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| Endorsements baseball would just as soon see wither away |
It’s
almost like they want some public attention, and figure that being seen in the
presence of a professional athlete or talking about sports somehow will get
them more publicity than they ever could get by addressing an issue such as the
zoning laws.
WHICH
MAKES ME think that 14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke feels the need to
get himself some newspaper ink – and all the television and Internet attention that
naturally follows newspaper coverage. He is doing so with his latest amendment
concerning chewing tobacco.
Supposedly
next week, the City Council will consider a long-proposed measure by Mayor Rahm
Emanuel to raise the smoking age, so to speak, in Chicago to 21.
Burke
is playing off this by coming up with an amendment that would add on a
provision making it illegal for chewing tobacco to be used at any baseball
stadium within the city limits.
Not
for any Chicago White Sox or Chicago Cubs ballplayer, or any other major league
ballplayer when their teams visit Chicago.
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| Will baseball fans someday wonder ... |
THIS
WOULD BE Burke’s contribution to the baseball season, since he admits in news
reports that he wants this measure implemented into law in time for the early
April opening of the baseball season.
No
more sights of ballplayers with a traditional chaw in their cheek, or spitting
into a cup when they think no one’s watching. And no more exposure to the
tobacco that can cause various forms of oral cancer.
Or
more likely, Burke getting his name in news reports that will spread across the
country – as he becomes the politico who wants to do away with chewing tobacco
at the ballpark.
Now
personally, I don’t smoke. I also have thought that chaws and the sight of
tobacco “juice” (actually, it's spit) is kind of disgusting. It is a ballplayer
habit that they’re better off without.
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| ... why old-time ballplayers all had the bulging cheeks? |
ALTHOUGH
I SUSPECT Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta is correct when he tells the
Sun-Times that many ballplayers use chewing tobacco out of habit, and that many
ballplayers will take this ban as an interference with their daily ballpark
routines that get them through the 162-game season.
But
it’s not like this proposed change is something radical for professional
baseball. In recent years, baseball officials themselves have been trying to
reduce the use of chewing tobacco at the ballpark.
Minor
League ballplayers already are prohibited from using the substance and can face
fines if they use. Major League Baseball officials likely would have imposed a similar
ban already if they could have gotten away with it without facing a challenge from the ballplayers’ union – which contends
it interferes with a ballplayer’s personal choice.
Now,
the Chicago City Council is giving the major leagues what they’d like to see in
at least two of the 30 stadiums in which ballgames will be staged this season.
YET
WHILE I’LL concede there’s a benefit to Burke’s amendment, I also don’t doubt
that he’ll enjoy the public attention he’ll get by taking on a “baseball”-related
issue. At the very least, it will be a distraction from the many serious
problems our politicos face, but have shown an inability to address.
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| BURKE: Taking on tobacco at the ballpark |
Besides,
a part of me finds it ironic that a life-long Sout’ Sider and White Sox fan
would be eager to take on this issue – since he would have been a teenager back
in the days when Nellie Fox was the Sox’ star player.
Who
can envision the White Sox’ ol’ Number 2 without that big chaw in his cheek –
and the many endorsements he did for chewing tobacco products. And which were
also a significant factor in the lymphatic cancer that caused his death at age
47.
Which
may, actually, be the best reason for officials to discourage tobacco use
anywhere – and not just at the ballpark!
-30-
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