Comments on: Baseball should ban smokeless tobacco

By: obo1892

obo1892 — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:34:21 +0000

Without commenting on whether or not MLB should ban it, I’d like to point out that it isn’t a novel idea. The company I work for does not allow use of tobacco products on any of their campuses. That means you could be in your car in the parking lot outside your building and you are not allowed to smoke/dip. This becomes relevant when you realize I don’t work for some small liberal company; I work for the largest defense contractor in the world, Lockheed Martin.

By: joepags

joepags — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 13:13:43 +0000

they have already taken smoking from the managers, not this!!!!! i am not a user of either product, but it has been part of the game from the begining, this should not happen!!! PC goes waaaaayyyy to far sometimes, in not offending people. parents need to do their job if they dont want their kids to use then BE a parent! these ball players arent their parents!!!

By: Reflex

Reflex — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 03:25:25 +0000

Your ‘freedom’ to smoke/chew/etc is protected from government interference. It has nothing to do with private employers having thier own workplace rules, and private employers can indeed require players to maintain a company image when on the work premises, including conduct, dress and actions. They have every right to ban smoking while in uniform or on their premises.

Now if this article was about the federal government banning baseball players from chewing, you would have a point. But this is not.

By: dorito23

dorito23 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:13:54 +0000

Donnie Moore had a sad face.

By: cur68

cur68 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:45:21 +0000

Gotta agree with tomemos here. Those guys sign all kinds of things that says they can’t engage in reckless stuff that can hurt their playing status (more than one promising las vegas knife-thrower’s-target career given up for MLB, alas). Tobacco, even the stuff you chew, can shorten your life or ability to play. Same logic as giving up being a human target (surely you can tell I’m kidding about that, right?). Plus, as a fan, I’m pretty tired of seeing them hork a brown one. Hey! If they get rid of dip can they also then ban ball-scratching? No one needs to see that. And shirtless fat guys in the stands. Either that or issue eye-bleach for the viewing public. Man, when I come to power there are gonna be some changes…

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:33:30 +0000

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs516.ash1/30404_659444381243_23201067_38411606_759707_n.jpg

now that bobby is gone, more game will be tobacco free

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:10:05 +0000

im just a fan of freedom

You should either read this Wikipedia page, or watch the episode. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Goes_America_All_Over_Everybody%27s_Ass

By: baseballfanatic74

baseballfanatic74 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:53:53 +0000

Being a fan of freedom is great. But let’s get real. When you take a job, you agree to a set of working conditions, procedures, a code of conduct, etc… Even in a “hobby” capacity, when you join a team you agree to wear the uniform and being part of a team brings with it expectations about how you represent them. In this case, THIS IS THEIR JOB. I can’t go to work in boxer shorts with a beer in hand. The idea that I should be able to because my freedom is in jeopardy is … (well, fill in the blank.) I know – as do you – that when you take a job (or otherwise work with others, even in a volunteer capacity) you agree to act in a way that positively reflects on your organization/ team.

This is their workplace and it is time that both players and the kids who watch and look up to them are protected. Ban all tobacco on the field and in the dugout. They can do what they want after the game is over and they are off camera.

By: baseballfanatic74

baseballfanatic74 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:44:00 +0000

I did not say you were ridiculous (name calling gets us nowhere)… I said that your comment was ridiculous. Saying that sad faces leads to kids getting depressed is pretty far fetched. Saying that using chew leads to mouth disease and cancer is proven by scientific studies. Or just by paying attention — Tony Gwynn being the latest example.

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:33:12 +0000

You’re right, I have absolutely no response to the idea that the link between sad faces and depression is as strong as the link between chewing tobacco and cancer, and that therefore banning sad faces in the dugout would prevent suicide among baseball players.

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:23:12 +0000

seems you have run out of rebuttals for my point of view

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:22:12 +0000

Please, nobody actually tell him.

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:11:36 +0000

“and i dont smoke/chew etc, im just a fan of freedom”

Commencing eye-roll sequence! I guess your love of freedom also includes freedom from apostrophes.

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:00:34 +0000

i have no problem with managers/players anyone smoking in the dugout – or the stands for that matter

and i dont smoke/chew etc, im just a fan of freedom

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:58:35 +0000

so depression which leads to suicides is not dangerous? please explain how i am ridiculous

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:39:17 +0000

No one wants MLB to teach anyone about the risks of tobacco, they just *don’t* want MLB players to *encourage* tobacco use. Do you think the managers should be allowed to smoke in the dugouts, too?

By: baseballfanatic74

baseballfanatic74 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 19:12:04 +0000

If either of those led to cancer, various mouth diseases, tooth loss, and so on… perhaps, yes. But they don’t, which just makes your comment that much more ridiculous. This is public use of a substance that while legal (like alcohol or cigarettes) has no place on the field during the game.

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:58:22 +0000

its the parents job to teach their kids about the risks of tobacco not MLB

By: stottsera

stottsera — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:57:36 +0000

should they ban grabbing their crotch?
what about banning sad faces? that probably leads to depression

By: BC

BC — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:38:29 +0000

Agree. I dipped for a while in college, but then realized that I could be spending what little money I had on beer instead. Never did much for me, anyway.

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:31:01 +0000

Samu, are you in favor of letting the players wear whatever clothes they want instead of uniforms? Or, I don’t know, letting them put political slogans on their bats and fielding equipment? Baseball players have to follow dozens of rules limiting what they can do during a game that don’t influence the game on the field. That’s because the sport isn’t just the game on the field, it’s also the aesthetics and the effects we want it to have on its spectators.

By: tomemos

tomemos — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:25:50 +0000

If you’re on TV being broadcast to adoring, impressionable fans, everything you do affects people other than yourself, including using deadly substances.

By: baseballfanatic74

baseballfanatic74 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:14:49 +0000

I remember reading recently that more and more teenage boys are dipping. What players do on their own time is their own business, but when they are on the field our kids are watching them and many of them see them as heroes and mimic them. I applaud Strasburg for trying to set a good example and hope to see more players follow suit. And it is past time for MLB to ban it in the upcoming contract negotiations.

By: samu0034

samu0034 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:11:18 +0000

Jeez, let people make their own decisions for God’s sake. It doesn’t influence the game on the field at all.

By: Jeremy T

Jeremy T — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:47:35 +0000

I think that scene in the Sandlot successfully eliminated any appeal for that stuff in my mind

By: Alex K

Alex K — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:04:59 +0000

Front office people are a dime a dozen. Major League ballplayers aren’t (well, useful ones). Plus, it’s not a traditional office setting.

By: BC

BC — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:52:17 +0000

I can go outside and have a cigarette or chew tobacco if I want to outside the building. Illegal drugs and alcohol, obviously… not so much. But as long as I account for my full workday, I can use all the tobacco I want, as long as it’s outside the building. (Not that I do, by the way – I smoke a cigar or two in the summer when grilling, but I’m a non-smoker, non-dipper).

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:51:17 +0000

What a rollercoaster day for a minion…… Let’s think about removing the steroid ban mmmkay… And banning dip instead…

By: Rosenthals Speling Instrukter

Rosenthals Speling Instrukter — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:43:35 +0000

Invest now, they are going nowhere but up.

By: Tim's Neighbor

Tim's Neighbor — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:35:01 +0000

If the employees can’t use tobacco in the front offices at the stadium, then I would think they wouldn’t want their employees using it on the field.