A cap, a glove and a wad to chew are classic appurtenances.

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Herman Franks, Cl.lb , Brave infielder Sparky Lyle , Yankee

This article may cause acute mental discomfort, nausea and fainting spells, but stouthearted readers will learn more than they ever wanted to know about . ..

By Roy Blount Jr.

54 remember when I was a young kid crying with different clubs." says former major league Pitcher Di k Hall. "It was somcching ~ee­ I ing real majo r-leaguer~. lint Hnrtung really impressed me. He'd been a big-bonus rookie about a year or two before and he could spit all the way across the Giants' dressing room . A big. beautiful shot. He might have been the best distance chewer I ever saw . But had some good chewers. too . Both O 'Brien brothers chewed . They liked to spit on each other." Oh. yes. There is fielding, running, throwing. hitting. hitting with power. And then there is chewing. People don't always appreciate the talent involved in chewing. Or the teamwork. They say that Rocky Bridges was managing from the third-base coaching box at El Paso when one of his players. Ethan Blackaby. a home . As Blackaby rounded third. Bridges. extending a con­ gratulatory shake. pressed a wad of wet tobacco into his hand . Without a sign of emotion. Blackaby continueu down the line and across home plate . where he was greeted by the next hitter. Tom Egan. Blackaby passed on to the unsuspecting Egan the still dripping wad. You've got to be ready in baseball. Egan nearly fainted . Chewing in some form is practiced in conjunction with most sports activities-maybe all of them. aside from. oh. swimming. gymnastics. chess. (In fact. Red Sox Pitcher chews tobacco while playing chess. But chess is not his primary game.) Jockey Steve Cauthen is into oral snuff. though not while riding. Col­ lege hockey players sometimes spit tobacco on bothersome fans. which may be why the rink i s surrounded by a plastic shield . Campy Russell cuminued CHAWS ,·cJ1Hinuctl

in basketball and Tony Jacklin in golf' tactically. splallering the ball liberally on ·'He didn'1 know I cleaned !hat bush. chomp gum fiercely while playing. obvious passing downs. When he told me he hadn't been chew­ Snuff is very big in football lately. Bert Jordan. Lilly and Smith belong in the ing. I caught him. There was lobacco on Jones (who goes into press conferences Chewers Hall of Fame. And yet they the camellia. with a little cup to spit in). the Cow­ would have to be consigned to lower "It's a funny thirig abou\ that bush. It boys' team physicians (who are forever niches than Bridges. or . the was dead when he moved into the house. spilling their cups on airplanes). Terry old . or several other of After a year of tobacco it was the most Bradshaw. Joe Namath and Fran Tar­ the greatest chewers in the history of the beautiful thing you have ever seen." I kenton all do snuff. and in television com­ most ruminative sport. the most be­ But this article is about more than mercials Walt Garrison has explained to speckled sport. the premier chewing Rocky Bridges. the public how snuff is done: "You don't spor\: baseball was a prodigious chewer light it up. You just take a pinch and put Only in baseball doe\ the chc1w bulk His brand was Horse Shoe. "Sometimes it in between your lip and gum . And it ,o large in oral history. Hear Tom Mor­ he would swallow his plug and tell the s-u-refeels relaxing in there." (What Gar­ gan. former Yankee relief' pitcher. who trainer. 'A little bi [bicarbonate of soda I. rison doesn't tell the viewers is that on roomed with Bridges when the two wen: please.'" recalls Angel Jimmie his first date with his wife Pam he over­ Angel coaches: Reese. who occasionally roomed with the turned on her the contents of the spit­ "Rocky would pretend to go lO ,Jeep Babe in the early 'JOs. toon he keeps in hi, car.I with a chew in his mouth. When he This article i\ about more than After New England beat the Steelers thought I was asleep he would spit it out. tobacco. early last se.ason. Patriot Guard John The next morning he would gel up be­ " chewed Kleenex.'· ,ay, Hannah said. "This is like having the best fore me. pul another chew in and pre­ former Dodger fireballer Rex Barne) . chew of tobacco in the world in your lend it had been in all night. "People used to think that Horlen mouth and never wanting to spit it out." "Once he and I had a bet on who could chewed a lot of 1obacco. but he never Former Cowboys Lee Roy Jordan and go the longes\ wi1hou1 chewing tobacco . did. He had several Kleenex in his mouth . Bob Lilly and former Colt Billy Ray I won. He didn't make it 1hrough three You wonder whether it would disinle­ Smith are said to have gone out and hours and he cheated. grate in there. but I guess it's the same banged into people in regular-season "He used to have a camellia bush just as tobacco. Instead of swallowing it. you games not only with fire in their eyes off his porch at home. The first thing he spil ii out. Which is a horrible thing to but tobacco in their mouths. And either would do after stepping out of the house even say." never swallowed it. or didn't notice. would be to spit on the bush or throw This article is about all the ins and Smith. a defensive tackle. used tobacco his cigar on ii. out\ of all the things ballplayers chew.

