Big League Chew is a brand of bubble gum that is shredded and packaged in an aluminum foil pouch. It was created by Portland Mavericks left-handed pitcher Rob Nelson, and pitched to the Wrigley Company by former New York Yankee All-Star Jim Bouton, a Maverick teammate of Nelson's, as a fun alternative to the tobacco-chewing habit common among ballplayers in the 1970's. According to the 2005 packaging, over 450 million pouches of the gum have been sold since 1980.