By Jordan Kobritz
Major League Baseball (MLB) kicked off the 2016 season on April 3 with the familiar sights and sounds of players in uniform, bats hitting balls, pitches plunking into catchers’ mitts, and fans cheering for their home team. But one thing is missing in seven of the 30 MLB ball parks: Smokeless tobacco.
Baseball players have used smokeless tobacco for more than a century, since the days of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Although the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says that smokeless tobacco use among baseball players has declined over the years, according to Matthew L. Myers, President of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an estimated 25-30% of MLB players currently use smokeless tobacco. That number is surprising, considering that all tobacco products are banned at the high school, college and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) levels.
The CDC has long maintained that smokeless tobacco can cause cancer, oral health problems and nicotine addiction. MLB is a believer. In the minor leagues, where players are not unionized, MLB has banned the use of smokeless tobacco since 1993 and signs are posted in all MiLB clubhouses warning players of the dangers of using such products. The posters include graphic and shocking photos depicting former players who used.
In the past year, a number of cities have passed legislation to outlaw smokeless tobacco in public stadiums. New York is the latest city to join a list that includes Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The New York ban will affect Yankee Stadium and Citi Field, home of the Mets. The Chicago ban also includes two stadiums, Wrigley Field and Cellular Field. Fenway Park, Dodger Stadium and AT & T Park are also affected. The state of California enacted a ban which, when it takes effect in 2017, will add three more MLB teams to the smokeless tobacco list. Toronto and Washington, D.C. are also considering legislation to ban smokeless tobacco at their ballparks. If they are successful, forty percent or more of MLB parks could be tobacco free by this time next year.
Like other jurisdictions, the New York ordinance applies to all sports facilities in the City, not just ballparks. It also prohibits the use of smokeless tobacco by both spectators and participants. Because a higher percentage of baseball players than athletes in other sports chew or dip, ballplayers are more affected than athletes in other sports.
However, the New York ordinance is less restrictive than the other city ordinances because it only covers ticketed events, while other city ordinances cover all events at all levels of organized play. The California statue is the least restrictive ban of all. It only covers baseball parks and is limited to players and team/league employees on the field, in the dugouts and in the bullpens.
Player reaction to the bans has been mixed, with some players supporting it and others decreeing the loss of freedom of choice, especially for a product that is legal virtually everywhere else. However, the same can be said of cigarettes which are legally sold in this country but most jurisdictions ban smoking in public places.
MLB has long supported a ban on smokeless tobacco at the Major League level and has tried, unsuccessfully, to include one in prior Collective Bargaining Agreements. But the players’ union has staunchly resisted the effort. The MLBPA did agree to limited restrictions in the 2011 CBA which expires this year. Players are prohibited from carrying tobacco cans and pouches onto the field when fans are in the ballpark and using the product during television interviews and at team functions. The recent bans should give MLB additional leverage in this year’s negotiations on a new CBA which will take effect in 2017.
Joe Garagiola, former MLB catcher, announcer and user of smokeless tobacco who passed away last month at the age of 90, tirelessly campaigned against the use of the product. Well known players such as Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn, who died in 2014 at the age of 54 of salivary gland cancer, and former pitcher Curt Schilling who survived a bout with oral cancer, attributed their medical conditions to the long term use of smokeless tobacco.
Penalties for violating the tobacco bans are limited to fines ranging from $100 to $250, a mere pittance to ballplayers making this year’s MLB minimum salary of $507,500 or the average MLB salary which exceeds $4 million. Furthermore, it’s unclear how cities intend to enforce the law. Will ballpark security be increased? Will fans and players be cited during the game? And if a player or a fan chooses to contest a citation, how will law enforcement prove their case? A wad of gum can easily be mistaken for a wad of chewing tobacco. Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona, mindful of his responsibility as a role model, wraps his tobacco in gum in order to disguise his habit.
Dan Halem, MLB’s Chief Legal Officer, said players could find themselves subject to discipline from the commissioner if they violate a smokeless tobacco ban. According to Halem, such a violation would be similar to the risk of discipline if they violate any law because violating a tobacco ban is “no different.” For support he cites the “Just Cause” provision of Article XII of the CBA which deals with player discipline. Section B of that Article states that “Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of Baseball including, not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law.”
But good luck with that one. The players’ union would rightly contest any discipline imposed against a player for violating a tobacco ban, maintaining that the subject is a matter for collective bargaining. MLB knows that but Halem may be talking tough to appease Congress, where for years a number of Democratic legislators have urged the league to enact a ban on all tobacco products.
As the 2016 MLB season begins, the game may seem similar to what it was last year. But many players looking for a relaxant during the game will need to rely on something other than chewing or dipping.
Jordan Kobritz is a former attorney, CPA, and Minor League Baseball team owner. He is a Professor and Chair of the Sport Management Department at SUNY Cortland and maintains the blog: http://sportsbeyondthelines.com Jordan can be reached at jordan.kobritz@cortland.edu.
