Why athletes spit so much
It feels like spitting season for TV viewers. There’s a conjunction in spitting-intensive sports this month as the puck drops on the NHL season and the Blue Jays continue their post-season play into the American League Championship series. If you’re like most viewers, you are probably wondering: What’s with all the spitting?
What sports are known for spitting?No sport is expectorate-free, but baseball is the obvious one. Players, coaches and even managers are often seen on camera during games, sipping and spitting out water or sports drinks, spitting out sunflower seeds or just plain spitting.
“I think it’s just almost second nature,” said major league player Justin Turner in 2020 , when the league was trying to ban spitting and high-fives during the pandemic. “Spitting for baseball players is like blinking.”
Turner, who played 91 games with the Jays last year before being traded to the Seattle Mariners, added: “It’s not even just spitting on the ground, you know. A lot of us have routines and habits.”
Turner noted that pitchers will sometimes spit into their glove before a pitch. He also mentioned David Ortiz, formerly with the Boston Red Sox, who “hit a lot of big home runs, but is famous for spitting into his batting gloves before every pitch and when he stepped in the box.”
Hockey is up there too. A post on sports commentary site TheBruinsBlog tried to unpack the reasons and came up with a huge list that included dry throats from heavy breathing in cold air, chewing gum or sunflowers seeds, staying focused through a repetitive routine, and even just superstition, and the belief that spitting can bring good luck.
An interview from a decade ago with former and then-current baseball players on the Minnesota Twins backed up some of this thinking. Said one player: “When you play the game you have to have something to entertain you. Otherwise you plain go crazy.”
Another remarked: “You get a lot of nervous energy … so you kind of need something that distracts you.” A third said the habit starts in the sandlot, as little kids would try to emulate their big-league heroes.
The exception to the rule would seem to be basketball, perhaps because it’s more “indoors” than even a domed stadium, and because spit on the playing surface could be dangerous.
In an interview on the subject , Josh Labandeira, a former player with the Montreal Expos who also played basketball and wrestled, said he would spit during baseball games but not the other sports. “It’d be like spitting on your kitchen floor,” he said.
So what’s the real reason?It’s probably a combination of factors, backed by a little science and a lot of psychology. For instance, research as far back as 2013 showed that rinsing and then spitting out a carbohydrate-containing solution was associated with improved high-intensity endurance during exercise.
One study noted that cyclists who rinsed with a drink containing maltodextrin (a sugar) for five seconds performed significantly better in one-hour time trials than those who only rinsed with water. Brain images showed the sugar was noticed by cells that stimulate motivation.
In a recent New York Times article, primary care physician and running expert Dr. Juliet McGrattan explained that exercise increases the buildup of a protein, MUC5B, which can cause stickier saliva and increase the urge to spit.
Is there a downside?There certainly can be. Aside from the “ick” factor for some fans, the consequence of spit landing on another player or an official can be disastrous.
In a recent NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles, star defensive lineman Jalen Carter was thrown out of the game for spitting on Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott. Carter was also given a one-game suspension, but since he was thrown out before play even began, officials decided that could count.
Digging back a little further brings to mind a late-season game in 1996 between the Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles that saw Roberto Alomar called out on strikes in the first inning by home-plate umpire John Hirschbeck.
Alomar angrily contested the call on his way back to the dugout and was ejected from the game. He then returned to shout at Hirschbeck, spitting in the umpire’s face as he did so. That earned him a five-game suspension. The two would eventually patch things up , making it water under the bridge.
Even before that, TV’s Seinfeld made fun of spitting in baseball with an 1992 episode that involved Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets spitting on Kramer. In 1988, the original Naked Gun movie also featured a scene of players and fans spitting up a storm.
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Unpublished Newswire
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