(USA TODAY Sports Images)
Though a ban on smokeless tobacco in the minor leagues and rules implemented to limit its visibility in the Major League game have diminished its popularity in the game in recent years, plenty of pro ballplayers still dip or chew tobacco in the dugout and on the field. Now, city officials in San Francisco are hoping to pass an ordinance that would ban smokeless tobacco use at AT&T Park, home of the Giants.
The Los Angeles Times has the story:
“San Francisco will send a simple and strong message,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, who introduced the ordinance. “Tobacco use in sports will no longer harm our youth, our health.”…
During the last round of collective bargaining, (MLB) management sought — and the union rejected — a ban on smokeless tobacco. Such a ban is in place in the minor leagues, where management can implement changes unilaterally.
Smokeless tobacco is legal for adults to use, and Major Leaguers are adults. But there’s no doubt its dangerous, and it’s almost impossible to believe it would be so popular on baseball fields today if it hadn’t been so popular on baseball fields in the past. Think about it: How often do you really see people who aren’t baseball players chewing tobacco?
Many ballplayers almost certainly start chewing tobacco because they saw other ballplayers doing it. So though measures taken to break the cycle now will be unpopular among some players, they may very well benefit athletes of the future for keeping them away. Guys used to smoke cigarettes in the dugout. We learn things, rules get changed, and we move forward.
After Tony Gwynn died from the salivary-gland cancer he attributed to his chewing tobacco use, multiple MLB players gave up the habit. Curt Schilling also blamed tobacco for his oral cancer.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy (USA TODAY Sports Images)
If neither those examples nor the experience of trying it out at age 15 with your friends and throwing up your soul when you accidentally swallow some can keep young athletes away from a dangerous habit, maybe measures like the one in San Francisco will.
