Baseball Players Know They Shouldn’t Spit. But Old Habits Die Hard.

Montgomery said the bans on spitting and licking fingers were the hardest rules for him “because it’s something I do and don’t even think about.” But, he added, “I’ve been doing better.”

High fives, first bumps and hugs are to be avoided, according to the M.L.B. manual; Ottavino said dropping those had been a relatively easy adjustment. Curbing spitting and adapting to the new shower edicts have required more effort.

“There’s no communal soap or shampoo,” he said last week. “The first two times to clean myself up and get out of here, I forgot it and had to go back to my locker.”

While masks are now required indoors at major league stadiums, players do not have to wear them while on the field, in the bullpen or in the dugout. Pitcher Zack Britton wore a face covering while playing catch on the field and in the dugout after appearing in an intrasquad game, recently, but not when he took the mound.

“If I was having issues licking my fingers, I would probably put it on so it would prevent me from doing that,” he said. “So far, I’ve been able to break that habit.”

Only two Yankees have worn masks during intrasquad games, a practice they might carry into the regular season: outfielder Clint Frazier and catcher Kyle Higashioka. Frazier, who has struggled to break into the Yankees’ everyday lineup the past couple seasons, said he was motivated to wear one because at least three of his teammates — infielder D.J. LeMahieu and pitchers Aroldis Chapman and Luis Cessa — had tested positive for the coronavirus and he is near two other people when in the batter’s box.

“I want to make sure that I’m not the reason why it spreads to anybody, and I can play if it does get spread to someone else,” he said. He added later, “I want to make sure if there is somebody out there that sees me wearing the mask, maybe they’ll do it as well.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/sports/baseball/baseball-mlb-coronavirus-spitting.html