After the untimely death of Tony Gwynn due to oral cancer, and his battles with the disease previously, quite a few professional baseball players eschewed using smokeless tobacco. They had seen a legend of the game lose his health due to his habit, as the reality of what it can do to a person truly hit home.
We have also seen quite a few cities ban the usage of smokeless tobacco in public establishments. Cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York have bans in place, as does the state of California. On Thursday, St. Peterburg joined that ever increasing list, banning smokeless tobacco at at all organized sporting events, including Tampa Bay Rays games.