"Vegemite tastes like bile," said outfielder Jody Gerut.

Gerut missed a sign during a recent game; so, per manager Bud Black's spring-training code, he had to eat the dark, brown food paste made from yeast extract. Black saw a jar of it in the locker of one of his Australian pitchers two or three years ago, then put it to use for reasons both comical and punitive. Even Black has eaten the foodstuff, for failing to introduce all newcomers at a team meeting.

"It's gross, and you're talking to someone who eats pig intestines," said Gerut, a fan of a type of Korean stew that uses that ingredient.