Smokeless tobacco - hazardous for baseball players
Things can get really messy for clubs and players when bans are regulated on substances that were commonly used in the game of baseball before. The focus doesn’t need to be on drugs alone. There are various other commodities that are used in and out of the
games countless times. Gums are one example while smokeless tobacco is another. The latter has caught attention recently, following a peculiar incident that involved Tony Gwynn.
The outfielder was a regular user of smokeless tobacco over many years of his playing career. Now the player is undergoing radiation treatment for parotid cancer. There are numerous rising prospects from the minor leagues that are picking up an addiction
to the commodity and one player in particular has been gaining much attention, apart from Gwynn. Injured Washington Nationals’ pitcher, Stephen Strasburg has caught the addiction and is now looking for ways to get out of it.
He found out about the drawbacks of using smokeless tobacco when Tony Gwynn coached him at college. Gregory Connolly from Harvard University has been actively protesting against the commodity in the congress and in front of players, through lectures.
The problem, however, is that the Major League Baseball’s Players’ Association will most likely counter a ban if it does get enforced by Major League Baseball. They would want a bargain for the ban to go through. The details of what the bargain is about,
remain unknown.
“As a matter of policy, we don't speak publicly about what we're going to propose at the negotiating table," MLB Executive Vice President Rob Manfred said. "What I will tell you is that smokeless tobacco remains a significant concern to Major League Baseball.
Generally, our minor league policy reflects where we're we'd like to be.”
Connolly talked about the double standards smokeless tobacco companies apply to the game. He spoke of an article in a magazine debasing the use of steroids, while openly promoting a smokeless tobacco company at the back of the magazine. The comparison between
both tobacco and steroids is uncanny in terms of their drawbacks on the health of an athlete.
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