Chewing tobacco

i don't regularly, but i have before. never while playing in a game though. I guess people that do it during games are addicted and don't get that "buzz" any more.

Smokeless tobacco has been seen as a "mainstream" substance in baseball. You see professionals every year using with the thought of this product making you more "relaxed" at the plate or in the field. This is not a product that should be taken lightly and many programs have wisely taken a stance against chew as it has been proven to slow your reaction time and you make a good point ... why would you want a slower reaction time when playing this game?

On another note, I wouldn't say it is the most attractive thing to do as you certainly are not playing in the favor of any women at the ball fields.

"If it doesn't help you it can only hurt you."

True Recruits
www.TrueRecruits.com

Here is an article with a study showing that the use among MLB players is decreasing:

Chewing Tobacco

I chew all the time because it calms me down. It kind of allows me to focus, because I'm usually almost too energetic, if that's even possible.

after you get used to dippin the buzz wears off.. so it doesnt even effect you during the game..

Understand of course,....that use of tobacco products is illegal in NFHS rules.........and should I catch you using tobacco products........I will eject you.......immediately.....and for the most of you, that will entail another game suspension.....

I dont have a choice in the matter......and just so you know,........its not just High school......... NCAA rules prohibit tobacco use during games or practice with ejection of the player and head coach as well.........

It may as someone posted "allow you to focus"........but it will hurt your team if you are ejected for one game and suspended for another. You decide if its worth it or not...........

quote:

Originally posted by piaa_ump:
Understand of course,....that use of tobacco products is illegal in NFHS rules.........and should I catch you using tobacco products........I will eject you.......immediately.....and for the most of you, that will entail another game suspension.....

I dont have a choice in the matter......and just so you know,........its not just High school......... NCAA rules prohibit tobacco use during games or practice with ejection of the player and head coach as well.........

It may as someone posted "allow you to focus"........but it will hurt your team if you are ejected for one game and suspended for another. You decide if its worth it or not...........

In addition to the FED prohibition of tobacco products, remember that possession of tobacco on public school grounds, including baseball fields, is illegal in most, if not all, states.

I will never understand why a young man who may have the potential to go far in baseball would want to develop a habit that could very well cut that career short.

piaa_ump, how many people have you caught dipping? Just want to know because I have heard many times that people do it during games and don't get caught.

I'm not piaa_ump, but I've ejected one assistant coach and two players so far this year for dip.

quote:

piaa_ump, how many people have you caught dipping? Just want to know because I have heard many times that people do it during games and don't get caught.

I don't go hunting for it......I personally oppose tobacco use on or off the field on a health basis.......addiction and cancer reasons...but given that I have only had about 3 incidents in my whole career.......

The times Ive had to check were because the opposing team drew my attention to it......

Like I said I have no choice in the matter if you get caught.......

Funniest one I ever had was a pitcher, who had a lip full.....pretty easy, but I have to check.....as I was waking to the mound.....I heard a gulp.....as he swallowed the evidence.....

no dip no ejection.........

But his throwing up behind the dugout the next inning was hard to miss........

Just dont do it..........

This Man comes in to my parts store weekly. Read his story and then make up your mind.


http://www.tobaccofacts.org/tob_truth/spit.html

Unfortunatly he now has virtually NO Throat. What a shame as he is one of the nicest people you would want to meet.

P. S. As an adult I apolagize for posting in this part of the forum but I thought it was pretty important.
Sorry again,
Leftys Dad

piaa_ump, I've tried it once... Its hard not to get sucked into trying it while your group of friends is dominantly baseball players. It was sick so I didn't do it again. I was just wondering how often it comes up.

Here ya go......

http://www.quitsmokeless.org/gallery/index.php

we used to chew on the bus ride home when i was in high school.

In college players and coaches dip and chew constantly on the field, but never in a game its just not worth the suspension.

Now on the other hand say your a pitcher and your done for the game or the coach replaced you in the line up there is a chance youll go to bullpin for a little and put a fat hog in.

i dipped about 2 cans a week for 2 and a half years. Get the nicotine gum its helps and quitting is hard but not as hard as i thought. On a scale of 1-10 quitting is as hard as a 5, you just cant give in easily.

I have never used it and i never plan to. I think that pro players are just setting a bad example for kids.

I am 18 and I chew but I do not recommend it at all. Actually I urge you not to. Unfortunately when I was 15 and playing baseball a couple years up, I made a stupid decision and decided to chew because all of the older guys were. Three years later and I still do because I am addicted. I am currently trying to quit. It doesn't aid in any way, and it's just a waste of money.

