LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California lawmakers have taken the first step toward accomplishing something Major League Baseball could never do: Stop players from stuffing those big wads of chewing tobacco into their mouths during games.
With Gov. Jerry Brown signing a bill earlier this week banning the use of smokeless tobacco in all California ballparks, a practice dating to the days of Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb now seems headed toward the sport's endangered species list.
Although California is only one state, it is home to five of Major League Baseball's 30 teams, and team owners themselves have been pressing for a ban for years.