United States government officials are requesting that the baseball players union put a stop to the use of chewing tobacco during the World Series. The group released a statement today explaining why they believe it will be in the best interest of Major League Baseball to ban tobacco during the Fall Classic, not just for its players but also for fans.
Letters were sent out by senators Dick Durbin of Illinois, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tom Harkin of Iowa calling for the ban. In their letters, the senators stated that when MLB players use chewing tobacco they are endangering “not only their own health, but also the health of millions of children who follow their example”.
This group and others have been pushing for MLB to ban the use of tobacco in their next collective bargaining agreement. As a first step of sorts, some are asking for players from the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers to “voluntarily abstain from using tobacco” during the World Series. They hope this can get the ball rolling on their efforts to permanently ban tobacco from the game.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has endorsed the plan in the past, and Michael Weiner, the head of the players union, said back in June that a “sincere effort” would be made to deal with the issue during upcoming contract talks.