Deft hands of Darrel Chaney demonstrate art of wrepping pre-masticated bubble gum around chewing tobacco lo create a favorite new chaw: gumbacco

56 and why they chew them, and a little of the history and sociology of it, and chew­ ing contests and rituals, and the agony (for most people} of swallowing . Chewing has been with us for a long time. Samuel Pepys chewed tobacco, and long before him the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs. Not minor league teams by those names-the Indian tribes. "When the whites settled on this continent," says Dr. Jack Hoyert, superintendent of the To­ bacco Experimental Farm at the Univer­ sity of , "they picked up these habits from the Indians. You couldn't be busy with a pipe or a cigar when you were busy hammering or driving a mule Chaw of Fame: bulging cheeks accent faces of al/time-great chewers Nellie Fox and Rocky Bridges . or oxen. Chewing was the ideal thing for working people." Whether or not ball­ players are exactly working people, they seated. Now he chews three packs of to­ protection on plays at home plate. Once do use their hands a great deal. And there bacco a game, wrapped in gum. He has in Albuquerque I had a collision in cen­ are questions of propriety. Says tobacco­ cut his soft drinks to two or three, and ter field and broke one side of my jaw . I chewing Giant Pitcher Ed Halicki, "How his stomach stays settled . Other players think the tobacco cushioned the other would it look if I lit up a cigar between chew to keep from biting their nails, or side ." pitches? Picture me asking the umpire they use snuff or chewing tobacco as a Chewing is also a good thing around for a match." substitute for smoking. "If I didn't chew," which to organize the japeries and in­ Big-leaguers have chewed since the says retired , "I'd cidental competitions to which ballplay­ game 's earliest days . Tobacco chewers smoke five , six or seven cigarettes a game ers devote a great deal of time. And it come into the game from farming and between ." gives them something to chew that they coal-mining country. The moistness gen­ Chewing tobacco is clearly a drug of probably like to chew more than any­ erated by chewing relieves dusty mouths. sports. "There's a little something in it," thing else : the fat. Baseball is a hot, dusty game with slow says Pitcher . "There's a lit­ Former Pitcher and tense stretches. Bobby tle kick in there." Dick Bosman recalls good chewing times Murcer, who goes through a can of win­ "It 's like cigarettes," says White Sox when he was with the old Senators : "We tergreen-flavored Skoal snuff a game, Co ach . "I just decided to had two kinds of contests, flies and pea­ says, "I think it's a tremendous help, a re­ try it. I use Day's End . It's a great high nut shells . I held the club record for flies . laxer. It keeps my mouth wet and oc­ in the morning and it's legal. And it Shot down IO of them one day. On rainy cupied. Maybe it goes back to nipple makes a great stain in the sink." days we would sit on the bench and shoot days ." of Kansas City, who "When the day is going bad ," says Cub at peanut shells running down the gutter favors Bazooka sugarless bubble gum, Pitcher Rick Reuschel, "I'll stick a chaw in the dugout." says, "It gives you something to do be­ in my mouth and everything seems to Gum contests are more highly orga­ tween pitches ." Managers like Ralph get a little brighter." nized. The company, manufactur­ Houk of the Tigers and Herman Franks Snuff, in fact, affords a real rush-too er of Bazooka gum, held a bubble-blow­ of the Cubs chewed when they were play­ much of a jolt for many hardened to­ ing tournament in 1975 with the finals ers and haven't stopped. bacco chewers . "That stuff has got to put on television . Pitcher Mickey Scott had Many players chew to keep their whis­ a hole in your seabag," says Rocky Bridg­ won the title by tles wet (Montreal Coach , es. English dandies used to sniff small shaving, putting Vaseline on his face to who chews, is known for his whistling} pinches of finely ground tobacco to pro­ reduce abrasion, wrapping a towel because when they grew up they were duce little sneezes, but Copenhagen and around his neck, putting his cap on back­ warned that drinking water during games Skoal , which athletes use, are coarser , ward to protect his permanent while would "bloat you," and maybe too much darker and more powerful. Holding snuff keeping the bill out of play, holding a will, although progressive trainers now against the delicate membranes of gum windbreaker up against the elements and warn that it is bad for thirsty athletes to and lip for long periods is the next thing producing a gonfalon bubble whose di­ avoid water during competition . Weight­ to mainlining nicotine . ameter, measured by official cardboard watching players chew to cut down their Which is not to say that tobacco-prod­ calipers, was 20 inches. calorie intake . used to drink uct chewing is in all respects harmful to The bubble-blowing champion of all IS bottles of pop before and during ev­ your health. Catcher Bob Stinson of the baseball that year was Infielder Kurt Be­ ery game, and sometimes would get nau- Mariners says, "Tobacco gives your teeth vacqua, now in the minor s, who swears continued

