Why No Mention Of Gwynn?
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
The highlight of the dead week had to be Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which I noticed was on the muted television at the office Tuesday night.
As a Chicago Cubs fan, the all-star game has no meaning, and is almost depressing in a way.
You see, as I watch the Cubs play during the season, it’s hard to remember that other clubs are actually playing for something.
Instead of positioning for playoff spots, the Cubs are the Morgan Shepherd of the league – just trying to stay out of the way and yelling to the contenders, “Just go around!”
I did look up at the screen long enough to notice Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro get at-bats, which resulted in back-to-back strikeouts.
You’re welcome National League fans.
Yes, the game was on where I was, but I wasn’t really paying attention.
In this day and age, it’s not really important to watch the exhibition. No, it’s more entertaining (annoying) to log on to Twitter to see what’s all abuzz.
Sure, there were people complaining about Adam Wainwright admitting to grooving a pitch for the immaculate Derek Jeter, who is retiring at the end of the season, to line into the outfield.
Exhibition or not, the winner of the game does receive home-field advantage in the World Series, so I can see how that admission could be construed as irritating to some.
Me? I’m guessing Wrigley Field will be undergoing renovations long before the World Series begins, so what do I care about who has home-field advantage? Hopefully Wainwright hurt his own team’s cause.
The second most popular gripe after the game was the absence of the late Tony Gwynn’s name during the telecast.
Gwynn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, thanks to being a .338 hitter over 20 years in the majors, making 15 all-star games, winning eight batting titles and five gold gloves – all with the San Diego Padres.
However, Gwynn’s ever present smile was taken away on June 16, when the 54-year-old succumbed to a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer.
His hitting and fielding prowess are unquestioned, but to most, it seems his personality with the fans and fellow players is what made him Mr. Padre.
In omitting to mention Gwynn during the broadcast, Fox and MLB have stated they didn’t want to single out any one player.
But while also running its Stand Up 2 Cancer campaign, the occasion could have been a nice “What in the world are you doing?” moment for MLB players.
Though it can’t be proven that smokeless tobacco, or chaw, led to Gwynn’s mouth cancer, it’s a pretty safe assumption that it was, with Gwynn even acknowledging it – “Of course it caused it...I always dipped on my right side,” he once said.
Obviously, smokeless tobacco isn’t allowed in high school or college, and it’s also been banned in the minor leagues since 1993.
So, since players don’t do it on the field during those levels, how in the world do they start in the big leagues?
In my experience, players still take part in the disgusting habit off the field, evidenced by the number of spit-filled 20-ounce bottles I encountered while hanging out at a house filled with baseball players during my college days.
Regardless of when they do it, they’re only doing it because they’ve seen their big league heroes doing it before them.
We’ve all seen it.
The batter gets his footing right in the batter’s box, does his wiggle then lets rip a long strand of that beautiful brown liquid, which never clears his lips cleanly.
The sight always elicits a, “That’s disgusting,” reaction, but hey, that’s baseball. That’s what they’re supposed to do.
In an interview I read earlier today, Terry Francona commented that he didn’t touch the stuff in his year between managing the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. But once he was back in the dugout, his fingers were back in the tin or bag, digging out some chaw.
It’s odd, but I get it.
Sometimes you’re environment can dictate your actions.
However, when a legend like Gwynn leaves behind a family at the tender age of 54, the result of those actions must be recognized.
I’m sure players took notice in the week after Gwynn’s passing, but those emotions are now long gone.
Currently, players aren’t allowed to carry tobacco tins or packages in their pockets while fans are in the park or during pregame or postgame interviews, as agreed upon in the current labor agreement, which runs through 2016.
The league and players’ union will sit down in two years to hash out plenty of issues, with chewing tobacco likely to be one of them, but both parties seem to think a ban is far from a slam dunk.
“I understand that individuals have the right to make their own decisions,” current commissioner Bud Selig, who retires at the end of the season, has said on the subject.
Selig has been an outspoken opponent of smokeless tobacco, but when negotiations begin, there’s simply no telling what could happen.
As far as the present, yeah, a mention of Gwynn’s name may have been nice during Tuesday’s all-star game, but a behind-closed-doors decision in his name would mean more.[[In-content Ad]]
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The highlight of the dead week had to be Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game, which I noticed was on the muted television at the office Tuesday night.
