Thursday, May 19, 2016
Tobacco in Baseball
Tobacco has been in baseball for forever. "It's part of the game", is what you hear a lot people say who are chewing tobacco. I'm all for tradition and baseball is a game that is known for being old school and keeping the game the way it's always been, but I think that chewing tobacco needs to go. This year is the first year a lot of stadiums have banned all tobacco from being used including by the players, coaches, and fans. You hear about the old guy who has been chewing for 40 years who finally gets mouth cancer and so you think okay, maybe if I do it only a little bit it will not affect me. But, Daniel Norris a top prospect, 22 years old, got cancer from chewing tobacco. A 22 year old player who is expected to be great had to spend most of the offseason treating his cancer and not being able to play or do anything. I think growing up and seeing big league players having a huge hunk of tobacco in their lip gives kids the idea that it is okay to chew tobacco, but they do not understand the major health consequences that can occur.
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I completely agree with everything you said. I remember when my younger cousin and I went to a MLB game a few years back and he kept commenting on how much the players who were chewing tobacco were spitting. I wasn't sure if he knew they were spitting so much due to the fact they had a fatty in, so I never furthered that conversation. This really made me wonder what kids who are old enough to know what it is think; due to the fact one of their role models could be doing something that isn't a good example.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how big it is still, even with baseball greats like Tony Gwynn dying from cancer that was caused by chewing tobacco. Even kids on my lacrosse team would do chewing tobacco, and they knew it wasn't good for them.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with cancer is that it can happen really any time. The more you expose yourself to it the more likely it becomes. In Paul's smoking documentary, there was a blurb that said every 15 cigarettes there a chance one of them will cause a mutation in your DNA. Cancer has become more prevalent and it is good that it is being removed from cultural things like baseball.
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