On a night of high spirits and free-wheeling fun last week, MLB’s All-Star Game cleared a tiny space for a somber note of reflection. The practice has been included in every All-Star Game and World Series for a decade now, an exercise that’s solidifying into tradition: the moment when everyone in the stadium, from players to umpires to fans, is encouraged to stand with a placard bearing the name of someone who’s battled cancer. Part of the league’s partnership with the charitable organization Stand Up to Cancer, the moment of silence is always poignant. And it quietly underscores another way that baseball has been standing up to cancer lately—the progress that’s been made in pushing smokeless tobacco out of the game.
How MLB Is Rooting Out its Longstanding Problem With Smokeless Tobacco
