gourmet and plain. The gourmet sandwiches include crunchy peanut butter, jam and whole wheat bread; plain consists of white bread, smooth peanut butter and grape jelly.

Players adapt as they can. One year at a former Appy League outpost that shall remain anonymous, country boy ballplayers started going to the local outdoor market to procure the makings of meals that brought back a taste of home. That went well until a freaked-out landlady called management of the ball club to complain about all the feathers, beaks and fur that kept showing up in her sinks.

Lean times have ended in Pulaski this year, however. That's thanks to a new hire, a 35-year-old ex-Marine named Russ Oliver, this season's clubhouse attendant.

Every night the Jays are home, Oliver prepares a full meal, from scratch, and serves it buffet-style for $5 a pop to the players after the game.

"These guys are going to be spoiled," said manager Gary Cathcart, as he chowed down on a recent Oliver-cooked meal of chicken Parmesan, angel hair pasta, Italian green beans, salad and roll. "They'll never have it so good."

Until perhaps they make it to the big leagues. Of course, there are no guarantees of that.

"He does a great job for us," pitcher Derek Tate said the other night.

The Latin players joined their teammates in endorsing a menu of jerk chicken, Caribbean rice, black beans and fruit salad by inhaling it without leaving much of a trace after a game at the start of the most recent homestand.

"We like to give them some variety," Oliver said. "I've got about 17 meals I'm going to do for them this year."

The way it works is the players pay him in advance and he shops, cooks and cleans up, all the while makingsure the uniforms make it into the washing machine and the spikes are neatly aligned on top of the lockers after games. He provides utensils, plates and condiments. Theoretically, he'll make some money for his troubles.

Oliver, a Georgian, once played some junior college third base and harbored dreams of playing pro ball. He never got a call though, so he made other plans once he was done serving his country by assisting with the demolition of Saddam Hussein's army in Desert Storm.

Oliver opted to go to Johnson & Wales in Charleston to study hospitality management. He parlayed that into a career as a facilities manager, then a clubhouse guy for assorted minor league baseball teams in Chattanooga, Jacksonville and Richmond.

He'd been out of the minors for a while doing other work in Arizona when he decided to reapply for some baseball jobs this May. Because it was getting late, he e-mailed only the teams in short-season leagues such as the Appy asking for work. He got four offers.

"I chose this one because it's closest to home in Georgia," he said.

The Jays like him and he likes them.

"This clubhouse is nicer than some of the ones in AAA," he said. "And Gary and his staff have been great to me."

Meanwhile, his love for baseball has been renewed.

"My dream has always been to go to the big leagues," he said. "And I'm going to get there one way or another."

Most likely at the end of a serving spoon.