There was an article on the internet last week about Major League Baseball’s addiction to chewing tobacco. An article written by Mark Townsend, who writes for “Big League Stew” on “Yahoo Sports.” To his credit he is right on target about smokeless tobacco being an addiction in pro baseball.
He mentions that MLB has unsuccessfully tried a full ban of smokeless tobacco. Products like dip and snuff, I consider to be weapons of mass destruction. The league has been unable to get a full ban on its use.
There was a time when teams used to supply the product to the players. That is now prohibited, but that hasn’t stopped the players’ personal use of the stuff, or snuff.
As we all know, some bad habits are not easy to quit. In a related article written by Peter Abraham, of the “The Boston Globe,” he mentions how David Ortiz, fondly known as Big Papi, spits in his batting glove before coming to the plate—a routine he dares not to quit because it’s part of his superstition.
MLB players are notoriously superstitious. Big Papi claims the worst habit he wishes he could break is his need to have a pinch of tobacco in his right cheek—something he’s been doing since he started in the minors.
The use of smokeless tobacco in the game has lessened over the past few years, but Abraham points out in the article that of the 58 percent of Red Sox he interviewed, 21 admit to using chew or dip.
The main reason that chewing tobacco and using dip are still a baseball tradition is because it’s a habit the players use to calm their nerves, so they claim. Many players became users through copying others, like teammates, or other influences from baseball.
Not surprising! It's human nature, when curiosity becomes a road taken by the copycat. When the youngsters want to act like adults, they emulate habits—good or bad can develop. This has been going on for eons, but it can become a determent to the health of the “wannabes.”
The addiction to nicotine is the problem, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Abraham found that Smokeless tobacco has a higher concentrate of nicotine than a cigarette. He said, “Although the nicotine is absorbed more slowly, a greater amount stays in the bloodstream.”
What are the many dangers of smokeless chew or dip? Some of the worst cancers known to mankind are related to the mouth and stomach. There are different forms of oral cancer, gum disease, lesions in the mouth and on the tongue that can develop into cancer.
We have all seen photos of people, mainly men, who have had part of their jaw removed, or their tongue partially cut out because of the cancer that developed from their addiction to smokeless tobacco products. The surgeries are permanent and there is little that can be changed through plastic surgery. The photos are usually cases of the lucky ones who survived their addiction because the more unlucky ones have paid with their lives.
Overall, in Abraham’s interviews of the many Red Sox, he found that the majority of them who use the products want to wean themselves off. In one interview with third baseman Brandon Snyder, he said he quit after he found out his wife was pregnant early last season.
“One night I had a dream that I died from something having to do with dip,” he said. “When I woke up I didn’t have the slightest want to need a tobacco product. I had been doing it since I was 13.”
Outfielder Jonny Gomes, who uses chew, said he didn’t want to quit. His justification for his use, in my opinion, is irrational.
“I'd quit if my family wanted me to,” Gomes said. “The kids aren’t old enough to realize what's going on. People are baffled I don’t do it in the offseason because I do it all the time when we’re playing. But I don’t have an addictive personality. There’s just something about it that goes with baseball. There’s something attached to hitting. I can’t describe it. Once I stop playing, I'll never do it again. I know it’s a bad idea.”
Tell me, where is his reasoning on this topic? It’s something that goes with baseball? This is a motivation of inconsistent logic. It shows you what he knows about kids because they are the biggest wannabes or copycats. They want to follow their heroes, the stars of the game. They don't miss a lot of what’s going on.
Copy the good things, is what we all hope for, but sometimes the children don’t understand why adults do what they do. But it’s cool to emulate!
There is a bit of good news in the MLB minor leagues. They have banned the use of any type of smokeless tobacco. From what I read, they really haven’t been very good about monitoring its use.
The push against the use of performance enhancing drugs has been a big issue in the game, so is nicotine the drug of preference? Who does it hurt? All of us!
Besides the health related concerns for the players, it’s those little fans who admire their baseball heroes we should be concerned about. What Gomes said about his kids being too young to understand, he is so wrong. This scenario is not only about his children. Probably the biggest concern for our society and in the world of Major League Baseball, is that if these super stars can use dip, what makes them think the curious little fans won’t be influenced?
Like it or not Jonny Gomes, you and all of professional baseball players are role models who hopefully are worthy of imitation by America’s youth!