57 CHAWS conlinued

he keeps his gum in a little metal safe, "like you buy at the five-and-ten," with an air freshener inside. "It keeps just right," he says. Gum can also enter less innocently into baseball's give-and-take . Andy Sem­ i nick. the old catcher, used to stick a wad of gum onto his thumb, shake hands with someone and rub it forcibly into the hairs on the back of the hand , from which it could be removed only with some pain. Pepper Martin used to do the same thing. It is tobacco, however, that is most of­ ten used aggressively, especially against white shoes. We're celebrating. 14k. Gold Camera Entry Form I "Rocky is very good on accuracy," This is the year that Yashlca produ ces Complete and give to your Yashica dealer. I its 5 millionth Electro -35 Rang ennder says of Bridges . "He's one Camera. Name ______I I of the best on shoes. He has what we And in honor of thi s histor ic Add res,,______achievement, Yashica is offering you I call a soft wad. You don't feel it when the opportunity to win the 5 m illionth City ______I he spits on your shoes," camera . It's 14k. Gold' , one of a kind, "Aw. no," says Rocky modestly . and co mes with an all-expense -paid State ______Zip, ___ _ I t\,1/o- w ek trip fortw o lo Tokyo , I "Some guys can drown a dime. I'm just All you have to do is fill out the Yashica Dealer ______I sloppy big. I'm not an accuracy star. co upon below and drop it off at your Need more information first? to Vashlcc1dea ler. No purchase is neces­ I And I've got the shirts prove it. Tat­ sary. Contest closes Just send in this coupon and we ·11send you m ore I tletale brown. Thank God for the new lnlormaLion on Vashica rangefinder cameras and I July 3 1, 1977_.Vo ldYASHICA polyesters." wher e proh1b1ted. the name of the dealer nearest you. Yashica, Inc., I 411 Sette Drive, Paramus, N.J . 07652. used to put chaws he was • All exterior metal parts cuslom plated in 14k Gold L••-•--•••••••-•••J finished with into other people's pock­ ets. Then he would let them dig them out as best they could. " was always a great chewer." says former Catcher Clay Dal­ rymple. "When I was with the Phillies we were giving hotfoots one night. and I HOWTOFEElthink he kind of set me up. He had his foot up on one of the dugout steps and he was kind of leaning forward with his elbow on one knee. I snuck up behind him to give him a hotfoot. As I reached LIKEA MllllON. in between his legs to light him, he had Nothing gives a man more of a touch of class than taking a cigar out of a tube. And there's no better tubed cigar for the a big load of tobacco ready for me and money1hon Roya le by Gold Label.A stylish cigar with a he really caught me on the hand , Man. rich Cameroon wrapper. Andall the mild• he laughed like hell." ness andfreshness sealedin byt he "It's an unwritten law, " says Pitcher tube. Sot okeo ut a Royale and Steve Renko, "that you are permitted to takeon the lookof a spit on the shoes but not on the uniform. millionaire. More often you pick out a target such as ants and spiders." What happens when insects are hit? "It makes their eyes bright," says the Reds' Woodie Fryman. Eccentric Catcher Vic Correll's eyes are always bright. especially when he is making up baseball wisdom . He main­ tains that a switch hitter must be a switch chewer. "Say you're going up to bat left­ handed. You've got to chew on the right side so the pitcher can see it and think you're tough. And then when you're bat-

