Q: In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
By Ernie Palladino 
  
 » More Ernie Palladino Columns 
  
 Sometimes it’s good to change the culture of a sport, if only to save a life or two. 
  
 There’s nothing complicated about it. We’ve seen football alter its collective behavior throughout the generations, and it’s still changing. The shape and material used in the helmets have evolved since the days when a thin piece of leather served as head protection. 
  
 Training camp — once the ultimate test of manhood — has gone from a nearly two-month torture chamber of two-a-days where coaches all but doled out water with an eye-dropper to a well-hydrated, single-practice month of tuneup before the regular season. Concussions are no longer thought of as goofy little mishaps that are forgotten once the cobwebs clear — or don’t — to serious occurrences that can shelve a player for a game, two games or more. 
  
 Hockey has seen the mandatory use of helmets, and baseball has ordered even its first- and third-base coaches to wear head protection. 
  
 Now, perhaps it is time for Major League Baseball to take another evolutionary step, an advancement that would influence every kid who dreams about becoming the next great thing. 
  
 It’s time to ban chewing tobacco. 
  
 Before anyone starts railing about the “sissyfying” of the game, let’s remember that the minors banned tobacco of all kinds from the field and dugouts as far back as 1993. The absence of Red Man from the cheeks of those players hasn’t seemed to affect their performance, as the personnel faucet continues to flow from that primary talent reservoir. 
  
 Still, it is not uncommon to see some players go back to the chaw as soon as they escape the minor-league restrictions. Somehow, it’s supposed to be cool to mimic a bunch of grizzled old-timers who didn’t know better. The camera catches them on the bench, spitting their ugly brown streams into paper Gatorade cups originally intended for hydration. The fans see the occasional hocking of a lip full of snuff on the field. It’s not only gross, but it can infuriate the grounds crew that has to rub those nasty tobacco juice stains out of artificial turf. 
  
 But this is about health, not aesthetics or cleaning bills or tradition. We’re talking about tobacco, after all, and that can kill as effectively through mastication as it can inhalation. Tony Gwynn, the legendary San Diego Padres Hall of Famer, died Monday at age 54 because of mouth cancer caused by his addiction to chewing tobacco. 
  
 Others like Bill Tuttle — the old Tigers utility infielder of the 1950s — tried to spread the same message years ago, and MLB has brought a parade of others to lecture on the dangers of chewing tobacco. But who listens to a bunch of old players without jawbones, tongues, teeth or cheeks? 
  
 They start as kids. Back in the 1970s, it was nothing to see a high-school coach reach into his back pocket and offer a 17-year-old a chaw. It became a right of passage for many, just part of the journey from teenager to man. 
  
 Those coaches were as wrong for that as they were for lighting up in the third-base coaching box. Gwynn was just the latest to prove it. 
  
 It would take nothing for MLB to ban the chaw. The league has already forbidden players from chewing in postgame interviews. Just extend it to the field. If they want to chomp their extra energy away, let them fill their mouths with gum. Fill the cabinets with it until they overflow. Help these multimillion-dollar investments protect their futures by stopping their tobacco usage now. 
  
 It’s too late for the best pure hitter of our generation. But with a little change in culture, MLB could save others. 
  
 You May Also Be Interested In These Stories ||||| Tony Gwynn taped a message speaking out against smokeless tobacco use. (Photo: Chris McGrath, Getty Images) 
  
 OAKLAND – Tony Gwynn's multitude of accomplishments, career batting average of .338 and his pioneering use of video earned him the rapt attention of players whenever he talked baseball. 
  
 Major League Baseball hopes an even more important message he's delivering posthumously sinks in as well. 
  
 Gwynn, who died of mouth cancer Monday at 54, speaks out against smokeless tobacco use in a taped segment of an informational video MLB is producing and plans to release this season. The Hall of Fame outfielder believed he developed cancer because of his years-long habit of using spit tobacco, although that was never medically confirmed. 
  
 Whether Gwynn's untimely death and his stance against smokeless tobacco will curtail its use among players remains an open question. 
  
 Research by the Pro Baseball Athletic Trainers Society revealed the number of major leaguers who use spit tobacco has declined from about 50% to 33% in the last 20 years. 
  
 However, that's still about 10 times the amount in the general population, according to the American Cancer Society, whose data from 2012 showed 3.5% of Americans 12 and older – or 9 million – use the highly addictive product. 
  
 "It's definitely ingrained and something that's part of our baseball culture, but it's not exclusive to baseball,'' said Oakland Athletics first baseman Brandon Moss, a non-user. "You would hope a figure like (Gwynn), something tragic like that happening, would be a wake-up call for everyone, not just those in baseball. … But most guys are probably going to look at it as the loss of a great man and a great baseball player and leave it at that.'' 
  
