Enforcement is key to new smokeless tobacco limits
Editor
Apr 4, 2012
Major League Baseball players who take the field tonight and tomorrow for the opening games of the 2012 season must do so without a tin of tobacco in their uniform pockets — one of the ground-breaking restrictions on smokeless tobacco included in the new contract.
Continue reading Baseball Season Opens Tonight with Historic Restrictions on Tobacco
posted April 04, 2012
Coalition to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park gets baseball to start snuffing out tobacco
Editor
Nov 22, 2011
Major League Baseball and the players' union have taken an historic first step toward getting tobacco out of the ballgame by placing significant limits on smokeless tobacco at the ballpark and whenever players are around fans.
Under the new contract agreement that MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced, whenever fans are at the ballpark, players, manager and coaches will no longer be able to carry a tobacco tin or package in their uniform pocket, or anywhere on their bodies.
Continue reading We Did It: New Baseball Contract Limits Smokeless Tobacco
posted November 22, 2011
Fans, health advocates urge players’ union to back tobacco ban at games
Editor
Nov 11, 2011
Nearly 11,000 baseball fans and health advocates have sent an open letter to player representatives of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) urging players to agree to prohibit smokeless tobacco use at games and on camera.
Continue reading 11,000 Sign Open Letter Calling for Tobacco-Free Baseball
posted November 11, 2011
Kids “deserve nothing less”
Editor
Nov 4, 2011
Two more members of Congress and Little League International have joined the drive to end smokeless tobacco use in Major League Baseball, urging big-league ballplayers to become better role models for the next generation of fans.
Continue reading House Members, Little League Join Call for Tobacco-Free Baseball
posted November 04, 2011
ABC World News Now reports on how young players mimic their role models to become addicted
Editor
Oct 27, 2011
ABC World News Now reports on young baseball players who started chewing tobacco as teens and now can't break their addiction. Southern Baptist leader Dr. Richard Land and ESPN analyst Bobby Valentine tell the network that Major League Baseball must provide better role models.
Says Valentine: "The message is this–wise up! We have to put forth a better face, and that face has to be one without a bulge in our lip."
Continue reading World Series Resumes Tonight with Boost for Tobacco-Free Baseball
posted October 27, 2011
Editorials, columnists say get tobacco out of baseball
Editor
Oct 26, 2011
Newspaper editorials and sports columnists around the country are calling for the Major League Baseball players union to finally end the game's unseemly addiction to tobacco by agreeing to ban the use of smokeless tobacco in the next collective bargaining agreement.
Continue reading Bag the Chew, Snuff Out the Problem and Just Play Ball!
posted October 26, 2011
Video, radio interviews promote tobacco-free baseball
Editor
Oct 19, 2011
Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois, a long-time tobacco-control champion, hit a homerun on the floor of the Senate yesterday when he made a compelling speech aimed at getting smokeless tobacco out of Major League Baseball.
Among millions of viewers who will watch the start of the World Series tonight, Durbin noted, are kids who will see their baseball heroes and imitate "that little puff in the lip, that can in the pocket. And they think that’s part of being a great baseball player."
Continue reading Durbin Knocks Tobacco Out of the Park in Senate Speech
posted October 19, 2011
Health officials in Texas and St. Louis want tobacco out of World Series, MLB
Editor
Oct 18, 2011
With the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals set to begin the 2011 World Series Wednesday night, four U.S. Senators called on the Major League Baseball Players Association to protect players' health and the well-being of millions of young fans by agreeing to a contractual ban on tobacco use at games.
Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct) urged in a letter to Players Association executive director Michael Weiner that the ban be effective in the 2012 baseball contract. The senators noted that the World Series is likely to be watched by an estimated 15 million viewers, many of them children.
Continue reading U.S. Senators Call for Tobacco-Free Baseball
posted October 18, 2011
League Championship Series should set the pace for tobacco-free baseball
Editor
Oct 10, 2011
The Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals can do more than make baseball history as they face off in the American and National League championship series.
The players can help break Major League Baseball's addiction to smokeless tobacco by voluntarily refraining from using tobacco during the high-profile playoff games, viewed by millions of kids in the United States and around the world.