58 . •• • • a.t The Nite Jogger- another first I f j ' ' from adidas

ting right-handed, you've got to chew on the left. All that switching is hard on the front teeth." Doug Rader is known as a "defensive chewer." He takes his to­ bacco out of his mouth after each in the field, puts the chew in his glove and his glove on the bench. When he re­ takes the field he retakes his chew. . and Ed Herrmann tip their masks back to spit. and spit through the bars. So did Roy Campa­ nella. "Nobody else would ever wear his mask," recalls Rex Barney, a devout non­ chewer who confesses that seeing "my catcher spitting out at me always both­ ered me. "Roy was a great chewer of tobacco," remembers Barney, "but at home or on the road he kept toothpaste in his locker c1tall times. The second a game was over. about the only thing that came off was the glove and the mask before he'd go spit the tobacco out and brush his teeth. Roy only chewed during games." is a serious tobacco chewer: in fact, he got into irouble with the Yankees last.year for filming a Red Man commercial at the park the morn­ • ing of the day he pitched. But on the mound he often chews gum. starting with one stick and adding another each in­ The Nite Jogger is the first in busy trafficn1n. areas. But there ning. A , then. means a road runner ever conceived is more to this unique new nine-stick wad. would go for the after dark jogger. shoe than glow. Designed through ~ dozen sticks a game. He was Its phosphorescent heel primarily for road surfaces, once clocked at 72 •~hewsper minute on stripes glow brightly in the these additional features make the Nite Jogger the shoe it is: the mound . ''Maybe it helped my dark, making for safer jogging rhythm," he says. Chewers all agree that chewing helps wmething. of San Diego has been savoring tobacco off the mound that breathes and forms to the for eight years but didn't begin to chew Thicker and softer midsole foot. New Ghilly lacing makes for absorbs the considerable heel easier lacing & unlacing. while pitching until 1975. That was the pounding experienced on road Traction sole profile is swept up year he became a star. winning 20 games. surfaces, and provides a perfectly on heel and toe to provide full ··1 don't know why," he says, "but it cushioned roll action of the foot. protection against excessive abrasion and wear caused by road seemed to help." Uppers made of Cangoran - a man-made leather-like material stirfaces . "['d feel naked if I went to the mound without my chew," says Minnesota's Don Carrithers. "And I have to have a pack in my back pocket. T just like the feel of it back there." "The dentist tells me that even though it stains your teeth, chewing has hygien­ ic value," says Astro Roger Metzger. "Your mouth contains certain acids and tobacco counteracts them." Says Houston Pitcher , "I have a routine I go through every day. I continued 59 For more in1ormation contact your local dealer . adidaS -·- CHAWS continued

