OT: There’s no spitting in baseball?

[oldude]

While we all know “There’s no crying in baseball.” It now appears that there is also “No spitting in baseball.” MLB owners and the players union are engaged in complicated negotiations dealing with compensation and safety issues surrounding the reopening of MLB for a shortened season during this pandemic.

One of the safety issues that has been agreed to is that spitting will not be permitted. Quite frankly, I don’t know that many players and coaches can actually survive an entire baseball game without spitting. In addition, there will be no high fives, and postgame showers are potentially on the chopping block as well.

If they reach agreement on no postgame showers, at least that will help with social distancing requirements. All I can say is PLAY BALL!

 

[Steelerone]

But wait a minute Oldude - If I'm the pitcher and you are the catcher do we have to hand sanitize the the ball each time before throwing it? And if so, would that not be illegal as I can be called for throwing a "spitter."

 

[Bezzz]

I played 13 years of organized baseball right up through college and beyond. I never once spit. I still don't understand it. Why spit when you're trying to keep hydrated? Serious question.

 

[Scoe]

Im not a fan of spitting but come on the MLB has to be realistic here.

 

[bbfanLA]

I love making memes and I made one for this very thing.

 

[Littlemin]

Im not a fan of spitting but come on the MLB has to be realistic here.

I agree 100% but IMO, realism and common sense have had nothing to do with this from the start. Why begin now?

 

[oldude]

I played 13 years of organized baseball right up through college and beyond. I never once spit. I still don't understand it. Why spit when you're trying to keep hydrated? Serious question.

Tobacco chewing, and spitting, have been synonymous with baseball since the game was invented. Tobacco chewing was only banned in the minor leagues as of 1993. But it continued to be allowed under MLB’s collective bargaining agreement up until the new CBA in 2016, which only banned tobacco chewing for players entering MLB after 2016.

Essentially, older players who chewed tobacco were “grandfathered” in to allow tobacco chewing. Subsequently, a number of cities around the country banned all tobacco use at sports arenas by both fans and players, effectively eliminating tobacco use at ballparks.

The death of HOF player Tony Gwynn was a watershed event in the elimination of tobacco chewing. Gwynn, a lifetime user of smokeless tobacco died of salivary gland cancer in 2014.

 

[oldude]

I love making memes and I made one for this very thing.

Great movie and great scene. If you recall, Tom Hanks character in A League of Their Own (Jimmy Dugan) was a prolific tobacco chewer and spitter.

 

[Scoe]

I agree 100% but IMO, realism and common sense have had nothing to do with this from the start. Why begin now?

Have they ever had common sense, I might be in the minority here but I'm on the players side in these negotiations, the players already agreed on taking half, now you want them to take even less and incorporate Gezpatcho type of rules eliminating human behavior .

 

[msf22b]

Wonderful!

 

[Zanzman]

What’s the punishment

 

[bluedevil]

Players want x amount...owners want to pay z amount..they should just spit the difference...

 

[Centerstream]

What about "discharging" sunflower shells? Does that fall under the "no spitting" rule?

 

[Alydar]

While we all know “There’s no crying in baseball.” It now appears that there is also “No spitting in baseball.” MLB owners and the players union are engaged in complicated negotiations dealing with compensation and safety issues surrounding the reopening of MLB for a shortened season during this pandemic.

One of the safety issues that has been agreed to is that spitting will not be permitted. Quite frankly, I don’t know that many players and coaches can actually survive an entire baseball game without spitting. In addition, there will be no high fives, and postgame showers are potentially on the chopping block as well.

If they reach agreement on no postgame showers, at least that will help with social distancing requirements. All I can say is PLAY BALL!

I want to see the player who swallows his tobacco juice for 9 innings.

 

[Monte]

The one benefit from the NEW RULES: Because managers and coaches have to wear masks, when they go to the mound to talk to the pitcher, they don't have to cover their mouths with a hand.

 

[EdSaid]

I want to see the player who swallows his tobacco juice for 9 innings.

It was funny to watch some freshmen baseball players try chew for the first time. Some swallowed juice and tobacco and puked. Some turned green. Some could never get the hang of spitting. It was kind of a freshmen hazing thing. I made sure the upper classmen worked it out with the new players in the fall. In the 70's & 80's the whole coaching staff and maybe 75% of the kids chewed. Had to have rules about not chewing on buses, planes and restaurants. Constantly heard complaints about kids chewing in class. Thinking back it was gross. I stopped chewing in the late 80's. The NCAA stopped chewing in the early/mid 90's, but didn't include the umpires for another year. I coached baseball for a long time, but its been a long time since I've coached. Lot of crazy things. Some made no sense. Some kids that didn't chew spit more than the kids that did. Go figure

Pro baseball banned it in the minor leagues in 1993, but didn't ban it in the MLB until 2016

 

[Steelerone]

I remember when I chewed for the first and only time at age 14. One of the older kids had a pouch of Mail Pouch and dared us. When you're that age it's act in haste, repent in leisure.

 

[Centerstream]

I remember when I chewed for the first and only time at age 14. One of the older kids had a pouch of Mail Pouch and dared us. When you're that age it's act in haste, repent in leisure.

Same deal with Copenhagen (THE dipping tobacco).

 

[mbr33ct]