Big League Chew

Recently spotting these pouches of “Ground Ball Grape” and “Outta here Original” Big League Chew gum at Mars Cheese Castle of all places sparked some serious childhood memories for me. The chew was invented in 1980 by two major league baseball players, who ingeniously knew that shredded gum in a pouch would just taste better and make dorky kids like my brothers and I feel especially cool with corn syrupy wads resting against our cheeks for hours. Years later I now just instinctively reach for my spearmint Orbit when confronted with a last-minute gum aisle decision, and I don’t even look for any Big League Chew. But I’m pretty sure the ultra-sugary gum is almost nonexistent, kind of like Fruit Stripe and Bubble-eez. Gotta love finding old-school gum that lasts about 3 minutes and starts to make you sick after 1. But it’s so worth it for the fleeting moment of overwhelmingly sugary grape flavor that makes you say, “oh man that’s good,” then shortly after, “OK, I’m done.”