had to start the routine because when I like Dizzy Gillespie hitting a high note. into the clubhouse and spit on the ceil­ was switched from starting to relief I was Steve Renko says the biggest chewer he ing. When it dropped back down he going crazy sitting in the . I chew ever saw was little-known Bobby Hend­ would catch it in his mouth. He was a Red Man until about the fifth inning. ley, a teammate of his in the minors. breed all of his own. He would try to Then I go into my program. "He could fill up an entire trash can turn guys' stomachs. He had no scruples. "I spit out the tobacco and I take a with spit. It was amazing." He was a beaut, and a real nice guy." towel and wipe my teeth off. Sometimes There are standards of offensiveness, Names that keep cropping up in any once, sometimes twice. It's important to an important consideration, because one discussion of great chewers are Rocky get the inside of my teeth completely of chewing's charms, to the chewer, is Bridges and Nellie Fox. The most col­ clean, too. taking casual pleasure in something that orful stories are by or about Bridges, but "Then I go right to the gum. I take causes other people, even from a dis­ Fox, who died in 1975, is generally ac­ the wrapper off the gum and I the tance, to blanch and grow dizzy. "You knowledged as the king. He was a classic piece of tinfoil. I wrap the tinfoil care­ might say the alltime tobacco chewer, a tobacco chewer, carrying in his cheek a fully into a ball so that the shiny part is guy who had some tricks that will go chaw half as big as his hat. "All class," on the inside and the glazed part on the down in history, was John Boozer of the says former Yankee Pitcher Steve Ham­ outside. I take my time so this will use Phillies," says . "He had a num­ ilton, himself a towering figure in chew­ up about an inning. It keeps my mind ber of little things he did, like eating ing. "Great staying power. Could chew off the bullpen. moths, which he taught me. It's very sim­ all day. Tremendous accuracy and finesse "I flip the foil away with my thumb ple. It really impresses people. He would in his spitting." once I've got it rolled the way I want it. bite grasshoppers in half. The back half Tobacco chewing has considerable I use that green stick gum because I like would hop out by itself. Boozer also had symbolic value. During his first spring the foil. Sometimes I go to the bubble a couple of neat tricks with tobacco. He'd training last year, spit to­ gum if nothing else is available. But the spit the tobacco straight up in the air bacco juice all over the front of his uni­ bubble gum doesn't have any tinfoil­ and catch it in his mouth. And miss most form on purpose and explained, "I want and that's when I have my bad days on of it, of course." the guys to know I chew." , the mound. I chew the gum on the Clay Dalrymple remembers Boozer. the old Cincinnati pitcher, says, "In my mound. But when I'm in a jam I walk to­ "You have to have a strong stomach for day, and I'm talking about 1952 to 1960, ward second base and spit it out-that this story," he says. "Boozer used to go to be a big-leaguer you had to chew." gives me the sudden burst of energy I need." "When I can't yell at the umpire and can't answer back at the fans," says Bench, "I just spit." Pitching -Coach also CHEWING ALL- STAR TEAMS speaks of tobacco in terms of speech: "I (Chew is tobacco, except as indicated) chew because it keeps me from talking, and I can tend to business." When Sain ALLTIME ACTIVE was pitching for the old Boston Braves p Johnny Sain p Catfish Hunter, New York he was said to have replied to writers' p Clyde Wright p Mark Fidrych, Detroit questions in a language of squirts. p Juan Marichal (gum) p Ken Forsch, Houston Straight down meant "Yes." Spits trav­ p (toothpick) p , Boston eling outward meant "No." In conver­ Relief P Relief P Sparky Lyle, New York sations demanding a more refined con­ C C Johnny Bench, Cincinnati trol of the medium, Sain might be C C Carlton Fisk, Boston (snuff) misunderstood. He receives considerable 1B Johnny Mize 1B Mike Ivie, San Diego support as the game's sloppiest chewer. 2B Nellie Fox 2B Rod Carew, Minnesota "The thing about Sain," says Ed Herr­ 3B 3B Doug Rader, mann, "is that the juice runs down both ss Rocky Bridges ss Roger Metzger, Houston sides of his mouth. He gets it all over his OF Babe Ruth OF , New York (seeds) uniform." OF Country Slaughter OF Bobby Murcer, Chicago (snuff) That puts Sain up among the most dis­ OF OF , Atlanta tinguished chewers, of course. (The neat­ Mgr Mgr , Detroit est chewers, says Herrmann, are "all DH DH Gene Tenace, San Diego beginners.") But who is the greatest of Grounds of selection (in order of importance): I) prominence in lore: 2) originality: 3) degree of all? This is not an easy question lo an­ obsession: 4) size of chaw: 5) playing ability. swer. Criteria vary. Sparky Lyle may be Special recognition for offensiveness: John Boozer, pitcher. Phillies (retired). the biggest chewer ever, having been known to expand his cheek with a full pack, so that on the left side he looks

