Bill Tuttle

William Robert Tuttle (July 4, 1929 – July 27, 1998) was an American

Tuttle was born and grew up in Cramer, a small farming community located south of Elmwood, Illinois, and three miles southeast of Farmington, where his parents operated a general store. After attending Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, he played in his first major league game on September 10, 1952.

In his 11-year career, Tuttle had a .259

Tuttle wore the number 13 because he thought it brought him good luck. He was also superstitious about his glove, always having a teammate hold it for him while his team was batting during an inning. He would have the same teammate hold it until he had a bad game; then, he would give a different teammate the job.[1]

Advocacy

On practically every baseball card issued for Tuttle, as well as in a number of photographs, a large bulge of chewing tobacco is evident in his cheek.^[2] Tuttle died in Anoka, Minnesota, at the age of 69, and oral cancer was in all likelihood the cause of his death.^[3] Tuttle was diagnosed with oral cancer five years before his death, and used the last half-decade of his life to raise awareness as an active volunteer for the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP).^[4] of Oral Health America.^[5]

During the last years of his life, Tuttle was facially disfigured on his right cheek due to extensive surgery for oral cancer. He traveled widely as a

After being diagnosed with oral cancer, he was interviewed for a Reader's Digest article entitled "My War With A Smoke Free Killer" in which he detailed how he was introduced to chewing tobacco by a teammate while sidelined with an injury and subsequently became addicted. The article showed pictures of a disfigured Tuttle after his many facial surgeries.^[7]

References