I don’t watch much baseball during the season – perhaps a handful of games – but when the playoffs come around I pay attention, especially when southern California teams are involved, as are the L.A. Dodgers and Anaheim Angels this year. So I watched the first two Dodger vs. Cardinals games and the first Angels vs. Red Sox game.
That’s it. No more. Well, no more TELEVISED games.
Why? The disgusting habit the players have of spitting. Spit, spit, spit, on and on, player and coach alike. It’s not noticeable if you’re at the game, but on television, with all the close-ups, it’s not just noticeable, it’s IN YOUR FACE. Know what, I don’t want to watch a bunch of men spit for two or three hours. It’s just plain gross.
Players of other sports don’t do it. Can you imagine basketball players spitting as they run up and down the court? Football players spitting into their face guards? Hockey, soccer, tennis, skiing, skateboarding, or any other sport? Name me another sport in which the participants spit again and again. Auto racing? Marathon runners? Speedboat racing? Lacrosse? Nope, nope, nope and nope.
So I got out the little AM-FM radio. The one that’s the size of an iPod Classic, but thicker. What we then called “transistor radios” back when I was in high school in the early 1960s. Works just great. Sure, I like the replays and slow motion and freeze-frame, the overhead shots of the crowd and all that stuff on TV, but listening to the radio, I don’t have to see all that spitting.
The audience for the TV games just went down by 1 person. I hope someone notices, but I won’t hold my breath. Go Angels.
UPDATE: Listened to the second Angels-Red Sox game on radio last night, enjoyed it just as much and didn’t have to see the spitting. It’s the way to go.
The Broken Bullhorn 
We watch a lot of Astros games during the season, and those guys spit all the time. Why? I have no idea. They don’t chew tobacco or dip snuff these days, do they?
Bill, I think there is still some tobacco chewing and snuff pouches used, but for the most part they chew gum, eat some sort of unshelled nuts (then spitting out the shells) or just spit out of habit. Perhaps there is a feeling that it’s allowed by tradition. If so it’s a misguided idea, and it’s sure unpleasant for the fans.
I don’t mind that much. I think the reason they are always gnawing on something is because they have so much down time–sitting around the dugout, standing in the field, on deck–that they need a way to shake out the jitters. The seeds they consume are sunflower seeds. Take a mouthful, shell them with your teeth, and spit out the hull.