62 "When I first broke into the Dodger shell out, then take another one, and so Murcer: "The kid's got length and system," recalls Rex Barney, "I was with on. It's hard to eat them when you're strength." Montreal, just a kid, 18 years old, and trying to hit. The only time you can eat was a chewer for a while we had a coach, an old guy named Bar­ 'em is when you're in the dugout or in the minors but, "I gave it up when I ney De Forge, or something like that. the outfield." was in AA ball. It was all part of the This was during the war, and babies like The trouble with seeds is that the shells tough, dirty image of those days-chew­ myself were playing. I was sitting in the tend to wind up concave side down on ing, spitting, baggy uniforms. It's strong bullpen one night and De Forge said to clubhouse floors and stick there with a stuff. It stays on your breath. I found de­ me, 'Kid, you want to get to the major suction so broom-resistant that some cay in my teeth, that's why I quit. I don't leagues?' clubhouse men refuse to dispense them. know why black guys don't chew. May­ "I said, 'Sure, that's what it's all about.' Seeds bother traditionalists, on prin­ be does. He'll try anything." "He says, 'You don't chew tobacco, ciple. "We had an onslaught of those has been doing a little pre­ do you?' things the last few years," says Bridges. game Red Man lately as an aid to quit­ "I said, 'No.' "Most of the dugouts looked like bird ting cigarettes, but he says, "I can't real­ "He said, 'Well, you'll never get there cages. I had a couple of players that I ly handle it. I wouldn't want my name unless you chew tobacco.' had to watch pretty carefully-I was associated with it, actually, because of "In those days, if you had 25 play­ afraid they were going to start moulting." the kids." When Ed Herrmann was with ers, 24 chewed tobacco. Very naive, I There are miscellaneous chewers. the White Sox, he succeeded in convert­ said, 'O.K.' I tried it. The only thing I of the Reds chews lic­ ing one black player, . "We remember is chomping down a couple orice, as did . "Hank had to start him out with one leaf," says of times and getting deathly ill. I was used to spit the licorice in his glove to Herrmann, who adds, "I've seen some supposed to start the next night and I firm it up," says Montreal President John umpires chew, but I've never run into a was still so sick I couldn't even leave McHale, who played with Greenberg on girl chewer." the hotel. I said to myself, 'If that's the Tigers. "Once he gave me some. I feels not at all self-con­ what it takes to make the major leagues, got so sick I can't imagine ever trying to­ scious about being a Juicy Fruit chew­ I'll never make it.' " bacco." (The only front-office figure as­ er, and of the Royals says These days the chewing situation is sociated with chewing tobacco is Atlan­ fastidiously, "I chew nothing but gum. laxer, more pluralistic. Snuff dipping has ta owner Ted Turner.) I remember watching Rocky Bridges play always been around-Ruth did that John Bateman used to mix tobacco at old in L.A. He had too-but lately it has achieved a perhaps and licorice sticks when he caught for juice all over his shirt. It made me sort faddish popularity, helped along by Mur­ Houston. The late occa­ of sick. Most of the chew cer, and Carlton Fisk, who, like Garri­ sionally chewed tar. Bridges used to tobacco. They sit in the dugout and see son, promotes snuff in TV commercials. change pace by chewing cigars . "I had who can make the biggest puddle. It's "You know what's good?" asks San my trips measured by cigars," he says. sickening." Francisco Pitcher Dave Heaverlo. "Co­ "From Cincinnati to Long Beach was 40 Although 35% of major-leaguers chew penhagen dipped in Scotch. A real neat cigars." And, of course, there was Tooth­ some form of tobacco, it no longer seems flavor." pick Sam Jones, who was always work­ to disturb front offices. " A snuff-in-Scotch dipper cannot be ac­ ing on a toothpick when he pitched. liked a good chew," recalls Steve Ham­ cused of effeteness; still "a real neat fla­ "Chewing or keeping the mouth busy is ilton, "but the Yankees frowned on it. vor" can hardly be what a man like Nel­ normal," he once explained. "A tooth­ Said it spoiled his image. So Mickey lie Fox had in mind. pick does not stain your teeth, does not would sneak out and grab a wad on the Another relatively new baseball chew pull out fillings or cause cavities. It's a sly." When AstroTurf was new, Hous­ is sunflower seeds. Reggie Jackson keeps substitute for overeating. And you can ton owner Roy Hofheinz called down them in his pocket and chews them con­ still get a supply free in restaurants. It from his box to order Nellie Fox to stop stantly at the park. "I started in college," may not be approved at society events, spitting in the coaching box. But no one he says. "The guys at Arizona State but I say it's healthy.'' complains about tobacco on artificial turf chewed them. They're good for nervous­ But the major alternative to tobacco now. Only bubble gum provokes restric­ ness and it's an easy way of getting salt." is gum. Topps furnishes 250,000 boxes tive measures. Houston Manager Bill Vir­ "Seeds came onto the scene about of Bazooka free to big league clubhouses don has a rule that no player can blow 1969, 1970," says Dalrymple. "Oakland annually. Some observers, including the bubbles during the national anthem. His started using seeds, and all of a sudden possibly biased Bridges, see tobacco in predecessor, , ordered all they started showing up all over the resurgence, but gum is now the leading bubble gum removed from the club­ place." Manager chew. For one thing, black and Latin house-players were throwing it at each is a big seed man, as is . For­ players, who almost all eschew tobacco, other and Walker feared someone would mer White Sox Outfielder Buddy Brad­ prefer gum. Among the exceptions are get hit in the eye. ford tells how seeds are chewed: Cesar Geronimo, , Pedro "Players today are more sophisticat­ "What you do is store 'em in the Borbon, Rod Carew, Luis Tiant, Ben ed," notes Coach Harvey side of your mouth, then pull one seed Oglivie and Gary Matthews, whose spit­ Kuenn, with some sarcasm. out with your tongue, chew it, spit the ting last year was praised by authority If old timers are put off by bubble gum, continued

