Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl

Much to Commissioner Bud Selig’s chagrin, chewing tobacco has been almost as much a part of Major League Baseball over the years as “Play Ball!” and the seventh-inning stretch.

It’s ingrained in the culture of the game and is evident anytime a player steps on the sticky floor of a big-league dugout.

As owners and the players’ union begin negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, Selig hopes the time has finally come to rid the game of the unhealthy habit.

In a letter to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids on Thursday, Selig told the group’s president he believes “smokeless tobacco should be banned at the Major League level.”

In order to make that happen, the owners have to negotiate with the players’ union and have the ban added to the next collective bargaining agreement.

“In the current round of bargaining with the MLBPA, MLB will propose restrictions on the use of smokeless tobacco at the Major League level comparable to the restrictions in place at the Minor League level,” Selig wrote.

Smokeless tobacco, including dip and chew, is banned in minor league ballparks.

Union chief Michael Weiner said in February that he expected the subject to be broached in the upcoming talks.

“I’m not going to make any predictions about where we’re going to go with it, but I do expect it to be an issue,” Weiner said then.

-AP