Kaimin: Chaw in baseball: battling tradition for health

Kaimin’s look at chewing tobacco...and Red sox Man.

Simply enough, these quotes attest to the historical attitude of chew in the MLB, as well as haunt advocates to rid the sport of the practice.

Manny Ramirez is one of the game’s best players today. As much of Ramirez’s trademark swing, as much of his power to put any low-and-away pitch off the green monster in right, is his signature left cheek, molded with fresh Copenhagen. So much so that maybe his Cooperstown bust will carry his giant smile, with his classic dreadlocks hanging, and a bronze pouch in the cheek, preserved in time.

The bust represents baseball’s stark reality: steep tradition at the expense of health. A can of worms is eventually opened.

For the national pastime, actually, it’s more like opening a can of chaw.