I am 13 and this summer I went out to Cooperstown Dreams Park and I saw lots of guys out there who were chewing and they recomended that I never use it because there are so many things that your body can take and Chewing Tabacco is just like doing drugs but while you are playing baseball I dont understand why anyone would want to start this terrible habit.

I wouldn't say it's like drugs but it's definitely bad for your health. It is very easy to get gum cancer from chewing tobacco. It's something you get used to after a while and you don't even get a buzz which makes me wonder why I still even do it, but that's easy...I'm addicted. So please don't do it even if your friends tell you it's cool.

I know none of it is good..but a couple of my friends use the pouches. Do you think those are a little better for you?

I put a pouch in once and they are pretty good sized..and it dropped me. I got a crazy buzz and felt very dizzy and almost threw up. Lesson Learned!It about makes me throw up when someone spits into an empty pop bottle...Nasty!

i don't use any of that stuff, waste of time and waste of money IMO.

but i don't think the pouches would be any better for you, still contains the stuff in regular chew, so it couldn't be any better.

Yea it's a nasty habbit, and no pouches aren't as bad as far as size goes but the tabacco is still hurting your gums. After a while pouches won't do anything to you and then you're going to start going through long cut cans like they're free. It's good that pouches still buzz you, that means you don't do it that much. Now stop doing it all together. It's no good. It sucks being the kid at the party who's spitting into gatorade bottles. Trust me, I'm that kid. Everyone feels the need to tell you how disgusting it is. Don't be that kid. Quit. PM if you have any questions.

I personally don't chew but there are several members of my team that do (we don't have HS rules we're a legion team because Wyoming doesn't have HS baseball) but they're all 18 or 19 so it's legal even though I personally believe it to be a nasty habit. The smell on people's breath when and after they chew is just nasty as well as the spit that comes out, luckily most of our chewers have the courtesy to spit in a cup instead of just letting it go wherever, even though I had some tobacco juice spilled on me the other day.

I would tell you to stay away from it. My coach quit chwing because he got a hole in his tongur from it. I have never and will never try it.

Don't ever start and find people to associate with that don't chew. For those of you trying to quit hang out with players that don't chew because the temptation is too great when around friends that do chew.

Nothing good comes from it. Bad health over time, possible cancer, expensive, yellow teeth, chicks don't dig it, relatives worry about the habit and health implications. If you do get cancer you are in for a deforming operation.

It really takes a lot of will power to quit and if you are persistent then you might be successful in quitting. The cravings eventually go away and you always have to tell yourself no even a year or more after you quit. You do have a personal right and dignity to be free from the habit.

The first 3 weeks of quitting are the toughest and if you can tell yourself no after the cravings are gone then you are home free. If you have an occasional beer in college after you quit remember that you are very vulnerable to starting back so say no.

If you find you can't quit cold turkey then significantly reduce your usage and use it for very short periods of time until you can completely quit. Don't get discouraged if you fail to quit. Keep trying hard because you can quit.

Don't rationalize that it helps performance, etc. It doesn't. The initial fatigue from quitting goes away and use the fatigue to catch up on some rest and healthy habits.

Not to be preaching but I started at 11 or 12 and did it for a long time. There was a lot of failure along the way in quitting but it can be done.

i dip its a bad bad nasty habit that will reign you in and put a deathgrip on you physically and mentally. The mental part is the worst. I use to dip on jv in high school...like fatty dips and no one ever said anything not the umps not my coaches not other coaches...maybe they just thought a young kid wouldn't be doing that i dunno but thats about the coolest story i have from that if you want to call it cool.

any dip has little pieces of plexiglass in them that actually gut your gums so the nicotine can get into your bloodstream easier. there is no use for dip and it looks groass when yo do it and after years of doing it so why even risk and detrement your health in life and baseball? this is a baseball discussion but it affects your whole life more.

I have been chewing now for 15 years. I wish I never started, and would advise anyone who is thinking about it, to not get started. It's not worth it.

Like NIC15, I've been chewing for much longer than I should have been...I've quit a few times and eventually for some reason have gone back to it. DON'T START!

If you really feel like you want to because others are, that is the WRONG reason...

Outside of never starting, my best recommendation would be for you to chew gum...

They do make dip that does not contain tobacco or nicotine, but that doesn't mean it is good for you either...be smart and don't start...

A Dad who's son constantly reminds him he needs to quit...

Saw a guy the other day that had to have his lower jaw removed due to cancer from chewing tobacco. If you could have seen him, your decision to chew or not would be an easy one.

