When someone turns on a baseball game, one of the first things that they see is a baseball player with a wad of 100 percent American-grown tobacco in their cheek (unless it's Grizzly which is not 100 percent American grown). Most baseball fans do not realize that tobacco came to baseball out of necessity. Before modern technology, baseball players would spit sweet tobacco juice into their gloves to expedite the breaking-in process of a baseball glove. Baseball players with origins in America, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico and even the Netherlands are chewing tobacco. One big question posed by the people who watch them is, "Why the hell do you put that in your mouth?"
Some of the best players in Major League Baseball have been chewing tobacco since their youth. Players who come to North America from the international community pick up this awful habit from American players. How is it that people from Cuba or Venezuela pick up a habit that is not even prominent in American culture north of the Mason-Dixon Line? Simply put, there are players from the south on every Major League Baseball team. These players likely offer tobacco to teammates who may have never tried it, but pick up the habit from friends and teammates. For some, it could come down to a matter of fitting in.
There is a factor of peer pressure involved. When every player on the team from the U.S. is throwing wads of tobacco into their cheeks, why wouldn't a foreign player do the same? If a rookie from Cuba sees a seasoned veteran from Alabama throwing in chew, what is to keep the Cuban from doing the same? Especially since it is such a prominent aspect of the game.
There is a ritual aspect, as well. Athletes of every sport and every level have particular processes and "rituals" that they associate with the process of preparing for or playing their sport. Baseball players are no different.
In the 21st century, there are dozens of ways to break in a baseball glove without spitting the juice from a cheek of tobacco into a mitt. However, chewing tobacco remains a prominent aspect of baseball. This is not to limit this culture of chewing to just the players. As die-hard baseball fans attend many games, it would be a challenge not to find some of the spectators chewing tobacco, dipping or enjoying pouches.
Baseball has had a culture of tobacco for more than 100 years. As new players come to the United States to play Major League Baseball, they start to chew tobacco or dip it. Recently, cities across the United States have banned the use of all tobacco products in Major League ballparks. New York is now the most recent city to enact such a ban. Some players view this as an attack on their civil liberties. Major League Baseball itself has not banned the use of smokeless tobacco in its ballparks or venues. Players, managers and even some executives who are former players continue to chew at ballparks.
It would not surprise me at all if tobacco became less and less prominent as the 21st century progresses. However, I think that it will always be an integral part of the game for better or for worse.
