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I'll admit that I don't umpire a whole lot of High School Baseball anymore, but I try to stay current with the rules and interpretations. When the tobacco rule was first implemented, I recall some discussion about "Big League Chew" coming in a foil puch and its shredded appearance caused concern. The Illinois state interpreter stated that a tobacco like product is not candy. We can't control the packaging of the product, only our judgement.
I grabbed the Case Book and looked up the use of tobacco. Page 29 has a very good example for the coach (Sit. W) and a player (Sit. Y). The problem with the language of 3.3.1 X is that umpires that interpret tobacco-like to be anything that can be chewed are really missing the boat. Has anyone actually enforced this rule for candy?
Much like the umpire that thinks "goddam" or "jesuschrist" is offensive language, this is a silly enforcement of a pretty smart rule. [Don't do that either.]
For what its worth, I smoked and chewed as both a player and umpire. I don't anymore, and cringe when I see others starting. I worked a lot of games when home plate had juice on it from the catcher, batter or myself. It wasn't pretty.
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