{"id":2304,"date":"2014-06-16T17:48:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-16T17:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2304"},"modified":"2014-06-23T17:38:27","modified_gmt":"2014-06-23T17:38:27","slug":"tony-gwynn-dies-of-oral-cancer-he-blamed-his-years-of-chewing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2304","title":{"rendered":"Tony Gwynn dies of salivary gland cancer — he blamed his years of chewing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Major League star \"tony<\/a>Tony Gwynn died today<\/a> of oral cancer at the age of 54. Sad, sad, sad, still a young man, an incredible, underrated hitter (underrated because he played for the San Diego Padres).<\/p>\n

Several months ago, I wrote about Tony’s battle with cancer and how he blamed his years of chewing tobacco<\/a>\u00a0for his cancer. He had been fighting oral cancer off and on since 2010 after 30 years or so of chewing tobacco.<\/p>\n

All I can do is quote this outstanding blog piece by Gabe Costa:<\/p>\n

\n

As a baseball player myself, I can say that I have tried chewing tobacco. While it made me sick to my stomach, for other young ball players it is as a part of the game as it was for Gwynn. Whether, it is peer pressure or the mystique that \u201cthe big leaguers do it\u201d, I have witnessed kids all from ages 14 and up throw in a \u201cdip\u201d while playing baseball. Recently, organized baseball has started taking a stand against the use of chewing tobacco. Currently, chewing tobacco is banned in NCAA baseball as well as the U.S. minor leagues. At the heart of these bans lies the proven danger that tobacco creates for the body. While the biological correlations between cancer and tobacco are outside the scope of this article, one cannot deny that there is a link between repeated tobacco use and cancer and other serious health issues.<\/p>\n

\"tony_gwynn_bandage.0_cinema_1050.0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For Tony Gwynn, his repeated use of chewing tobacco during his twenty year career\u00a0has caused his recent struggles with mouth cancer<\/a>. Starting in 2010, Gwynn has fought multiple bouts with oral cancer. In addition to weeks and weeks of radiation therapy Gwynn had multiple tumor removing surgeries that left the right side of his face motionless. Unfortunately, his cancer has returned once again. Despite his previous successful surgeries, Gwynn will once again enter the operating room to remove another cancerous tumor from his mouth. As a lifelong Padres fan, Gwynn has always been a symbol of success for the San Diego area.\u00a0As the current coach of the San Diego State Aztecs, he will once again have to place baseball aside to focus on a fight with this dreaded disease. Gwynn in recent years, even despite his physical and mental pain, has taken his experiences in baseball and his addiction to chewing tobacco and decided to push for a change in Major League Baseball. With the help of many well known ex-baseball players, the discussion is now open on whether to ban chewing tobacco or not throughout Major League Baseball. Yet, despite the new found movement to end the use of tobacco in Major League Baseball, the players union has stood firm to their position of protecting a player\u2019s right to chew tobacco.<\/p>\n

\"Tony<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I couldn’t have written it any better.<\/p>\n

It’s a tragedy, still a young man, a legendary talent (he hit an incredible .338 for his career,<\/a> hit over .350 seven times, hit an unbelievable .394 one year, won 8 batting titles and did this while playing much of his career 20 to 30 pounds overweight — he was not the world’s best athlete). After retirement, he went on to become the head coach at San Diego State University. Tony tried to get the word out about the dangers of chew; it was too late for him, but not for others. Baseball has banned chew at the minor league level, but refuses to do it at the Major League level (and yet they have banned smoking cigarettes in dugouts, go figure. That’s just how weirdly ingrained chew is in the baseball culture). You can’t stop guys from chewing if they really want to, but every chewer needs to be reminded of the story of Tony Gwynn.<\/p>\n