 Indeed, the stance among players seems to be that they're aware of the dangers but, like smoking, it's up to every individual to decide whether to use what remains a legal product. 
  
 The National Cancer Institute says in its website that smokeless tobacco contains at least 28 chemicals that have been found to cause cancer – typically of the mouth, esophagus and pancreas – and may also lead to heart disease, gum disease and oral lesions. 
  
 "People understand the risks involved and still choose to do it,'' Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. "We all do stupid things, whatever your vice happens to be. People may criticize these guys for dipping, and then somebody's texting and driving.'' 
  
 And while Gwynn's passing was lamented throughout the game, it doesn't figure to be interpreted by many players – who are usually in their 20s or early 30s, with the concomitant sense of invincibility – as a cautionary tale. 
  
 "It's one of those things that's scary and obviously you hope you're not the one,'' said A's catcher Stephen Vogt, who said he dips once in a while. "I don't think it's good. I definitely don't advocate it, but at the same time, it's an adult decision.'' 
  
 Baseball has taken steps to sway that decision, or at least make the practice less visible to minimize the impact on young fans. 
  
 The current collective bargaining agreement, in effect from 2012-16, bans players, managers and coaches from using smokeless tobacco during TV interviews and team appearances. And they have to keep tobacco products out of sight while fans are at the ballpark. 
  
 In addition, MLB and the players union have stepped up educational efforts, and teams – which in the past freely distributed cans of dip in the clubhouse – can no longer do so and are now required to administer oral exams as part of the spring training physicals every year. 
  
 Longtime TV announcer Joe Garagiola, who quit his smokeless tobacco habit in his 30s, made it his life's mission to warn other baseball folks about its dangers, making presentations during spring training alongside former major league outfielder Billy Tuttle, who died of oral cancer at 69 in 1998. 
  
 "I don't think we talk about it enough anymore," says Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "I remember as a young A-ball manager, Joe Garagiola would always come around in spring training with Bill Tuttle. It was scary. 
  
 "And I still see people chewing tobacco. Not only in the big leagues, but you still see kids in junior high and high school. 
  
 For me, it's not enough yet. It's a shame." 
  
 Indeed, the sight of players constantly spitting, some sporting a large wad of tobacco inside their cheek, remains one of the game's enduring images. 
  
 "Every spring training we have a guy that comes in who's had mouth cancer through tobacco,'' Rangers utilityman Donnie Murphy said. "So you see it. But at the same time, it's like an addiction thing. You do it for so long, you're going to want to keep doing it.'' 
  
 Players say using smokeless tobacco provides a form of relaxation and becomes part of their routine in a daily sport with lots of down time. 
  
 And with amphetamines now banned from baseball, the jolt of energy from the nicotine in the tobacco – absorbed during a longer stretch through dip or chew than by smoking – can help players navigate the season's six-month grind. 
  
 Commissioner Bud Selig has expressed a desire to banish smokeless tobacco from the majors the same way MLB barred it from the minors starting in 1993. But the issue is subject to collective bargaining and the players association has declined, opting to protect personal freedoms and emphasize education. 
  
 "The MLBPA discourages the use of smokeless tobacco products by its members or by anyone else. These products carry serious health risks, yet remain legally and widely available,'' union spokesman Greg Bouris said via e-mail. "In general terms, included in the smokeless tobacco policy negotiated in 2011 are restrictions/prohibitions on its use, increased emphasis on education and cessation programs, as well as oral examinations. At this point in time, player education continues to be a focus of ours.'' 
  
 Contributing: Paul White in Washington 
  
 GALLERY: Baseball mourns Tony Gwynn |||||
A:
Baseball great Tony Gwynn is dead at age 54 from cancer that he blamed on his years-long habit of chewing tobacco. While the number of big-leaguers that use the stuff is dropping, about 1 in 3 are still in the habit, reports USA Today, citing stats from the Pro Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. The league has taken steps to curb its use—for example, players can't have a wad in their mouth during TV interviews, and the days of free tins in the clubhouse are long gone—but this is no longer enough, writes Ernie Palladino at CBS Sports. For Major League Baseball, "it's time to ban chewing tobacco," he writes. Sure, defenders will talk about the culture of the game and worry about "sissifying" it, but that's just outdated thinking. The NFL and NHL have taken steps to make their sports safer for players, and MLB must do the same. "It’s too late for the best pure hitter of our generation," writes Palladino. "But with a little change in culture, MLB could save others." Click for his full column.