Old schoolers proven to have chewed tobacco?

[ChiSox1917]

Obviously during games, who are some of the all-time greats to use and even endorse chewing tobacco?

Lenny Dykstra was the 90's posterboy for chew, as I believe Jayson Werth to be the posterboy now. I always see Barry Bonds with a can in his back pocket, though it seems he is always spitting seed shells. The only advertisement I have seen in the past few years using a player to sell it's product is:

[RationalNYYfan]

Don't know about old schoolers, but it definitely seems like dip has become much more popular in the majors in recent years. Funny how baseball is the only sport that shows people using tobacco (especially in this day and age, where everybody is taught to HATE tobacco in all forms). Just the other night, I think I saw the camera zoom in to the Yankee dugout showing a player getting a nice pinch of Skoal.

Nick Swisher, Melky Cabrera, AJ Burnett are pretty obvious perpetrators

[SHOELESSJOE3]

How could any player be dumb enough to use this potential killer.
There is a proven link to chewing tobacco and some forms of cancer, oral

Bill Tuttle, former Detroit Tiger was on a crusade, to discourage chewing tobacco after it effected him so. Sorry to be so graphic, lost half of his face, tumor related to chewing tobacco.

He is not the only one, saw some photos of some other players, disgusting to look at, felt so sorry for those in the photos.

[janduscframe]

Remember Bobby Murcer singing "Skoal Dipping Man" ?

[ipitch]

Honus Wagner - caught in the act

[SHOELESSJOE3]

The one I recall, because I saw him play, Nellie Fox, I think Rod Carew, not sure.

[bob]

Originally Posted by SHOELESSJOE3

How could any player be dumb enough to use this potential killer.

Millions of people smoke or chew Tobacco, i would hardly say all of those people are dumb. We all have vices.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by bob

Millions of people smoke or chew Tobacco, i would hardly say all of those people are dumb. We all have vices.

OK, maybe dumb not the right word, also I was speaking of baseball players who are warned of the danger of chewing tobacco.
In 1992 chewing tobacco was banned in minor league baseball, there may even be a couple of MLB teams that ban players from carrying chewing tobacco while in uniform.

If one is to weak to break such a potentially deadly habit, tough. I had my last cigarette in 1973, who is in charge of your life, your will power or the deadly substance you use.
Most sites that show what has happened to some former players, warn before showing photos.................they may be disturbing to some.

[lollar]

Pepper Martin always had a huge wad of chow in his mouth. Smokey Joe Wood chewed. Ruth chewed. Sunny Jim Bottomley I believe chewed. Lots of pre WWII guys did.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by lollar

Pepper Martin always had a huge wad of chow in his mouth. Smokey Joe Wood chewed. Ruth chewed. Sunny Jim Bottomley I believe chewed. Lots of pre WWII guys did.

True Lollar, there was probably a great number who chewed back then, even some into the 1950s and probably a small number today.
We know more now about the harm than can be done using this stuff.

Again, I saw a couple of pictures of some who suffered as a result of chewing tobacco. Looked at only two pictures, and that was more than enough, did not care to see anymore.

[ChineseDemocracy]

How about a current list of players?

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by ChineseDemocracy

How about a current list of players?

Norm Chalton Mariner bull pen coach and proud of it. Thinks danger of chewing is overblown, chewing since age 13.

There was a survey a few years ago that came up with the figure of 25-30 percent that did chew, a number of them sayng they would like to quit.
Contrary to Chalton's attitude, most who still chew did not want their name's revealed because they did not want young fans to know who they were.

There are some still using a tobacco product that may not be as noticable because it is not chewed.

Dip is a fine tobacco placed in the mouth but not always chewed.

Plug is shredded tobacco and then pressed into a hard block, also often placed in the mouth, not always chewed.

Chew or chaw is the tobacco that was chewed, this is the one we often saw the old timers, from years ago chewing.

Years ago tobacco company reps would drop off some chew to MLB clubhouses no charge, no longer allowed.

[ChiSox1917]

I picked up chewing in my senior year of High School - usually nights out with the guys and during games. Eventually it became more than that, and I'm up to about a half a can per day..it is a bad habit, but it doesn't control ["blahblahblah yes it does"]. I have gone weekends at my girlfriend's house without doing it, and felt no anxiety - but it does make me feel good, and I like the feeling. I use Skoal dip by the way..don't tell me I'm the only one on here who uses smokeless tobacco?!

