-
U.S. News: Obama-Kelley Meeting
May 20, 2013 | 0 comments
-
The SPLC: Big Bucks, the FRC, and Jimmy Carter
May 7, 2013 | 6 comments
-
Mark Levin Talks to the NRA
May 7, 2013 | 0 comments
-
POLITICO: RUSH LIMBAUGH MAY PART WITH CUMULUS
May 5, 2013 | 13 comments
-
The Problematic Frank Luntz’s Stockholm Syndrome
April 25, 2013 | 11 comments
The Spectacle Blog
On the day the World Series is to begin, Major League Baseball has responded to the demand from four U.S. Senators that the sport ban its players from chewing tobacco.
The four legislators — Democrats Dick Durbin of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Tom Harkin of Iowa — issued their demand yesterday, as seen in this story from Chicago Sun-Times reporter Lyn Sweet. Said the Senators in their letter:
Tomorrow night, an expected 15 million viewers, including many children, will tune in to watch the first game of the series. Unfortunately, as these young fans root for their favorite team and players, they also will watch their on-field heroes use smokeless tobacco products,” wrote the Senators. “During the upcoming negotiations over the bargaining agreement, we write to ask that the Major League Baseball Players Association agree to a prohibition on the use of all tobacco products at games and on camera at all Major League ballparks. This would send a strong message to young baseball fans, who look toward the players as role models, that tobacco use is not essential to the sport of baseball.
The response came today from former Commissioner of Baseball Clements “Babe” Yastrzemski III.
The statement immediately caused a stir.
“For decades hundreds of millions of Americans, including many children, have tuned into the news to watch the American political process at work. Unfortunately, as these young Americans root for the party and players the mainstream media insist are their favorites, they have also learned through non-mainstream media sources that their in-office heroes have all too frequently engaged in extra-marital sex,” wrote the ex-Commissioner. “During the upcoming elections over who will hold offices in Washington, we here in baseball are calling on all politicians to agree to a prohibition on extra-marital sex and inappropriate behavior while serving in public office in Washington, D.C. This would send a strong message to young Americans, who we are assured by the mainstream media look to liberal politicians in particular as role models, that sex outside marriage is not essential to the conduct of good government.”
The ex-Commissioner’s suggestion for a mutual agreement was met favorably by the politicians.
In a related development, ESPN fired longtime commentator Max Mercy for quickly dubbing a possible agreement between the four senators and Major League Baseball the “Screw and Chew” rule.
Stay tuned. The Series begins tonight. No word whether the four Senators, all supporters of Obamacare, will be reporting any chewers to the Obamacare police at the Department of Health and Human Services.
View all comments (26) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Jeffrey Lord
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/19/baseball-to-us-senate-ban-poli
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Her Unrequited Letter
- Downton’s Class System — and Ours
- Of Wizards and Weapons
The Spectacle Blog
The #FreeKate Narrative Melts Down: Lies Exposed in Florida Teen Sex Case
Robert Stacy McCain | 11:44PM
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
great!! | 10.19.11 @ 1:27PM
very nice page thank you so much
actos lawsuit
jan| 10.20.11 @ 7:16PM
Would Barneys Frank be included too??
Greg| 10.19.11 @ 1:37PM
Public health advocates' purported concern about children and teenagers seeing baseball players using chewing tobacco is belied by their opposition to ALL smokeless tobacco products in baseball, including non-visible, non-spit products that no one will see them using.
Of course, baseball players are free to use all the Commit Lozenges, which are so similar chemically to dissolvable tobacco that Commit's manufacturer encouraged the FDA to ban its sale, that they want.
Foxfier | 10.19.11 @ 1:40PM
*laughs* Brilliant!
I may have to actually start watching baseball for that....
Clint| 10.19.11 @ 1:47PM
Hey, Chewin', Spittin' & Scratchin' Are All Part Of Baseball.
Big Java| 10.19.11 @ 3:11PM
Well, Clint, they are, after all, ball players.
Clint| 10.19.11 @ 3:31PM
I Know, I Played.
I Chewed & Spit & Scratched & Hit & Fielded.
Clint| 10.19.11 @ 3:35PM
P.S. That joke took balls.
Bob Grant| 10.19.11 @ 7:13PM
Don't quit your day job which is as Dr. Paulie's most bestest shill.
Clint| 10.19.11 @ 9:09PM
Watch Your Mouth Ball Boy Grant Or I'll Spit Some More Chew On Ya.
