• 3/19/2007
  • web-based article
  • Donald Dorsey
  • News-Press (www.newspress.com)

Sox, Twins talk about breaking tobacco habit

Terry Francona has been feeling grumpy this spring training in Southwest Florida, and Ron Gardenhire knows how he feels.

The two baseball managers, Francona of the Boston Red Sox and Gardenhire of the Minnesota Twins, used to have a highly addictive habit, one that used to go hand-in-hand with their sport.

Both managers, whose teams train in Fort Myers, used to use smokeless chewing tobacco, also known as dip, spit or chew. The nicotine in it traps users into craving it, and the habit can lead to tooth decay, cavities, gum disease, heart problems, precancerous mouth sores and oral cancer, said Dr. Herb Severson, who studies the issue for the Oregon Research Institute.

Trying to stop spitting tobacco results in intense cravings, increased appetite, irritability and depressed moods, he said.

“The addiction is not just the physical addiction to the nicotine,” Severson said. “They really believe that it improves their performance, relaxes them and gives them other benefits. It’s been conditioned to be a part of baseball, and it’s a tough addiction to overcome.”

About 30 percent of big leaguers use spit tobacco these days, Severson said. That number has fallen from a peak of 46 percent in 1987.

Drug education programs, public sentiment, stories of mouth cancer and a ban on chewing tobacco at all minor-league levels have all contributed to falling numbers of chewing tobacco users in baseball, Severson said.

“My daughter came home from school one day, and they had done the DARE program,” Gardenhire recalled of the day, about eight years ago, he decided to quit using it. He had used chew for more than 16 years as a player with the New York Mets and as minor-league coach.

Tiffany Gardenhire was 14 at the time of her plea.

“I don’t want you to die, Daddy,” she said. And so he quit.

“It was really hard,” Gardenhire said of breaking the addiction. “I can’t tell you how many thousands of times I’ll see somebody open a can of Skoal, and I have felt like saying, ‘Give me some of that.’ ”

Hall of Famer Paul Molitor has tried to quit using chew in the past to no avail.

“I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m going to use it,” Molitor said. “I have cut back. I don’t use it at home anymore. My advice: Don’t start using it.”

For Francona, a $20,000 wager with Red Sox President Larry Lucchino, who twice has battled cancer, helped motivate Francona to begin his quest to quit three weeks ago.

“I’m not proud of that fact that I did it,” Francona said. “I know it’s horrible. I’m trying to give it up. I don’t want to start patting myself on the back about it yet.”

The Red Sox have started a “Spit Tobacco Abstinence and Recovery War,” urging players and fans to quit using as well.

Lucchino will pledge $20,000 to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute if Francona makes it through the end of the season without using smokeless tobacco.

Should Francona falter, he will pony up $20,000 instead, to a charity to be named.

“I’ll make it,” said Francona, who has caved in to his desire for chew during previous spring training attempts to quit. “That’s why I made the bet, because I wanted to stop. If I didn’t want to stop, I wouldn’t have made the bet.”

The Red Sox players haven’t exactly made it easy on their boss.

“The players are horrible,” Francona said. “Horrible. David Ortiz is putting it under my nose. I saw a bag of it the other day. I took a smell of it. And it was wonderful. Wonderful.

“I’m not going to do it, because I don’t want to do it. But it’s not easy. If I had my druthers, I would rather be chewing. I love it. But I’m not going to do it.”

When Gardenhire quit, he found a substitute that caused him to gain weight.

“I went cold turkey and quit,” Gardenhire said. “Actually, you could say I went beef jerky.”

Instead of stuffing a lump of Skoal in his lips, Gardenhire reverted to stuffing beef jerky in there instead.

“Baseball used to be notorious for players using chew,” Gardenhire said. “That stuff has gone way down. The sunflower seeds still wear us all out though.”

Sunflower seeds and bubble gum still abound in big-league clubhouses. Tobacco companies are prohibited from bringing in free samples of chew, and they are not allowed to advertise at big-league ballparks.

Minnesota Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett, 27, tried chewing tobacco as a child.

“When I was a little kid, I tried it, and I got sick from it,” said Bartlett, projected to start in the big leagues this season after spending time during the past six years in the minors. “Just the smell of it makes me sick. No matter what they do in the minor leagues, there’s always going to be guys who do it.

“People get addicted to it.”

In the minors

Chewing tobacco has been “banned” in the minor leagues since 1993.

This season, managers at any level are supposed to be fined $1,000 if they are caught by an umpire.

Players are supposed to be fined $300 at the Triple-A and Double-A minor-league levels. Class A Fort Myers Miracle players should expect a $100 fine — if it is enforced.

“During a game, some of the guys will have a lump in their mouth,” Bartlett said of minor-league games. “It’s just not as noticeable, because guys try to hide it.”

Patrick Courtney, spokesman for Major League Baseball, said the minor-league ban isn’t foolproof. Major League Baseball did not have the number of fines issued readily available.

A number of Minnesota Twins and Red Sox minor-leaguers and coaches can be seen using chewing tobacco at games.

But Courtney defended the program as effective.

“If you watch them, it’s amazing,” Courtney said of the big leaguers. “You used to see it everywhere.”

Francona tried to hide his usage in the minors until landing the manager’s job with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997.

“I didn’t want to pay $500 every time the dip police came by,” he said of the fine at that time.

Francona does not see the point in banning a legal substance. Donald Fehr, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players’ Association, advises not to use chewing tobacco but noted he did not expect players to ask for a ban at the big-league level either.

“I don’t even know if I even agree with that,” Francona said of banning it. “I agree with sending the message. But I also don’t know if you can tell somebody, a grown-up, what they can or can’t do. But I understand the purpose of sending the message, especially to kids. I understand it.

When asked how he has dealt with giving up chewing tobacco this spring, Francona pointed across the City of Palms Park dugout to Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills.

“By being grumpy,” Francona said. “And by yelling at Millsy.”