In a highly unscientific viewing survey by this fan, players, coaches and managers spit an average of once every 30 seconds. Clearly this disgusting custom goes back to the days of chewing tobacco, when the best mouths of a generation were destroyed by chew and pouches.
Full Answer
Feb 20, 2020 · A tradition of baseball players spitting. Using chewing tobacco was a common practice as far back as the 1800s — both on and off the field. Players used the chew to stimulate their saliva on the dusty field, then when they spit it out they’d use the spit to moisten their gloves.
May 23, 2011 · The first theory claims that baseball players follow the tradition of spitting so much in every game because during the early days of baseball, its players chew tobacco before the actual game. Since players cannot swallow the tobacco juice, they spit it out instead. The second theory is explained in the context of boredom and nervousness.
Basketball players, of course, don’t spit: Maybe they run too fast. Maybe it’s the wooden floors. Football players spit, but not so much: Maybe they aren’t caught so often in sideline closeups.
The author goes on to write that maybe spitting is a way for players to show contempt for some of the rules of the game. Theory Four: Baseball players spit because that’s what baseball players do. One blogger wonders if perhaps the spitting is something that's passed down from one generation of players to the next.
Baseball, in general, suffers from a bit of oral fixation. Maybe it's the long innings or the pressure of the game, but through the years, it seems like players have always had something in their mouths.
Fernando Rodney of the Chicago Cubs pours sunflower seeds onto Kris Bryant in 2015.
Putting aside snacks and compulsive chewing and other odd little behaviors that incubate during the long, hot hours in the dugout, spit has historically played a part in how players, well, play.