I will start off by saying I dip as well. And in no way condone it. But a lot of the information being given here is totally incorrect.
First, there is NO PLEXIGLASS in an dip or chew. That is a myth. Good companies are 100% tobacco, with lesser quality companies lacing dip with foreign tobacco or other plant material.
Second, studies have actually showed that (smokeless) tobacco is a performance enhancer, not something that "slows" you down. The nicotine actually makes the muscles fire fractionally faster and more explosive. I spent a whole year researching tobacco and baseball in my final year of school, and just wanted to let people know some truths.
Anyway, glad to hear use in the majors is declining, hopefully it filters down.

quote:

Originally posted by SpartanBaseball_09:
I wouldn't say it's like drugs but it's definitely bad for your health. It is very easy to get gum cancer from chewing tobacco. It's something you get used to after a while and you don't even get a buzz which makes me wonder why I still even do it, but that's easy...I'm addicted. So please don't do it even if your friends tell you it's cool.

Well technically speaking even soda is a drug. i Don't dip because that whta a lot of baseball players do alot of them don't make it to the next level. It starts and ends with discpline.

Just as a point of information, it is illegal in high school baseball, NCAA baseball and in the minor leagues. The MLB players union is too strong and therefore it is not banned at that level. In the minor leagues, tobacco is not allowed on the team bus, club house, or any team property. The league offices send compliance officers around the league that actually inspect the clubhouse for tobacco products. It results in a fine and mandatory tobacco counseling.

Sorry, this post caught my eye but I'm long removed from being a player.

Don't dip, its pretty simple. I've dipped for 23 years and I've probably tried to quit 3 times per year for the past 20. I emulated Lenny Dykstra as many did back then and he was a tobacco chewing, tobacco spitting maching. Thought it was cool and now as the father of two baseball playing boys its something I hope they never take up. There is no upside to using the stuff, only a downside so play it safe. DON'T TRY IT!!

METRO POP ---WELL SAID

see all the articles today on TONY GWYNN

When I was a player many decades ago, there was ML player named Nellie Fox who is now in the Hall of Fame and was always photographed with a big chaw in his cheek. After having his lower jaw removed, to his dying day he begged young players to never get started on chewing tobacco or dip.

To the best of my knowledge, there is only one good thing that has ever come out of my dipping...my boys hate it when I dip and swear that they will never try it...Time for me to join them...

If anyone is interested I'll describe the procedure for removal of squamous cell carcinoma from someone who has oral cancer. Lets just say after I describe it you won't want to put a dip in your mouth.

Imagine never being able to taste food again. Scratch that, imagine having all of your food given to you via a tube placed in your stomach because they had to remove half of the muscles in your face, your tongue, half of your esophagus and a good part of your larynx because the cancer had invaded those areas of your mouth and throat. You get to breath out of a tracheostomy, your scarred up like you walked into a weedeater and you will never speak again.

This is worst case scenerio but I have taken care of patients with radical neck surgeries like this. Not one of it found the experience pleasant. Almost all of them dipped or were heavy cigar smokers.

quote:

Originally posted by Three Bagger:
.....there was ML player named Nellie Fox who is now in the Hall of Fame and was always photographed with a big chaw in his cheek.

More so than Nellie's plug was many amateur's swung the very thick handled 35" Louisville Slugger wood bat with the Nelson Fox facimile signature. Some hit with it better than others. That bat just happened to be a favorite of mine. No one could break it!

Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who notched more than 3,100 hits during a Major League Baseball career spanning two decades, has died at age 54 following a battle with salivary gland cancer.

 

His battle with cancer began in 2009, when a malignant tumor was removed from his right cheek. Gwynn claimed the cancer in his salivary gland was the result of his longtime chewing tobacco habit.

 

Hall of Famer- dead at 54-

My son had a collegiate summer league game up in L.A. yesterday.He said that every player on his team was "dipping" except him.The team is mostly players who just finished their first college season, and a couple of recent HS grads like himself.I was surprised by this when he told me about it on the drive back to San Diego.Especially since all of the players on the team are from San Diego and well aware of what happened to Tony Gwynn..... Mr.Padre.

 

I'm happy that my son wanted no part of that ! However, I am disturbed by how popular "dipping" is among his teammates.It was a non issue on his HS team since he went to a strict all boy's HS that would not tolerate chewing tobacco etc.

 

Hopefully it's just a faze and these guys will see the light

I do things to the extreme.  In the 80's, I dipped for a few years in HS.  Went to the lake and read a Readers Digest Article about a kid from my state who had his jaw removed.  It said he was dipping heavily "a can every two days". I dipped a can a day.   Had my last dip that night (32 years ago).  sunflower seeds really helped.  Gained 20 lbs in three months.....

There are so many fake dip products out there now like Grinds and Bacc Off...plus kids like that jerky cans. Many times kids have that and people think its real. I'd rather have them do Grinds then the real stuff.