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April 04, 2006

Sheff Quits Chew

From the Post:

Six words from his son Jaden Amir were enough to make Gary Sheffield delete chewing tobacco from his mouth.

"My 3-year-old son was at home and my wife said he said, 'Daddy, I got my spit cup,' " Sheffield said yesterday, the 15th day he didn't stuff his cheek with tobacco. "My wife said he was emulating me at the park when he was playing baseball a couple of months ago. That's not the example I want to set. He kept repeating it."

So, two weeks ago Sheffield went cold turkey. Now, he doesn't know what it will mean starting tonight when the Yankees open the season against the A's at McAfee Coliseum.

"It might take away my edge a little bit but I always try to think about something," Sheffield said.

Remember this, via the Times:

[Pete] Harnisch had severe difficulties when he tried to quit at the start of the 1997 season. He feels it helped trigger a chemical imbalance that led to depression and caused him to miss most of the season.

While I don't want to see Sheffield use this stuff, going cold-turkey could be an issue for him. I hope he gets some professional help.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at April 4, 2006 12:35 PM

Comments

While I don't want to see Sheffield use this stuff, going cold-turkey could be an issue for him.
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Could bean issue, every person's different. I do remember when Harnisch was going through his troubles, I hope Sheffield doesn't go through anything like that.

Posted by: Raf [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 4, 2006 01:45 PM

As an Oncologist in North Carolina, I see far too many tobacco-related malignancies. The Chew and Snuff tends to affect other sites in the aerodigestive tract: mouth, esophagus.

Curt Schilling quit chewing upon the diagnosis of leukoplakia (a pre-malignant condition) on his tongue during a pre-season physical a few years ago. Then, after his wife's Malignant Melanoma, he's been on his soapbox about sunlight exposure. (Recall his confrontations with the D'backs and MLB about closing the roof during his day games in Arizona.) The weed is potently addictive, though -- Curt's chewing again after lapsing at a recent charity golf tournament.

Posted by: KevinK [TypeKey Profile Page] at April 5, 2006 04:54 PM