63 CHAWS continued another trend in chewing has something John Wockenfuss. "But it was too much near died. It sure cleared the dust in a to offend nearly everybody: the mixing trouble." Now Wockenfuss is one of the hurry, I 'II tell you that." of tobacco and gum. An early experi­ few big-leaguers who bites off chunks of Chewing, then, is not, so to speak, all menter was the former National Leaguer plug tobacco-Cannonball is his favorite gravy. Even in the clubhouse it some­ Frank Torre, who, according to Dalrym­ brand-instead of taking it loose from a times leads to social embarrassment. One ple, "would take a stick of gum and a pouch. year Bo Belinsky brought his dog to the big piece of chewing tobacco and tight­ Steve Hamilton, although he once Houston training camp. The clubhouse en it up into a wad. Then he'd take chew­ threw up on the mound while chewing to­ man built a sandbox for the dog next to ing gum and wrap it all the way around bacco during a televised Sunday game, the one he had installed for Barry Lat­ until there was no tobacco showing. Then and although he once swallowed a man, the pitcher, to discourage Latman he'd stick that into his cheek and it would straight chaw while working on a roof from spitting on the clubhouse rug . make him look like he had a big chew of and fell off the roof, would applaud "How am I going to explain to my tobacco in there, but in reality most of it Wockenfuss' return to basics. When wife that I have the locker next to a dog?" was sugar." Hamilton first heard of mixing gum and said Latman. Also at work in this field at about the tobacco, he nearly choked. "Why that's Outside the stadium, chewing be­ same time was former Yankee Coach like putting foxtails on a Mercedes," he comes awkward. Rocky Nelson, it is true, Frank Crosetti. "He started mixing gum said. "No purist would think of such a felt secure enough socially to show up at with tobacco because it lasted longer," thing." one of Pittsburgh's best restaurants says Sy Berger, a Topps vice-president. Rocky Bridges' judgment on mixing dressed in a handsome sport coat and "After that we mixed a batch of bubble is less harsh, but he does say, "That one's string tie, with his wife in a full-length gum with a tobacco flavor." got me. I've never tried it, but if a guy mink coat, and after a fine leisurely din­ Only for him, though. The gumbacco wants freckles when he blows a bubble ner to pull out his tobacco pack for des­ chaw did not come into its own until he's probably in good shape then." sert, and to spit into a water glass. Nel­ three or four years ago. Milwaukee Man­ When nearly any chewer is definitely son was also at home in a movie theater, ager , then a Cincinnati not in good shape is when he inadver­ where he would never order butter on coach, introduced the technique to John­ tently swallows. Some can handle the his popcorn because he would throw out ny Bench and it spread from there. juice alone. "Rocky Nelson would put a the top half of the corn so he could spit "I marinate mine in a soft drink," chew in on a plane and you'd watch him in the cup. And Johnny Bench, to be says . "My best is the and he never spit," says Sparky Ander­ sure, shared a pouch with his father-in­ 6¢ special-the deluxe gumball. I take son. Herrmann says, "Swallowing doesn't law-to-be