{"id":3321,"date":"2015-06-09T20:23:13","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T20:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3321"},"modified":"2015-06-09T20:23:13","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T20:23:13","slug":"toronto-blue-jays-manager-john-gibbons-talks-about-chewing-tobacco-and-tony-gwynns-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3321","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons talks about chewing tobacco and Tony Gwynn’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"john-gibbons.jpg.size.xxlarge.letterbox\"<\/a>
John Gibbons, Associated Press photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

John Gibbons, a former Major League ballplayer<\/a> and the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, gave an interview to the Toronto Star about why he quit chewing tobacco, saying he was motivated to quit chew after the death last\u00a0year of Tony Gwynn <\/a>from salivary gland cancer.<\/p>\n

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

The reporter, Brendan Kennedy, makes kind of a funny comment that he tried to interview Gibbons about giving up chew, but that “twice he blew me off. He wanted to make sure he had actually kicked it before he went public.”<\/p>\n

From Kennedy’s article:<\/p>\n

\n

The turning point for Gibbons came last June when Tony Gwynn died<\/a> of salivary gland cancer. The Hall of Famer was just 54 and had chewed tobacco throughout his 20-year career. Gibbons didn\u2019t know Gwynn personally, but his death hit home. It was the last push he needed to \u201cwise up\u201d and get over the hump.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cIt was something I needed to do,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t something I was proud of, but you get addicted to it, you know? Like all addictions you wish you could stop, but it\u2019s not that easy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gibbons said he first started doing chew in high school. Here’s the interesting part of Kennedy’s pretty extensive article. A lot of smokers talk about how certain repeatable behaviours go into their habit, such as sitting down at a bar. They get so used to smoking at a bar, that years after they’ve quit, years after places have gone smokefree, when they sit at a bar, their first impulse is to reach into their pocket and grab their pack of cigarettes. According to Gibbons, chewing tobacco and walking out onto a baseball field are the same way:<\/p>\n

\n

Soon it became as routine as batting practice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt was almost like without it you felt naked on the field,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Gibbons\u2019 wife and three children \u2014 aged 22, 20 and 15 \u2014 have been on him for years to quit, and his mother would regularly scold him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cShe said, \u2018You\u2019re stupid. You get a little enjoyment out of this, but it\u2019ll cost you.\u2019 Because she cleaned people\u2019s teeth and she could see the pre-cancerous lesions and the receding gum lines and the stained teeth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

But there was always something about stepping onto the fresh grass in spring training every year, Gibbons said. That\u2019s when the temptation was greatest and his willpower faltered. \u201cIt\u2019s sad to say, but for a long time in this game it went hand-in-hand with everything else.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gibbons’ advice for quitting chew? He doesn’t have any, because he failed several times before he finally successed. Here is his advice:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cDon\u2019t start,\u201d he said. \u201cThen you won\u2019t have to worry about it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Gibbons says he doesn\u2019t miss it and he hopes tobacco use continues to decline in baseball.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cYou hope for this generation that\u2019s out there now that they\u2019re smarter than we were.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Public health groups have called for banning chew in Major League Baseball (on the field and dugouts). It is already banned in the Minor Leagues and by the NCAA. However, the players’ union would have to agree to a ban on the field. A ban is\u00a0expected to be part of the latest collective bargaining negotiations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Gibbons, a former Major League ballplayer and the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, gave an interview to the Toronto Star about why he quit chewing tobacco, saying he was motivated to quit chew after the death last\u00a0year of Tony Gwynn from salivary gland cancer. The reporter, Brendan Kennedy, makes kind of a funny … Continue reading Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons talks about chewing tobacco and Tony Gwynn’s death<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3322,"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":[9,263,14,528,316],"tags":[272,529,669],"class_list":["post-3321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-baseball","category-chew-in-baseball","category-chewing-tobacco","category-john-gibbons","category-tony-gwynn","tag-chew-in-baseball-2","tag-john-gibbons","tag-tony-gwynn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/john-gibbons.jpg.size_.xxlarge.letterbox.jpg?fit=545%2C365&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-Rz","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3764,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3764","url_meta":{"origin":3321,"position":0},"title":"Toronto now considering a ban on chew at ballparks; MLB will send out nicotine patches to players and coaches","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Toronto is the latest city considering a \u00a0chewing tobacco ban\u00a0at all baseball parks, including the Rogers Centre. New York is considering a similar ban at Yankee Stadium and the Mets' Citi Field. 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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":2386,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2386","url_meta":{"origin":3321,"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. 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