John Ganzel played seven seasons in the major leagues for five teams, and he claimed he only had one beer his entire life.
While managing the Rochester Red Wings in 1912, Ganzel told a reporter about the circumstances. The story appeared in numerous newspapers—including The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.
Ganzel, a teetotaler, went into a bar with a friend in Marlin, Texas in 1907. Ganzel and the Cincinnati Reds were training there, as were the Philadelphia Athletics—and pitcher Rube Waddell:
Rube Waddell
Ganzel ordered a ginger ale.
“A moment later in walked Waddell and ordered a glass of beer. The drinks were untouched when Connie Mack, also a teetotaler, stepped into the barroom to use the telephone.
Connie Mack
“Connie spied the Rube. But the Rube had seen him first in the mirror behind the bar. Quick as a flash he switched the drinks then held the ginger ale aloft in a conspicuous way and hailed Mack.
“’Hello, Connie, come over and have a ginger ale with me,’ he said. Mack joined him and they drank ginger ale together.
“In order to spare the Rube embarrassment and a possible fine, I had to drink the Rube’s beer, the first and only alcoholic indulgences of my life.”
Baseball History Daily 
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