and Ed Podolak of the Kansas two large sugarless sticks of gum and bother me anymore. It's like hot sauce. City Chiefs during a break in his wed­ one flavored. I chew them until the gum When I was in the minors we had a bus ding rehearsal. But most players leave the is moist and soft. Then I take it out of driver who would chew for the whole six­ chewing at the park. my mouth, sit down on the bench, spread hour trip and spit into a cup. At the end "My wife doesn't appreciate me spit­ it on my knee into a big square and put of the trip he would drink the juice." ting in the house," says the Twins' Don a clump of tobacco in the middle of it. Murcer claims, "I've gone out for a Carrithers. "We have a little baby, you I wrap the gum around the tobacco fly ball on a long chase and swallowed know." and pop it back in." the whole pinch. But I haven't gotten "Only trouble I ever had with chew­ Darrel Chaney of the Braves says he sick." Carew, who has occasionally swal­ ing tobacco," says Atlanta Manager Dave wraps gum on "two or three sides or all lowed his tobacco-gumball while sliding Bristol, "was that the orthodontist said the way around" his tobacco. "Gives it or making a diving stop, says it only my daughter was going to have to give it body," he says. "But you have to use den­ makes him "woozy." up because of her braces." tal floss like crazy after a game." But most chewers dread the fiery gulp. "I chew at home and spit in a cup "I chew four sticks of gum for half an Harvey Kuenn tells of a player being un­ while my wife is out," says Rettenmund. hour, then wrap it around the tobacco," able to get a meal down for a week after "But I don't like to do it around the fam­ says Cincinnati Manager Sparky Ander­ swallowing a chaw. nev­ ily. It's not a habit you can do out in pub­ son. "Albert, my son, tells me I'm a sissy er chewed again after his went down as lic. But it's a nice habit at the ball park." for using the gum with it. Albert is 14 he reared back to throw. When he catch­ Maybe this is a good place to end. Ret­ and he chews. He chews at home, too. es sinkerball , who produce a lot tenmund has said something, after all, He's got a spittoon in his room." of foul tips, Milt May forgoes the plea­ that can be said about so many habits Pitcher Clyde Wright, now retired, sures of chewing. He is willing to accept ballplayers can practice at work but whose eight-pack-a-day tobacco con­ a tip into his Adam's apple as part of the which most of the rest of us cannot: sumption may have been an alltime high, job, but swallowing a chaw in the bar­ wielding a club with ferocity, screaming is said to have been able to chew to­ gain is too much. at authority figures in blue suits, pouring bacco and bubble gum, smoke a ciga­ "You've never lived till you've swal­ champagne on top of executives' heads, rette and drink V.O. all at once. A mix­ lowed a chaw," says Bridges. "It brings hurling taunts at friend and foe, sliding ing act like that is hard to follow. up everything bad you've ever thought in the dirt with good clothes on, making "I used to wrap gum around my chew, of. I've downed them a couple of times. rolling, tumbling shoestring circus catch­ like twine on a ball," says Tiger Catcher Once on a head-first slide, and I damn es-and spitting across the room. END

64 Rocky Bri