Big League Chew is an American brand of

bubble gum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

that was created by Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher Rob Nelson and bat boy and future filmmaker

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for directing three feature films: '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022). He has received three Academy Award no ...

. It was then pitched to the

Wrigley Company The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, known as the Wrigley Company, is an American multinational chewing gum (Wrigley's gum) company, based in the Global Innovation Center (GIC) in Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois. Wrigley's is wholly owned by Mars, I ...

(longtime owners of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

) by fellow Maverick and former New York Yankee All-Star Jim Bouton as a fun imitation of the tobacco-chewing habit common among ballplayers in the 1970s. Over 800 million pouches of Big League Chew have been sold since 1980. Big League Chew was introduced in May 1980, in the traditional pink color already seen in established brands of bubble gum. The cartoony packaging, originally designed by artist Bill Mayer, comes in flashy colors such as neon green (for their sour apple flavor) and bright purple (grape flavor). The original shredded R&D concept samples of the product were actually produced by running standard sheets of bubble gum through a standard office paper shredder.

, a now well received actor and director, was not included in the deal with the

, despite being involved in the early prototypes (cooked in his family's kitchen). Currently, it is manufactured in the US by Ford Gum & Machine Company in Akron, NY, after taking over distribution rights from Wrigley and moving production from Mexico at the end of 2010. The original advertising slogan throughout the 1980s, which is still featured today, was, "You're in the big leagues when you're into Big League Chew!" It currently bills itself as "The Hall of Fame Bubble Gum," bearing an official endorsement from the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

Notes

External links

Official site

Carson Cistulli interviews Rob Nelson, co-inventor of Big League Chew

Discussion with Nelson about the growth and management of Big League Chew

Ford Gum information page

ESPN Los Angeles article about adding images to packaging
Chewing gum Products introduced in 1980 Wrigley Company brands Baseball culture {{confection-stub