But a list of current players I know that dip/chew are:
- Jayson Werth
- Nick Swisher
- Chase Utley
- Jake Peavy [who picked it up from.....]
- ....Trevor Hoffman
- Melky Cabrera
- Chris Duncan

I read that 25-33% of players today chew.

[White Knight]

Originally Posted by SHOELESSJOE3

How could any player be dumb enough to use this potential killer.
There is a proven link to chewing tobacco and some forms of cancer, oral

Bill Tuttle, former Detroit Tiger was on a crusade, to discourage chewing tobacco after it effected him so. Sorry to be so graphic, lost half of his face, tumor related to chewing tobacco.

He is not the only one, saw some photos of some other players, disgusting to look at, felt so sorry for those in the photos.

1) It's not proven. I highly doubt that chewing something natural (and not smoking it) can cause cancer.

2) That's like saying how can anybody be dumb enough to smoke. Or drink. Or eat bacon. The list goes on and on.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by White Knight

1) It's not proven. I highly doubt that chewing something natural (and not smoking it) can cause cancer.

2) That's like saying how can anybody be dumb enough to smoke. Or drink. Or eat bacon. The list goes on and on.

I did back off on my "dumb enough" words a few posts ago, maybe a bad choice of that one word.

Lets get away from the eating bacon and drinking and zero in on what remains, smoking. I would say, I wonder why some one would use a product that is known, proven to cause some forms of cancer, lung cancer.

The way I think, it doesn't always happen to the next person, the cancer, thats what the person who may have contracted cancer from smoking, not me. This is why I quit 30 years ago.
Just so it's understood, I don't say every person who smokes gets lung cancer, but I think the medical profession got this one right, a very high percentage of lung cancer cases involve those who smoke.
There are some who smoke all their life, no form of cancer. But that does not change the fact that a very high percentage of lung cancer cases involve moderate to heavy smokers.

[ol' aches and pains]

Originally Posted by ChineseDemocracy

How about a current list of players?

I believe the Commisioner's office has a list of about 104 players who tested positive for Skoal.

But seriously, and it is serious, Nellie Fox is the one I remember too, and it eventually killed him.

[Paul Wendt]

It's hard to believe there is a thread dedicated to ascertaining the truth that ballplayers chewed tobacco.

Originally Posted by RationalNYYfan

Don't know about old schoolers, but it definitely seems like dip has become much more popular in the majors in recent years.

Really? Maybe so. I wouldn't have noticed. But chewing tobacco was part of the generic image of the ballplayer or perhaps the batter back in the 1960s/70s. Seeds didn't begin to compete until the 1970s/80s, iirc. I know I presumed that George Brett was one of those still chewing tobacco, an old-time ballplayer. In my mind's eye John Kruk is one from the 1980s/90s.

Maybe some of them were chewing bubble gum?

ShoelessJoe:
>>
True Lollar, there was probably a great number who chewed back then, even some into the 1950s and probably a small number today.
We know more now about the harm than can be done using this stuff.
<<

I feel certain this overstates the mid-century decline.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by Paul Wendt

It's hard to believe there is a thread dedicated to ascertaining the truth that ballplayers chewed tobacco.



Really? Maybe so. I wouldn't have noticed. But chewing tobacco was part of the generic image of the ballplayer or perhaps the batter back in the 1960s/70s. Seeds didn't begin to compete until the 1970s/80s, iirc. I know I presumed that George Brett was one of those still chewing tobacco, an old-time ballplayer. In my mind's eye John Kruk is one from the 1980s/90s.

Maybe some of them were chewing bubble gum?

ShoelessJoe:
>>
True Lollar, there was probably a great number who chewed back then, even some into the 1950s and probably a small number today.
We know more now about the harm than can be done using this stuff.
<<

I feel certain this overstates the mid-century decline.

Not sure what you mean Paul. Do You mean my statement is off the mark, the decline at mid century to now is not that great.

Not a problem, I just want to make sure I understand your point.

I make no claim on the number or percentage of the decline, say in the last 40 years. I only believe the number is down from pre 1950 because we are now more aware of the possible health hazard of chewing tobacco.

