Gwynn’s death helped change MLB culture on smokeless tobacco
OXON HILL, Md. — Tony Gwynn’s death from oral cancer was a turning point in baseball’s culture that long tolerated smokeless tobacco.
Baseball’s new labor contract, agreed to last week, bans chew among players with no current major league service time. The Hall of Famer’s death at age 54 two years ago shook up many in the industry.
“What happened to Tony Gwynn, you don’t want that to happen again,” Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.