\"gwynn_r620x349\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Major League star Tony Gwynn died today of oral cancer at the age of 54. Sad, sad, sad, still a young man, an incredible, underrated hitter (underrated because he played for the San Diego Padres). Several months ago, I wrote about Tony’s battle with cancer and how he blamed his years of chewing tobacco\u00a0for … Continue reading Tony Gwynn dies of salivary gland cancer — he blamed his years of chewing<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,316],"tags":[669],"class_list":["post-2304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baseball","category-tony-gwynn","tag-tony-gwynn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tony-gwynn.jpg?fit=442%2C575&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-Ba","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2333,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2333","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":0},"title":"Stephen Strasburg plans to quit chew due to Tony Gwynn’s death","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 26, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A second, more high-profile player has announced he is quitting chew because of the death from cancer of Tony Gwynn. Stephen Strasburg, star pitcher for the Washington Nationals announced this week he is also quitting chew. Tony Gwynn, a lifelong chewer, died last week of salivary gland cancer, which prompted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chew in baseball"","block_context":{"text":"Chew in baseball","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=263"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/stephen-strasburg-nats.jpg?fit=450%2C284&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3231,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3231","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":1},"title":"Madison Bumgarner, Bruce Bochy both support ban on chewing tobacco at AT&T Park","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 13, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Surprised me a bit that these two would step into this issue, but I thought it was great. The city of San Francisco banned chewing tobacco recently at all sporting venues (It won't actually take effect until Jan. 1, 2016), including at the Giants' stadium, AT&T Park. This means that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chew in baseball"","block_context":{"text":"Chew in baseball","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=263"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Bumgarner-Bochy.jpg?fit=1200%2C454&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Bumgarner-Bochy.jpg?fit=1200%2C454&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Bumgarner-Bochy.jpg?fit=1200%2C454&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Bumgarner-Bochy.jpg?fit=1200%2C454&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/Bumgarner-Bochy.jpg?fit=1200%2C454&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2386,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2386","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":2},"title":"Curt Schilling reveals he has oral cancer, blames chewing tobacco","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"August 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Hey, back for an update after a long break. Another baseball, chewing tobacco bombshell: Former Red Sox, Diamondback and Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling revealed yesterday that he is battling oral cancer, and he directly blames his years of chewing tobacco while playing baseball. \"I do believe, without a doubt, unquestionably\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Chew in baseball"","block_context":{"text":"Chew in baseball","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=263"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/curt-schilling.jpg?fit=620%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/curt-schilling.jpg?fit=620%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/curt-schilling.jpg?fit=620%2C350&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2315,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2315","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":3},"title":"ESPN, Chicago Sun-Times call for MLB ban on chewing tobacco in wake of Tony Gwynn’s death","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Jim Caple, writer for ESPN and the Chicago Sun-Times both published editorials this week calling for baseball to ban chew in the wake of Tony Gwynn's death from cancer. Gwynn, a lifelong chewer, died this week of salivary\u00a0gland cancer (which originated in the cheek in which he always chewed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "baseball"","block_context":{"text":"baseball","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Tony-Gwynn.jpg?fit=1200%2C735&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Tony-Gwynn.jpg?fit=1200%2C735&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Tony-Gwynn.jpg?fit=1200%2C735&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Tony-Gwynn.jpg?fit=1200%2C735&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/Tony-Gwynn.jpg?fit=1200%2C735&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2325,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2325","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":4},"title":"Keith Olbermann’s absolutely EPIC rant against chewing tobacco in baseball — “Get it off the field, for Tony Gwynn”","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I was pleasantly surprised to watch this 5-minute, emotional rant from Keith Olbermann on his ESPN show calling for an end to chewing tobacco on the field of baseball. I was surprised that this was something Olbermann felt so strongly about (and it really made me miss him from his\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "baseball"","block_context":{"text":"baseball","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/olbermann.jpg?fit=709%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/olbermann.jpg?fit=709%2C385&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/olbermann.jpg?fit=709%2C385&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/olbermann.jpg?fit=709%2C385&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3896,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3896","url_meta":{"origin":2304,"position":5},"title":"Tony Gwynn’s family files wrongful death lawsuit against Philip Morris","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Interesting story and the first time I'm aware of (I wouldn't doubt it has happened before, but it's the first I've heard of it) of family suing the tobacco industry because a loved one likely died of someone who died from a chewing habit, rather than a smoking habit, Tony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Altria"","block_context":{"text":"Altria","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/tony-gwynn.jpg?fit=442%2C575&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2304"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2324,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2304\/revisions\/2324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}