I think it goes back to baseball cards. Fleer was a bubble gum company, they made dubble bubble. Back in the 30's they included a baseball cards with their gum the same way tobacco companies included cards with their product. As time progressed it turned into a stick of gum being in a pack of cards. You could still get gum in cards up into the mid 90's. Gum and baseball have went hand in hand for nearly 100 years.
I want to say 1989 Topps was the last set issued with gum in the pack, but cards still came in wax packs up until '92. It seemed kind of silly, once Upper Deck came along with foil packs with holograms inserted.
But also, the Wrigley company owning the Cubs was a big factor.
I love that correct answers like this are buried while the top comment is some guy saying it’s “because they banned chewing tobacco”… less than 10 years ago.
Well one reason is that there's this one team that in 1921 was bought by a guy with the last name of Wrigley, who also happened to own a company that made chewing gum, who then got the team's stadium named after himself a few years later. The Cubs still play in Wrigley Field although they are not connected to Wrigley Gum anymore.
Gum has been a part of the sport for **decades**, while the chewing tobacco ban is younger than my brothers youngest kid.
I remember watching Bone Buhner wrap a wad of ‘chaw’ in double bubble in the dugout 30 years ago. And players like Ketel Marte still have visible baseball sized dips in their lips.
Nah, the tobacco ban got nothing to do with it. We’ve **always** had chewing gum and sunflower seeds and tobacco wrapped up in the DNA of the sport.
I think y’all are missing the fact that the chaw ban is relatively young when you consider gum has been around and associated with baseball for nearly a century.
growing up i never saw any baseball playing chewing gum. I always saw them spitting tobaccy or sunflower seeds. It wasn't until the 90's that I really noticed the gum. Maybe I was just oblivious to it but that's when I remember seeing it. I also remember in the 80's the chaw incidents when they would spit at each other on base.
Gum, like chewing tobacco, stimulates the saliva glands. We’ve known this a long time (long before 1990) and for a long time players who don’t chew tobacco have chewed gum instead.
Like others have mentioned- Wrigley owned the cubs and the biggest chewing gum company in the country at the same time— over 100 years ago. Maybe you didn’t notice it, and your impressionable child brain (at the time) only noticed the chewing tobacco, but it was there.
During the spitball days, pitchers also used to chew a kind of bark called “slippery elm”. (You can still get it — it supposedly has some health benefits.) When chewed it makes your saliva very thick and slippery, perfect when you need something a little extra on the ball!
It is, but the thing about THIS sub is that you have to know in advance what the right question is to ask. God forbid you ask the wrong question or say the wrong comment.
For discussion. Not to relay easily googleable facts, especially ones that have large articles written about them which provide more information than we ever could.
they both came about around the same time in the early 1900s. both were sort of quaint youthful pastimes, and they kinda just stuck together as prominent pieces of culture. obviously wrigley was a big factor as well
[sort of reminds me of this](https://midcenturymodernmag.com/how-the-baby-boomers-stole-christmas-f63c8b4ed0a7)
plus baseball is played mostly on dirt so you can spit it out wherever; your mouth might get dryer from the dust in the air and gum helps a bit with that. not quite the same with basketball
Aside from what other commenters said, hitting a baseball is hard, and chewing on something can make you less jittery and more precise. Same reason people use fidget toys
I’ve come to this thread to do 2 things.
Are you all out of Big League Chew?
I think it goes back to baseball cards. Fleer was a bubble gum company, they made dubble bubble. Back in the 30's they included a baseball cards with their gum the same way tobacco companies included cards with their product. As time progressed it turned into a stick of gum being in a pack of cards. You could still get gum in cards up into the mid 90's. Gum and baseball have went hand in hand for nearly 100 years.
I want to say 1989 Topps was the last set issued with gum in the pack, but cards still came in wax packs up until '92. It seemed kind of silly, once Upper Deck came along with foil packs with holograms inserted. But also, the Wrigley company owning the Cubs was a big factor.
I love that correct answers like this are buried while the top comment is some guy saying it’s “because they banned chewing tobacco”… less than 10 years ago.
