William Robert Tuttle was a center fielder for three teams during his Major League Baseball career; the Detroit Tigers from 1952 to 1957, the Kansas City Athletics from 1958 to 1961, and the Minnesota Twins from 1961 to 1963. He batted and threw right-handed and also played third base for a brief period in 1961. On practically every baseball card issued for Tuttle, a large bulge of chewing tobacco is evident in his cheek. Tuttle died in Anoka, Minnesota at the age of 69, and oral cancer was in all likelihood the cause of his death. Bill was diagnosed with oral cancer five years before his death, and he put the last half-decade of his life to use in raising awareness, as an active volunteer for the National Spit Tobacco Education Program of Oral Health America. During the last years of his life, Tuttle was facially disfigured due to extensive surgery for oral cancer. He traveled widely as a public speaker, warning major league players of the dangers of chewing tobacco. "It's going to be pretty hard to tell someone making $4 million a year not to chew," he admitted. "So what we're trying to do is get it off TV." 

July 4th, 1929 in Elmwood  /  Died:   Jul 27th, 1998