Parents can deter bad habit.(Life-Family)

Byline: JUDITH MARTIN

MISS MANNERS: I am a baseball fan, but my enjoyment is spoiled by the distasteful TV views of spitting players, coaches and umpires.

Please tell your readers (hopefully many including chewing tobacco, seeds or what ever else they chew. They can relieve their anxiety or boredom with a stick of gum (not bubble) if necessary. The TV broadcasters could use a little common sense, too, by not capturing the spitting on close-ups. Will you help?

GENTLE READER: What - and get killed? Not only by those who believe that spitting is a time-honored, if not sacred, tradition among baseball players, but by those indignant that gum-chewing was …