No Spitting in Baseball?

Major League Baseball will get started next week, and there are a lot of restrictions everyone has to adhere to. First and foremost, no fans will be allowed in the ballparks. All players will not shower in locker rooms after games. The visiting teams will change and shower at their respective hotels and home teams will change and shower at their residences. There will be a designated hitter in both leagues. The teams will play 40 games with teams in their division and 20 in the other league. This will make up a 60 game schedule.

But the one restriction that all the players have to adhere to is that there will be no spitting at all. Huh? This is baseball. Spitting has been part of the game since Abner Doubleday invented it. Because of the coronavirus and the possibility of the virus passing through spit, all players are told they cannot put their hands toward their mouths and absolutely no spitting.

I played enough baseball when I was younger to know spitting is part of the game. What about chewing and spitting sunflower seeds? What about chewing gum? What about chewing tobacco? These are all facets of baseball. It’s like Tom Hanks said in the movie League of Their Own: “there’s no crying in baseball.” But there is spitting in baseball!

How is a player, coach and umpire going to remember this? It’s just human nature to spit on a baseball diamond. I can’t wait until I’m watching a game and a player breaks this rule. Spitting in baseball is part of the game. There are so many new rules with the pandemic crushing sports. But no spitting in baseball is going to be a tough one to swallow!