[RationalNYYfan]

It seems to me that the 1990's did not have a lot of guys chewing tobacco. Maybe it's because I was younger and more naive then, but I really didn't notice any of it as much as I do today.

It could be that the expansion of the use of TV cameras can zoom in on guys in the dugout more often with better picture quality, so it is easier for us to spot out who is doing it and who isn't.

Just off the top of my head, I don't remember the 90's Yankees doing it at all - they were really the only team I ever watched on TV as a kid, so that might not be an accurate representation of the rest of the league back then.

[Paul Wendt]

Originally Posted by SHOELESSJOE3

ShoelessJoe:
>>
True Lollar, there was probably a great number who chewed back then, even some into the 1950s and probably a small number today.
We know more now about the harm than can be done using this stuff.
<<
[Paul Wendt:]
> I feel certain this overstates the mid-century decline.

Not sure what you mean Paul. Do You mean my statement is off the mark, the decline at mid century to now is not that great.

"even some into the 1950s" implies that the decline happened primarily before then, perhaps in the 1930s and 1940s, perhaps earlier. It concedes that there were still some users in the 1950s. I feel certain that decline in use of chewing tobacco, or all smokeless tobacco, happened importantly in the 1950s-60s-70s; that is, into the late 20th century. I suspect "a great number" in the 1960s and "even some" into the 1980s. I have no opinion whether use has increased during the 1990s and 2000s.

There may be some confusion about chewing tobacco vs smokeless tobacco. Maybe chewing tobacco became uncommon among ballplayers during the mid-century (1930s-60s) but using other smokeless tobacco continued unabated or even increased.

There may be some confusion about chewing tobacco vs bubble gum. In my mind's eye the generic ballplayer forty years ago went up to the plate with a wad of tobacco in his cheek. Maybe that was already an old-time image and modern players were primarily chewing gum. I don't know the origin of the image in my mind's eye. I imagine that a ballplayer (batter) chews and spits. A manager stands on the dugout steps, chews, and spits.
I watched some of the 1964 World Series on tv but really started in 1965.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by White Knight

1) It's not proven. I highly doubt that chewing something natural (and not smoking it) can cause cancer.

2) That's like saying how can anybody be dumb enough to smoke. Or drink. Or eat bacon. The list goes on and on.

Maybe you should visit some sites that discuss the danger of tobacco.

Most lung cancers, linked to smoking, not all but enough to belive there is a link.

High percentage of lip cancers, pipe smokers. Believed to be linked because of the placement of the pipe. Small opening, smoke concentrated on a very small surface of the mouth.

High number of facial cancers, also cheek and gum. Users of snuff and chewing tobacco.
Do we need any more case histories to at the least have the medical profession believe there could be a link. Is this all coincidence?

Have you not heard, the cigarette company documents taken over by the government, reveal the the cigarette companies themselves were aware of the health risks of smoking as early as the 1950s, after denying that for years.

[SHOELESSJOE3]

Originally Posted by Paul Wendt

"even some into the 1950s" implies that the decline happened primarily before then, perhaps in the 1930s and 1940s, perhaps earlier. It concedes that there were still some users in the 1950s. I feel certain that decline in use of chewing tobacco, or all smokeless tobacco, happened importantly in the 1950s-60s-70s; that is, into the late 20th century. I suspect "a great number" in the 1960s and "even some" into the 1980s. I have no opinion whether use has increased during the 1990s and 2000s.

There may be some confusion about chewing tobacco vs smokeless tobacco. Maybe chewing tobacco became uncommon among ballplayers during the mid-century (1930s-60s) but using other smokeless tobacco continued unabated or even increased.

There may be some confusion about chewing tobacco vs bubble gum. In my mind's eye the generic ballplayer forty years ago went up to the plate with a wad of tobacco in his cheek. Maybe that was already an old-time image and modern players were primarily chewing gum. I don't know the origin of the image in my mind's eye. I imagine that a ballplayer (batter) chews and spits. A manager stands on the dugout steps, chews, and spits.
I watched some of the 1964 World Series on tv but really started in 1965.

Good enough, all I'm trying to get across is I would think is that in the last 40 or more years, the number went down when the risk factor was discovered.

No numbers, no percentage, I have no idea what the decline was.
I also have no idea how prevelant it was before 1950 but it just seems to make sense, find out the risks, the number would go down.