Some argue that it has been a staple of America’s Pastime since the 1800’s, but don’t tell that to famed baseball announcer and 11-year major leaguer Joe Garagiola. The colorful commentator recently said to me, “Baseball players are good at two things… spitting and scratching. I don’t mind the scratching business but the spitting part.. I don’t know why they have to do it. ”

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I first met Joe while playing baseball in the minor league’s for the Detroit Tigers. He had come to Tiger town to warn players about the dangers of spit tobacco and his presentation resonated with most of my teammates. I can remember the next few days afterwards, that many of the guys did their best to stop the habit, but that only lasted for so long. Sweats, shakes and other signs of addiction pulled most back to the can, and for others it was superstition that had them back in the habit.

A few years later, as a reporter and anchor in Santa Rosa, California, Joe and I crossed paths again. This time a local baseball coach Bob Leslie, who counseled against the use of smokeless tobacco in a video widely shown in the nation’s high schools and to me in the minor leagues, died at just 31 years old. Leslie had been suffering from cancer of the mouth, and said he believed that the cancer had resulted from years of stuffing wads of smokeless tobacco between his gums and lower lip. Leslie and Joe had worked closely in their crusade against dip.

While after more than 1,500 baseball games, I was lucky enough never to have tried chewing tobacco of any type thanks to rude summer league coach who insisted I would, studies show that more than a third of Major Leaguers either dip or chew and many others have tried it at times, including Garagiola himself, who quit when he learned of the dangers. Despite the dire warnings and the crusade by Joe and others, stopping the habit is harder than hitting a baseball. We learned just how hard while covering the recent MLB All-Star Game here in Anaheim.

Current San Francisco Giant Manager Bruce Bochy  says, “it’s a strong drug.. they’re so many triggers that make you want to put one in, whether it’s the start of the game or walk in the clubhouse.”

Ranger slugger Josh Hamilton explains, “there will be a time in my life where I feel like I can get rid of it completely, but I’ve tried, gone 3-4 months but always chose to go back to it.”

Tobacco is banned from the ballpark in the college game and in the minors, with both a player and manager fined if someone is caught dipping on the field. However, when a player arrives in the show, there are no rules or bans in place and the Latin leagues also have no prohibition.

According to Red Sox hurler Jon Lester, “I chose not to do it, some guys chose to do it, that’s their personal preference. I’m not not going to sit here and tell them not to, or say there needs to be a rule against it. I think we need to inform young kids about the dangers and continue to do that.”

While MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association claim they want to end the habit, don’t expect that to happen anytime soon and a Congressional Committee has recently encouraged MLB to ban the tobacco products.

Says Garagiola who tells me sometimes he feels like he’s hitting his head against the wall with MLB and the Players Association. “It’s got to come from baseball and the players association. They have to work hand in hand, one cant work and the other one not. If they’re going to join up, join up guys. We’ll get it done and we can save lives.”