Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz spit some chew into a bottle at his locker, then dipped into the latest notice from baseball.<\/p>\n
Big leaguers are now getting a written reminder that smokeless tobacco is banned at stadiums in Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
One-page letters are being put in clubhouse stalls throughout spring training, where there is no prohibition. The notes come jointly from Major League Baseball and the players\u2019 union.<\/p>\n
So, will Buchholz quit?<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019ll probably happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you get reprimanded for something, there comes a time where you\u2019re tired of paying fines for something you don\u2019t have to do or doesn\u2019t make you any better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to obey the rules or there\u2019s consequences to it. We\u2019ll probably learn more about that when we get up North,\u201d he said at camp in Fort Myers, Florida.<\/p>\n
Washington Nationals manager Dusty Baker was a big dipper for a long time. He\u2019s cut back over the years, but still might pop in a pinch when games get tight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bad influence for the kids. Big time. I\u2019ll say that. But also they\u2019re adults, too, at the same time,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d he said. \u201cMy daughter used to put water in my can and put it back in my truck. Or my son, he has lip check \u2014 \u2018Get it out, Dad!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Local laws will prohibit the use of all tobacco products at Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium and AT&T Park this year, meaning players, team personnel, umpires and fans. The letter advises the same ban will take effect at every California ballpark in December.<\/p>\n
\u201cI support it,\u201d new Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. \u201cI think that the intentions are there, and there\u2019s obviously going to be some resistance with players.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike it or not, players are role models, and we have a platform as coaches and players. So if that\u2019s the law, then we definitely support it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Similar legislation has been proposed in New York City, and both the Mets and Yankees say they back such a ban at their parks.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreventing children from being exposed to smokeless tobacco is an important initiative and we are glad to play our part,\u201d the Mets said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor League Baseball has long supported a ban of smokeless tobacco at the major league level and the New York Yankees fully support the proposed local law,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
The letter being distributed to players on 40-man rosters and teams this spring says: \u201cPlease note that these are city ordinances and not rules established by Major League Baseball. However, the commissioner\u2019s office will be monitoring players and club personnel for compliance with the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smokeless tobacco isn\u2019t permitted throughout the minor leagues. There is no ban on dipping in the majors, and the issue is certain to be discussed in upcoming labor talks between MLB and the union on the contract that expires Dec. 1.<\/p>\n
Going back more than a century, even before Bull Durham tobacco signs were plastered all over outfield walls, baseball was filled with pictures of players with a chaw in their cheek.<\/p>\n
Buchholz did take a break, for a while.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stopped in the offseason and baseball, it goes along with the territory for me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a good habit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, in collective bargaining, MLB and the union have tried to lower that profile.<\/p>\n
Players, managers and coaches now can\u2019t stick tobacco tins, cans or pouches in their pockets when they\u2019re on the field or in plain sight of fans. No wads stuck in the mouth during TV interviews, either.<\/p>\n
In their letter, MLB and the union said it would provide \u201cnicotine replacement therapy products to those players who wish to use them as substitutes. A shipment of various products including lozenges, gum, and patches will be sent to each club free of charge in spring training, and throughout the 2016 season.\u201d<\/p>\n
The letter included a reminder that Dr. Michael Steinberg, director of the Rutgers University tobacco dependence program, had previously been hired as a consultant to help players develop a treatment plan, if they wanted.<\/p>\n
Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons applauded the effort to cut down on chaw. He quit a couple years ago after Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn \u2014 a career-long dipper \u2014 died at 54 of salivary gland cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a tobacco user for a lot of years. I\u2019m not proud of that. I finally was able to quit. It\u2019s a dirty, filthy habit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want my kids doing it. You hope in some way, they can eliminate it and wipe it out. I\u2019m sure there will be some fights over that, especially in this election year. I\u2019m sure that\u2019ll be brought up. But, hey, if you can get rid of it, I\u2019m all for that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz spit some chew into a bottle at his locker, then dipped into the latest notice from baseball. Big leaguers are now getting a written reminder that smokeless tobacco is banned at stadiums in Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles. One-page letters are being put in clubhouse stalls throughout spring training, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-10777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10777"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=10777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}