As a Chicago Cubs fan, the all-star game has no meaning, and is almost depressing in a way.
You see, as I watch the Cubs play during the season, it’s hard to remember that other clubs are actually playing for something.
Instead of positioning for playoff spots, the Cubs are the Morgan Shepherd of the league – just trying to stay out of the way and yelling to the contenders, “Just go around!”
I did look up at the screen long enough to notice Chicago’s Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro get at-bats, which resulted in back-to-back strikeouts.
You’re welcome National League fans.
Yes, the game was on where I was, but I wasn’t really paying attention.
In this day and age, it’s not really important to watch the exhibition. No, it’s more entertaining (annoying) to log on to Twitter to see what’s all abuzz.
Sure, there were people complaining about Adam Wainwright admitting to grooving a pitch for the immaculate Derek Jeter, who is retiring at the end of the season, to line into the outfield.
Exhibition or not, the winner of the game does receive home-field advantage in the World Series, so I can see how that admission could be construed as irritating to some.
Me? I’m guessing Wrigley Field will be undergoing renovations long before the World Series begins, so what do I care about who has home-field advantage? Hopefully Wainwright hurt his own team’s cause.
The second most popular gripe after the game was the absence of the late Tony Gwynn’s name during the telecast.
Gwynn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, thanks to being a .338 hitter over 20 years in the majors, making 15 all-star games, winning eight batting titles and five gold gloves – all with the San Diego Padres.
However, Gwynn’s ever present smile was taken away on June 16, when the 54-year-old succumbed to a three-year battle with salivary gland cancer.
His hitting and fielding prowess are unquestioned, but to most, it seems his personality with the fans and fellow players is what made him Mr. Padre.
In omitting to mention Gwynn during the broadcast, Fox and MLB have stated they didn’t want to single out any one player.
But while also running its Stand Up 2 Cancer campaign, the occasion could have been a nice “What in the world are you doing?” moment for MLB players.
Though it can’t be proven that smokeless tobacco, or chaw, led to Gwynn’s mouth cancer, it’s a pretty safe assumption that it was, with Gwynn even acknowledging it – “Of course it caused it...I always dipped on my right side,” he once said.
Obviously, smokeless tobacco isn’t allowed in high school or college, and it’s also been banned in the minor leagues since 1993.
So, since players don’t do it on the field during those levels, how in the world do they start in the big leagues?
In my experience, players still take part in the disgusting habit off the field, evidenced by the number of spit-filled 20-ounce bottles I encountered while hanging out at a house filled with baseball players during my college days.
Regardless of when they do it, they’re only doing it because they’ve seen their big league heroes doing it before them.
We’ve all seen it.
The batter gets his footing right in the batter’s box, does his wiggle then lets rip a long strand of that beautiful brown liquid, which never clears his lips cleanly.
The sight always elicits a, “That’s disgusting,” reaction, but hey, that’s baseball. That’s what they’re supposed to do.
In an interview I read earlier today, Terry Francona commented that he didn’t touch the stuff in his year between managing the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians. But once he was back in the dugout, his fingers were back in the tin or bag, digging out some chaw.
It’s odd, but I get it.
Sometimes you’re environment can dictate your actions.
However, when a legend like Gwynn leaves behind a family at the tender age of 54, the result of those actions must be recognized.
I’m sure players took notice in the week after Gwynn’s passing, but those emotions are now long gone.
Currently, players aren’t allowed to carry tobacco tins or packages in their pockets while fans are in the park or during pregame or postgame interviews, as agreed upon in the current labor agreement, which runs through 2016.
The league and players’ union will sit down in two years to hash out plenty of issues, with chewing tobacco likely to be one of them, but both parties seem to think a ban is far from a slam dunk.
“I understand that individuals have the right to make their own decisions,” current commissioner Bud Selig, who retires at the end of the season, has said on the subject.
Selig has been an outspoken opponent of smokeless tobacco, but when negotiations begin, there’s simply no telling what could happen.
As far as the present, yeah, a mention of Gwynn’s name may have been nice during Tuesday’s all-star game, but a behind-closed-doors decision in his name would mean more.[[In-content Ad]]
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