Continue reading Baseball Playoffs Can Make History for Health
posted October 10, 2011
Brad Pitt spits as Billy Beane, highlighting the tobacco problem in baseball's culture
Editor
Sep 26, 2011
Millions of moviegoers who saw the Hollywood blockbuster "Moneyball," this weekend watched a multi-million dollar advertisement for getting tobacco out of Major League Baseball.
Brad Pitt plays Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane with tobacco tucked in his cheek, spitting repeatedly into a cup. Though Major League Baseball asked Sony Pictures to remove the scenes of tobacco use, the movie company says it kept them in for authenticity.
And that’s the problem.
Continue reading “Moneyball” is Blockbuster Reason to Get Tobacco Out of Baseball
posted September 26, 2011
Supporters around the country now working to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park
Editor
Aug 18, 2011
As the Little League World Series rolls along and Major League Baseball pennant races heat up, the Knock Tobacco Out of the Park coalition is hitting championship stride.
More than 120 national, state and local organizations — including baseball insiders, youth leagues and dozens of health groups — are urging the players union to agree to Commissioner Bud Selig's call for a ban. More are signing up every week.
Continue reading As MLB Season Heats Up, Campaign to Get Tobacco Out of Baseball Grows
posted August 18, 2011
Diamondbacks owner joins growing chorus urging MLB players to be better role models for kids
Editor
May 19, 2011
Arizona Diamondbacks managing general partner Ken Kendrick makes a point each spring of speaking to his team about baseball's tradition as a family sport. And he’s worked closely with Arizona health officials on an extensive educational program — "the No Chew Crew" to teach elementary school children about the risks of smokeless tobacco.
Continue reading Another Voice Speaks Out Against Tobacco in Baseball
posted May 19, 2011
HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel takes on smokeless tobacco use in Major League Baseball
Editor
May 17, 2011
An all-star lineup of Major League Baseball notables including Brett Butler, a cancer survivor who played in the majors for 17 seasons, and ESPN analyst and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, discuss the dangerous use of smokeless tobacco in baseball and its negative impact on young fans on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel tonight.
Continue reading “I Dip Because You Do”
posted May 17, 2011
Editor
Apr 1, 2011
Thanks to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who has just stated his view that "smokeless tobacco should be banned at the Major League level" and that MLB will propose such restrictions in contract talks with the players' union.
Continue reading Update: MLB Commissioner Wants Smokeless Tobacco Out of Baseball
posted April 01, 2011
Tobacco-free all stars in lineup for opening day
Editor
Mar 31, 2011
Baseball's Opening Day has started with a burst of energy, excitement and momentum in the campaign to get smokeless tobacco out of the ballgame.
Continue reading ESPN Analyst, ex-Mets Manager Bobby Valentine Urges Tobacco Ban in Major Leagues
posted March 31, 2011
Drive to knock tobacco out of the park quickens as opening day nears
Editor
Mar 29, 2011
The movement to get tobacco out of Major League Baseball is gaining momentum.
Top public health officials from coast to coast — representing a majority of cities where Major League Baseball is played — have joined in asking MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, to prohibit use of tobacco by players, coaches and other baseball staff at games.
Continue reading Health Officials in Major League Cities Want Tobacco-Free Baseball
posted March 29, 2011
MLB hometown papers step up to the plate
Editor
Mar 4, 2011
Leading newspapers around the country have joined the call for Major League Baseball and the players union to prohibit the use of smokeless tobacco at games.
In recent weeks, the Philadelphia Inquirer (hometown paper to the Phillies), the San Diego Union-Tribune (Padres) and the Star-Ledger of New Jersey (Yankees or Mets—you make the call!) have all spoken out in support of a ban.
Continue reading Key Newspapers Call for Major Leagues to Get Tobacco Out of Baseball
posted March 04, 2011
Key U.S. Senators ask Major League Baseball and players' union to prohibit tobacco
Editor
Feb 15, 2011
With spring training for the 2011 season about to begin, two U.S. senators have formally called on Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association to prohibit the use of all tobacco products on the field, in the dugout and in locker rooms at MLB venues.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey wrote to MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and Michael Weiner, executive director of the Players Association, asking them to protect players and their young fans by finally ending the use of tobacco in baseball.
Continue reading It’s Time to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park
posted February 15, 2011
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