If you spit, you sit.

That's the message the NCAA has trumpeted in posters and documents for much of the last decade, trying to curb the use of tobacco in collegiate athletics. In baseball, that sentence rings especially true, thanks to the action of the Baseball Rules Committee.

The group adopted a zero-tolerance policy at its 2002 meeting, the latest action in the movement to eliminate tobacco from NCAA competition.

The tobacco rule -- it's actually an NCAA bylaw -- was generally known, but discreetly broken, for years in baseball. In 2002, the committee decided to focus on the rule, especially after hearing stories of student-athletes picking up tobacco habits because of collegiate baseball -- not despite it.

"The committee felt that this was an important student-athlete welfare issue, and that we could no longer allow the tobacco rule to be ignored," said Tom Burnett, commissioner of the Southland Conference and member of the rules committee. "The safety and well-being of the student-athletes and other game participants is paramount, and the previous efforts to curb and end tobacco use had not been effective. We felt that a zero-tolerance stance would eliminate the guesswork in the enforcement of the rule."

Tobacco legislation was discussed in 1990 by the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports (CSMAS). At that time, the NCAA made tobacco use illegal at any NCAA championship activity (on the field, at banquets, media sessions, etc.), but did not enforce the ban during regular-season competition.

In August 1994, the NCAA voted to ban tobacco use during practice or competition at any time, making it part of the Manual. This bylaw was inserted in all of the NCAA's playing rules books and each committee was charged with adding an appropriate penalty.

The Baseball Rules Committee made ejection the penalty, but until this season, that penalty was rarely imposed. Most often, umpires would instruct student-athletes or coaches to stop using the tobacco and use the opportunity to warn both teams.

Reason for change

One of the NCAA's main charges is to protect the safety and welfare of its student-athletes. Part of this charge includes promoting a healthy lifestyle.

Rochel Rittgers, chair of the CSMAS drug-education and drug-testing subcommittee, points to a 2001 NCAA study as proof that enforcement of the tobacco legislation works. That study, which examined substance-abuse habits of student-athletes, showed a considerable drop in tobacco use after the Association's 1994 ban in championship competition.

In 1993, the overall use rate of smokeless tobacco was 26.9 percent; by 2001 the rate had dropped to 17.4 percent.

Baseball student-athletes specifically, however, remained at risk. Although the rate dropped significantly, 41 percent of baseball players reported using smokeless tobacco in 2001.

With those numbers in hand, the Baseball Rules Committee agreed that a renewed emphasis was in order.

Arnold Mazur, staff physician at Boston College and member of the CSMAS subcommittee, sees the ban as promoting a healthy lifestyle in the long term.

"This decrease in use has prevented many future cases of cancer of the lip, tongue, mouth and throat and supports a primary mission of the NCAA to enhance the health and safety of our student-athletes," Mazur said.

Rules enforcement

When the Baseball Rules Committee -- composed of coaches and administrators -- held its annual meetings, tobacco was discussed initially to see how enforcement was handled. It quickly became clear that enforcement was not strict; warnings and tolerance were the norm.

As the discussions progressed, the committee felt it had not adequately addressed the tobacco rule, specifically with what umpires were instructed to do.

In the end, the committee agreed that aggressive enforcement of the legislation in place was needed -- especially in baseball, which is widely associated with smokeless tobacco.

"The zero-tolerance stance is a clear indication that the NCAA is trying to change the culture of tobacco use in baseball," said John Iamarino, commissioner of the Northeast Conference and member of the committee. "Anyone growing up watching the major leagues has seen players with big plugs in their mouth spitting tobacco juice. It's time the coaches and players at the collegiate level understand this does not have to be part of the game and is in fact an extremely unhealthy practice."

After the decision was made to better address this rule, the committee reached out to many constituencies to help get the word out. Most importantly, the group relied on Dave Keilitz, executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Keilitz's direct link to the nation's coaches helped spread the word over the summer that tobacco would not be tolerated.

Secondly, umpires needed to understand what the committee expected. Dave Yeast, the NCAA's national coordinator of umpires, included the tobacco enforcement at the numerous NCAA clinics, explaining the committee's focus. Most clinics were in conjunction with conferences and their umpiring supervisors.

Through that process, questions were raised and situations cited that the committee addressed.

For example: An umpire sees a player with a tobacco tin in his back pocket. What is the course of action?

The committee decided that use of tobacco and the appearance of tobacco is the same thing. In that case, the student-athlete would be ejected from the contest, provided the can was, in fact, tobacco (some bubble-gum companies have products that strongly resemble tobacco cans).

"The cooperation the committee received from NCAA's health and safety committees, the ABCA and our umpiring clinics have assisted us in getting the word out," said Chris McKnight, baseball coach at Frostburg State University and member of the committee. "It made a real difference to let the players and coaches know that we're serious about this rule. Getting them on board early was very important."

The additional emphasis the committee put on this issue was magnified by a few stories of student-athletes picking up a tobacco habit while in college. While there was some discussion about personal choice, the consensus was that for the roughly four hours coaches and student-athletes are participating in the game, the committee wanted a tobacco-free environment without exception.

"I normally don't like to dictate to people about their freedom to make a choice to use tobacco, but maybe the zero-tolerance policy keeps a player from ever starting a deadly habit," said committee member Dennis Womack, coach at the University of Virginia. "Or, better yet, maybe it is the impetus for a coach or student-athlete to give up this lethal addiction."

To that end, the committee hopes this renewed focus will eliminate tobacco from college baseball completely and, in some ways, change the culture of the sport for the better.