How come baseball hasn't done a crackdown on the players chewing/dipping tabacco during games? Don't you

Question

think it sends a bad/negative message towards the youth who idolize these players? Probably 7/10 Major leaguers either dip or chew, and it's a pretty nasty habit. No one ever seems to talk about it in the media. Remember that Joe Tuttle guy who died because of mouth/throat cancer, his face was disfigured after surgery. No one touches this topic with a 10 foot pole, but everyone is always bringing up roids. Obviously the players are addicted to the stuff and have been doing it since their teens or early 20's, however, there doesn't seem to be any pressure for them to quit. The former pitcher Pete Harnisch (sp) used to dip and then quit and went through depression/withdrawls, remember that? and then pre-maturely retired. I think Curt Schilling has said he has tried to quit many times, but I watched the game the other night and he had a fat dip in. I guess i'm a little baffled why no one ever brings this up, the dangers of smokeless tabacco and the increasing usage of it.

Answer 1

They tried for a while a decade or so ago, but the Players Association stepped in and were d!cks about it.

You still see a lot of players going to the sunflower seeds and bubble gum, but yeah, they need to get rid of the tobacco (Jim Leyland, you listening? LOL).

Answer 2

Seven of every ten players dip/chew? No way...maybe back in, say, the early 80's would that have been an accurate projection, but the players of this era use sunflower seeds as an alternative that is obviously more healthy than what their predecessors would have considered.

Answer 3

They did crack down on letting them smoke in the dugouts, though...I miss the old days when the entire roster of the 1977 Pittsburgh Pirates lit up on the bench. Also they all had really pimp moustaches and sideburns. I'm getting a little off topic aren't I?

MLB does ask the players to not be too obvious about their tobacco use, and tries to get them not to do it, but there's nothing illegal about it. If a bunch of grown men want to chew, I say let 'em. None of my business.

Answer 4

Good point but MLB will never attack this issue since there is no performance advantage in the use of tobacco. They have enough other problems to worry about.