Baseball Is Outlawing Spitting and Hugs?

Major League Baseball is continuing to put together a plan for a return . . . and the latest rules will present a BIG challenge.  The players won’t be able to SPIT on the field.

ESPN says that there’s a new draft of the league’s health-and-safety manual, and there’s talk of processing upward of 10,000 COVID-19 tests per week, overhauling stadiums and in-game settings to encourage social distancing . . .

Prohibiting high-fives, fist bumps, and hugs . . . along with spitting, tobacco use and chewing sunflower seeds.  (Thankfully, it sounds like grabbing one’s own crotch will NOT be outlawed, so at least they still have that.)  (???)

Fielders will be, quote, “encouraged to retreat several steps away from the baserunner” between pitches.  Coaches won’t be allowed to approach baserunners or umpires, and players will be told not to socialize with opponents.

Also each ball will be thrown away after it is touched by multiple players, and along those lines, throwing the ball around the infield will be discouraged.