PattyMor| 10.19.11 @ 2:24PM
And, just what national interest is there in 4 busybody Senators to butt their noses into Baseball? No one is forced to watch. If you don't like it turn the channel or do something else.
By the way Senators, just where is that Senate Budget? You know that little ole' duty that your Senate has not done for several YEARS!
ncatty| 10.19.11 @ 3:07PM
I also suggest that US Senators refrain from lying about their military record.
MarkJ| 10.19.11 @ 3:33PM
ncatty,
Precisely. Both Harkin and Blumenthal got nailed for prevaricating about their alleged service in Vietnam. Durbin essentially equated our troops to Nazis and the Khmer Rouge and only apologized after he was thoroughly raked over the coals.
As for Frank Lautenberg (age 87 this year), he's never been bothered by small details like, oh say, actually reading the ObamaCare bill before voting "yes".
rendite| 10.19.11 @ 3:44PM
Will these same four senators be commenting on the dangerous surgical enhancements that Hollywood, Nashville, and NY celebs often undergo? And what a bad influence it is to obsess over one's appearance?
(doubtful, the pols get their surgical enhancements, too)
Boy! The arrogance.
Everyone knows that tobacco use associated with baseball is inane. That's why, year after year, it is slowly dying its death as a product used in and around the dugouts.
Good on ole Babe Yastrzimski.
Although he should have listed other things in his demands (as ncatty suggests above).
The politicians "let down" their fans? (who can be so deluded?) far more often than sports figures do.
Oh, and don't Obummer and BooHoo Boehner also puff away whenever the need arises for tobacco? Did the 4 intrepid senators also contact these two for a ban?
CalMark| 10.19.11 @ 3:56PM
"BooHoo Boehner"--awesome!
c. j. acworth| 10.19.11 @ 6:33PM
rendite, you're missing the point. The four senators want b-ball players to stop using tobacco because the kiddies look up to the players as role models. NO child ANYWHERE in this country looks up to politicians, so you see, the politicians behavior will not corrupt America's youth, and therfore they can be as libertine in thier lifestyles as they please. Hope this clears things up for you.
Bob Grant| 10.19.11 @ 7:15PM
Don't those 4 senators have an economy to destroy?
beebop2| 10.19.11 @ 8:26PM
Are you comfortable with the tense you used in this? Just askin' .....
Douglas Fletcher | 10.19.11 @ 10:39PM
No, they've already done that. Now it's Miller time.
maquignon| 10.21.11 @ 3:08PM
I agree. Those SOB's should stick to destroying this country and leave baseball alone.
David House| 10.20.11 @ 2:54PM
Of course you all know there never was a Commissioner of Baseball Clements "Babe" Yastrzemski III, nor an ESPN commentator named Max Mercy. I guess you guys never let a little thing like facts get in the way of a good story.
Michelle| 10.21.11 @ 3:05PM
While their at it why not ask the politicians to refrain from alcohol and drug use and screwing the American public. What a bunch of hypocrits???
Bill Stanley| 10.21.11 @ 3:06PM
"... we write to ask that the Major League Baseball Players Association agree to a prohibition on the use of all tobacco products at games and on camera at all Major League ballparks." -- Their next letter will be to prohibit players from spitting and scratching their testicles. www.newsandopinions.net
John Sirotnak| 10.21.11 @ 4:40PM
If you four senators are interested in what influences our youth, it is not the chewing of tobacco seen on TV by baseball players, but the delivering and smoking of dangerous illegal drugs, which are outlawed in this Country, if you know your law, but goes on all around us, plus in our neighborhoods day and night. What are you doing about that cause, as we witness youth after youth go down the drain and become absolutely useless as a functioning adult but completely depended on caretakers later in life? Don't you think your much needed energy and time should be spent on methods of catching these sellers and buyers so that our youth can grow-up as a functional citizen who can hold a job rather than depend on society to take care of him/her for the rest of their miserable life instead of placing your focus on TOBACCO and BASEBALL? We need raids in suspected areas, road blocks and car checks very frequently and a much better use of surveillance technology and police action, who know what's going on in every neighborhood, to end this slow murdering of our youth. This is where you attention should be and not on TV TOBACCO and BASEBALL.
yisong| 10.24.11 @ 11:12PM
slewing ring is a kind of comprehensive load to bear large bearings, because of its appearance resembling plate, so it is also called "slewing bearing". http://www.1stbearing.com