- Bill Tuttle
William Robert Tuttle (
July 4 1929 -July 27 1998 ) was acenter fielder for three teams during hisMajor League Baseball career; theDetroit Tigers from 1952 to 1957, the Kansas City Athletics from 1958 to 1961, and theMinnesota Twins from 1961 to 1963. He batted and threw right-handed and also played third base for a brief period in 1961.On practically every
baseball card issued for Tuttle, a large bulge ofchewing tobacco is evident in his cheek. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/sbbw0429.htm] Tuttle died in Anoka,Minnesota at the age of 69, andoral cancer was in all likelihood the cause of his death. [http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/7/4/443] Bill was diagnosed with oral cancer five years before his death, and he put the last half-decade of his life to use in raising awareness, as an active volunteer for the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP) [http://www.nstep.org/] of Oral Health America [http://www.oralhealthamerica.org/] .During the last years of his life, Tuttle was facially disfigured. He traveled widely as a
public speaker , warning major league players of the dangers of chewing tobacco. [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/sbbw0429.htm] "It's going to be pretty hard to tell someone making $4 million a year not to chew," he admitted. "So what we're trying to do is get it off TV." [http://no-smoking.org/july98/07-30-98-1.html] What Tuttle was trying to do was to stop baseball players from chewing tobacco, and thus setting a bad example for the young people who watch baseball.Tuttle was born in
Elwood, Illinois . After attendingBradley University , he played in his first major league game onSeptember 10 ,1952 . In his 11-year career, Tuttle had a .259batting average , with 67home run s and 443 RBIs. He had 1,105 career hits before retiring onMay 11 ,1963 . Throughout his career, Tuttle was considered one of the most reliable outfielders in the game, leading the league inputouts in both 1955 and 1960.External links
* [http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=tuttlbi01 Baseball Almanac]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Bill_Tuttle_1929 Baseball Library]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/tuttlbi01.shtml Baseball Reference]
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