ESPN Analyst, ex-Mets Manager Bobby Valentine Urges Tobacco Ban in Major Leagues
March 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.
- ESPN analyst and former Mets manager Bobby Valentine writes in the New York Times about his use of chewing tobacco, his success at quitting — and his desire to protect players and provide positive role models to kids by getting tobacco out of the ballpark.
'Everyone who's ever been around the game of baseball, whether as a player, manager, youth coach or dedicated fan, knows the feeling of anticipation that comes with opening day,' Valentine writes. 'That sense of hope and excitement that we feel today is one of baseball's great gifts, and we should no longer allow it to be diminished by a blot on our sport: the use of smokeless tobacco at Major League Baseball games.'
- MLB Commissioner Bud Selig told his hometown newspaper, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, that 'I am personally committed to the fight against smokeless tobacco in baseball.' The commissioner's powerful endorsement will be critical in contract talks with the players' union, which already has said the smokeless ban is on the table during negotiations on the collective bargaining agreement that takes effect in 2012.
- And Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois — long a champion in the fight to reduce tobacco use and save lives — stars in an SBNation blog post in which he tells readers of the popular sports site that MLB should ban tobacco.
Be part of the Opening Day action! Tell your favorite team it's time to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park!