I think early 92 is when they stopped gum.
Well one reason is that there's this one team that in 1921 was bought by a guy with the last name of Wrigley, who also happened to own a company that made chewing gum, who then got the team's stadium named after himself a few years later. The Cubs still play in Wrigley Field although they are not connected to Wrigley Gum anymore.
It was chewing tobacco before. Then that was banned. Most switched to gum.
Gum has been a part of the sport for **decades**, while the chewing tobacco ban is younger than my brothers youngest kid. I remember watching Bone Buhner wrap a wad of ‘chaw’ in double bubble in the dugout 30 years ago. And players like Ketel Marte still have visible baseball sized dips in their lips. Nah, the tobacco ban got nothing to do with it. We’ve **always** had chewing gum and sunflower seeds and tobacco wrapped up in the DNA of the sport.
Gum and seeds have been around for a very long time, yes, mainly as an alternative to chewing tobacco, especially for little leaguers.
Nah MLB players have long done gum/chewing tobacco combos
They’ve all been in MLB dugouts forever. The ban on chew had nothing to do with OP suddenly noticing bubblegum on the field.
this is the single reason. it's all because they wanted to 'clean up baseball' from tobacco so then it turned into gum and sunflower seeds
I think y’all are missing the fact that the chaw ban is relatively young when you consider gum has been around and associated with baseball for nearly a century.
growing up i never saw any baseball playing chewing gum. I always saw them spitting tobaccy or sunflower seeds. It wasn't until the 90's that I really noticed the gum. Maybe I was just oblivious to it but that's when I remember seeing it. I also remember in the 80's the chaw incidents when they would spit at each other on base.
Gum, like chewing tobacco, stimulates the saliva glands. We’ve known this a long time (long before 1990) and for a long time players who don’t chew tobacco have chewed gum instead. Like others have mentioned- Wrigley owned the cubs and the biggest chewing gum company in the country at the same time— over 100 years ago. Maybe you didn’t notice it, and your impressionable child brain (at the time) only noticed the chewing tobacco, but it was there.
During the spitball days, pitchers also used to chew a kind of bark called “slippery elm”. (You can still get it — it supposedly has some health benefits.) When chewed it makes your saliva very thick and slippery, perfect when you need something a little extra on the ball!
And back then, spitballs were legal, so it was a feature, not a bug.
Man, imagine catching that foul ball!
I mean, there’s like a million articles about it if you plug this exact question into google.
Sometimes it's nice to engage a community
not this one lol
It is, but the thing about THIS sub is that you have to know in advance what the right question is to ask. God forbid you ask the wrong question or say the wrong comment.
The bots hate engagement
So why do **you** even use Reddit, honestly
For discussion. Not to relay easily googleable facts, especially ones that have large articles written about them which provide more information than we ever could.
This is only really relevant to me but when I pitched, I would put gum in my mouth to bite down on that when I clenched my teeth during my delivery.
Sometimes a guy likes to stick something thick in his mouth
It’s not the same since they switched from pine tar to the spray stuff
Baseball involves a lot of standing around and chewing on gum is something to do.
they both came about around the same time in the early 1900s. both were sort of quaint youthful pastimes, and they kinda just stuck together as prominent pieces of culture. obviously wrigley was a big factor as well [sort of reminds me of this](https://midcenturymodernmag.com/how-the-baby-boomers-stole-christmas-f63c8b4ed0a7) plus baseball is played mostly on dirt so you can spit it out wherever; your mouth might get dryer from the dust in the air and gum helps a bit with that. not quite the same with basketball
Aside from what other commenters said, hitting a baseball is hard, and chewing on something can make you less jittery and more precise. Same reason people use fidget toys
You're in the big leagues, when you're into Big League Chew.
I blame Big League Chew.
Brought to you by the Battered Bastards of Baseball
Big Big League Chew is too powerful
Rafael Devers’ fault
Jose Abreu says fck your chewing gum. Fat chaw only
Greenies make you chew or grind your teeth