Isn’t the use of chewing tobacco way down?
Are they spitting sunflower seeds?
If I wanted to watch guys spit all the time, I would ride the subway…
The ones I knew were spitting sunflower seeds. I think there was a concerted effort at some point to start them all on sunflower seeds early (minor league?) and stop them from forming the chew habit.
Actually the shells. They crack the shells with their teeth to get the seeds out, then spit out the shells and eat the seed.
There’s plenty of old-fashioned spitting in MLB just for the hell of it.
At least they don’t seem to scratch their nether regions as much as they used to (less wool in the uniforms?).
This is begging the question. I think the OP fundamentally is asking why they have this “chew habit” in the first place–this compulsion to put things in their mouths which they eventually have to spit out.
Really–what other athletes do this so much?
Probably because baseball players have so much down time sitting on the bench, and they know how much time they have before they will be called on to perform. Basketball players and hockey players can’t do it since they are indoors. For football players, it’s unpredictable when they will be called onto the field.
Not really. Defensive players aren’t on the field when their team has the ball, and vice versa. Barring a turnover, it’s pretty predictable.
Bolding mine. Turnovers are what make it unpredictable.
In baseball, much of the time it’s impossible for the inning to end on the next play (when there are more outs remaining than the number of potential outs at bat or on base) and for the defense and offense to change places. A player knows in advance whether it’s possible for him to have to take the field on the next play.
Also, baseball players are idle for much of the time whether they are on offense or defense. If you’re on offense, you know you have a lot of time in the dugout once your at-bat is over. Fielders have a lot of time between pitches. A lot of them chew gum even if they can’t eat sunflower seeds. For a football player, having gum or a chaw in your mouth on the field would be dangerous.
In football, the offensive and defensive lines theoretically could do it when they are not on the field, but perhaps tradition prevents it.
I’ve seen hockey players spit while sitting on the bench. Not as much as baseball players, but they do it.