Brewers Say Players Lit Cigarettes Before Every World Series Game

Overview

• Christian Yelich told ESPN that Brewers players smoked lit cigarettes during batting practice before each World Series game, a practice he described as a pregame ritual that signaled the team was “ready to rock.”
• Photographs published after the Brewers clinched the title showed Jake Bauers, Sal Frelick and Brandon Woodruff smoking in the clubhouse following the Game 5 win.
• Players and coverage linked the ritual to team momentum, and ESPN data cited by reports showed Milwaukee hit well against fastballs in the Fall Classic, a fact the team framed as fitting their ‘smoking heaters’ theme.
• The practice comes against the background of MLB’s 2016 ban on smokeless tobacco for new players, with journalists saying cigarette use has declined but still appears sporadically in many clubhouses and other teams have been photographed smoking in recent seasons.
• Public-health groups note smoking’s serious health risks, there have been no widely reported MLB sanctions tied to the Brewers’ ritual, and the disclosure could prompt renewed scrutiny of clubhouse tobacco use and league enforcement.