• 5/3/2005
  • Orlando, FL
  • George Diaz
  • Orlando Sentinel (www.orlandosentinel.com)

Baseball’s dirty habit is back in vogue as big-leaguers struggle with addiction to chewing tobacco.

Johnny Damon got in his Porsche this spring with no particular purpose other than making the obligatory journey from Orlando to Fort Myers to begin spring training.

As the miles clicked off, he put a wad of chewing tobacco in his mouth to relax. Growing closer to his destination, he began thinking about the dangers of chewing, consequences that could escalate from unsightly stains on his teeth to cancerous lesions.

By the time he stepped out of his car and walked into the Boston Red Sox clubhouse, Damon decided he would quit.

“Better for my health. Better for the color of my teeth,” Damon, an outfielder, said recently during a three-game trip to Tampa. “I did the cold-turkey thing. It’s worked so far, but we’ve got a long ways to go.”

Chewing tobacco is a baseball ritual that spans generations. Interspersed with sunflower seeds and chewing gum, it appears as a friendly companion to the 162-game grind of taking infield, batting practice and nine innings of baseball.

Players say the nicotine buzz is soothing. In reality, it can kill.

The Oral Cancer Foundation estimates that 30,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year, causing more than 8,000 deaths (killing roughly one person per hour, 24 hours per day). Of those 30,000 cases, only half will be alive in five years.

Lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers remain more prevalent, with lung cancer the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for both men and women. The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 172,570 new cases of lung cancer in the United States, about 163,510 of those fatal.

Although the mortality rate is not nearly as high for oral cancer, the ACS estimates that smokeless tobacco users are 50 times more at risk for developing cancers than non-users. Despite the sobering statistics, an estimated 36 percent of major-league players will chew or dip tobacco this season.

They are not alone among their sports brethren. Some golfers — including David Duval — chew regularly. Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman began chewing when he was 15, then quit in January 1997 and switched to sunflower seeds.

As the pfttt pfttt pftttt soundtrack continues in major-league ballparks, one man continues a crusade that evokes comparisons to Don Quixote.

Tobacco companies are Joe Garagiola’s windmills. Garagiola, a former major-league catcher and broadcaster, is intent on having players break the habit. He tries anything from scared-straight presentations in clubhouses during spring training to a compassionate handshake for those who cannot find the will to break free.

Labeled as a Grim Reaper by players who don’t want to accept reality, Garagiola often feels the chill in the clubhouse.

“I don’t get the red-carpet treatment,” Garagiola said. He once turned to a player who was acting particularly put off and said, “Let me tell you [expletive], I’m doing this because there is a message that needs to be told. For a guy like you, I’ll go out and buy tobacco.”

As a baseball traditionalist, Garagiola knows he is in for a long fight. Chewing tobacco is etched in the culture of baseball. Advertisements for tobacco were included in baseball cards decades ago. New York Yankees slugger Babe Ruth accepted a plug of chew from his girlfriend before a climactic game-winning hit in a 1927 movie, Babe Comes Home. Half a century later, the profile of Minnesota Twins great Rod Carew included a big chew in his mouth to tighten his face and help him focus on the incoming pitch.

Generations of bad choices beget more bad choices. Former Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians shortstop Travis Fryman started chewing because he saw Kansas City Royals all-star George Brett doing it and “‘I thought it looked cool.” Jeff Bagwell of the Houston Astros used to hit with a chew in his mouth because it’s “something that takes your mind off other things.”

Bagwell has since quit, and has been one of Garagiola’s strongest allies. Garagiola is the national chairman of the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP), founded in 1994.