List of bespectacled baseball players
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/40/Will_White.jpg/220px-Will_White.jpg)
In baseball, players rarely wear spectacles, but some players played in the major leagues with glasses. For many years, wearing glasses while playing the sport was an embarrassment.[1] Baseball talent scouts routinely rejected spectacled prospects on sight.[2] The stigma had diminished by the early 1960s and by one estimate 20 percent of major league players wore glasses by the end of the 1970s.[1][3] The development of shatter-resistant lenses in the latter half of the 1940s contributed to their acceptance.[4]
The first major-league player to wear spectacles was Will 'Whoop-La' White in 1878–86.[4][5] Only pitchers dared wear glasses while playing until the early 1920s, when George 'Specs' Toporcer of the St. Louis Cardinals became the first outfielder to sport eyewear. Bespectacled pitchers are less rare as they have less need to field the ball.
There are only three players in the Baseball Hall of Fame to have worn eyeglasses during play: Chick Hafey, Reggie Jackson, and Greg Maddux.[6] Because his vision became so variable, Hafey was obliged to rotate among three different pairs of glasses.
List
[edit]This section needs additional citations for verification. (September 2015) |
Non-pitchers
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/62/Chris_Sabo_Reds.jpg/220px-Chris_Sabo_Reds.jpg)
Other notable non-pitchers who wore glasses include:
- Dick Allen — first American League MVP to wear glasses[5]
- Jay Bell
- Jonah Bride
- Alex Cole
- Bob Coluccio
- Clint Courtney — first catcher to wear glasses[5]
- Al Cowens
- Bob Dillinger[5][7]
- Dom DiMaggio — "The Little Professor"[5]
- Brian Downing
- Leon Durham
- Alvaro Espinoza
- Tim Foli
- Dan Ford
- Freddie Freeman — Typically wore contact lenses throughout his career, but occasionally wore glasses in 2012.[8] Opted to get LASIK in 2017.[9]
- Atsuya Furuta
- Randal Grichuk
- Johnny Grubb
- Chick Hafey
- Jerry Hairston
- Bryce Harper — Typically wears contact lenses, but wore prescription eyeglasses in 2018.[10]
- Enrique Hernández
- Frank Howard
- Danny Jansen
- Reggie Jackson
- Greg Jones
- Eddie Joost Shortstop, career spanned 3 decades, both NL and AL
- Ron Kittle
- Carney Lansford
- Vance Law
- Stan Lopata — the first National League catcher to wear glasses[11]
- John Lowenstein
- Greg Luzinski
- Patrick Mazeika
- Brian McCann
- Roy McMillan
- Wade Meckler
- Mario Mendoza
- Andruw Monasterio
- Kendrys Morales
- Rance Mulliniks
- Joe Nolan
- Mel Ott
- Mitchell Page
- Richie Palacios
- Dan Pasqua
- Ken Phelps
- Jason Phillips
- Darrell Porter
- Harold Ramírez
- Dave Ricketts
- Cookie Rojas
- Chris Sabo
- Blake Sabol
- Lenn Sakata
- Yolmer Sánchez
- Pablo Sandoval
- Davis Schneider
- Pat Sheridan
- Eric Sogard
- Andrew Stevenson
- Andre Thornton
- Kelby Tomlinson — Became a certified optician in 2020.[12]
- Earl Torgeson — Replied "Because I want to be able to see." when asked by Jack Brickhouse why he wore glasses when he played.[13]
- Bill Virdon[14]
- Paul Waner
- Bob Watson
- Glenn Wilson
- Steve Yeager
Pitchers
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Nationals_reliever_Sean_Doolittle_%2863%29_warmups_--_All-Pro_Reels_Ed_Sheahin_%2849571991111%29.jpg/220px-Nationals_reliever_Sean_Doolittle_%2863%29_warmups_--_All-Pro_Reels_Ed_Sheahin_%2849571991111%29.jpg)
Pitchers who wear or have worn glasses include:
- Henderson Álvarez
- Jordan Wicks
- Alec Mills
- Jesse Chavez
- Javier Assad
- Keith Atherton
- Anthony Banda
- Boom-Boom Beck
- Ronald Belisario
- Corbin Burnes — (originally, before having lasik)
- Brett Cecil
- Gustavo Chacin
- Tyler Clippard
- Bill Dietrich[15]
- Randy Dobnak
- Sean Doolittle
- Ryne Duren — once hit a batter in the on-deck circle[5]
- Kyle Farnsworth
- Josh Fleming
- J. P. France
- Éric Gagné
- Zac Gallen
- Scott Garrelts
- Kevin Gregg
- A. J. Griffin
- JD Hammer
- Mel Harder[5]
- Tom Henke
- Jimmy Herget
- Carmen Hill[5]
- Jeff Hoffman
- Dick Hughes
- Tom Hume
- Anthony Kay
- Joe Kelly
- Jim Konstanty[5]
- Jesús Luzardo
- 'Deacon Danny' MacFayden
- Denny McLain
- Craig McMurtry
- Lee Meadows[5]
- Pete Mikkelsen
- Greg Minton
- Eric Plunk
- Cody Reed
- Nate Robertson
- Francisco Rodríguez
- Andrew Saalfrank
- Dave Sisler
- Nick Snyder
- Vic Sorrell of the Detroit Tigers[16]
- Paul Splittorff
- Kent Tekulve
- Trent Thornton
- Julio Urías
- José Valverde
- Bob Veale[17]
- Fernando Valenzuela
- Vance Worley
References
[edit]- ^ a b Jerry Nason (Boston Globe) (August 1963). They've Taken the Stigma Out of Astigmatism. Baseball Digest (Lakeside Publishing Co.). pp. 53–54. ISSN 0005-609X.
- ^ H. G. Salsinger (Detroit News) (June 1957). "Baseball Digest - What a Scout Looks for in a Boy". Baseball Digest. Lakeside Publishing Co.: 72. ISSN 0005-609X.
- ^ Bruce Markusen. "Cooperstown Confidential - Regular Season Edition - Glasses Half Full". Oakland Athletics Fan Coalition. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
- ^ a b Swaine, Rick (24 January 2015), Beating the breaks: major league ballplayers who overcame disabilities, McFarland, ISBN 9780786481958
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bill Koenig (6 June 1996), "Spectacular players can wear spectacles", USA Today, Baseball Weekly, retrieved 29 October 2013
- ^ Voigt, David Quentin (1979). American Baseball: From Postwar Expansion to the Electronic Age. Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0-271-00332-4.
- ^ Lewis, Franklin. "DeWitts Proved Shrewd Dealers". Baseball Digest (September 1951): 99–100.
- ^ "Freddie Freeman Gets 'Four Eyes' Treatment from Atlanta Braves Teammates". Bleacher Report.
- ^ "Eyes on the prize: Freeman back after Lasik". MLB.com.
- ^ "Bryce Harper wore regular glasses in a game". USA Today.
- ^ James, Bill (2003). The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2722-0.
- ^ Grimm, Elly (11 November 2020). "Squints eyewear store opens in Liberal". Leader & Times.
- ^ Dickson, Paul (2008). Baseball's Greatest Quotations Rev. Ed.: An Illustrated Treasury of Baseball Quotations and Historical Lore. Collins Reference. ISBN 978-0-06-126060-5.
- ^ Gentile, Derek (2008). Baseball's Best 1,000 Revised: Rankings of the Skills, the Achievements, and the Performance of the Greatest Players of All Time. Black Dog & Leventhal. p. 609. ISBN 978-1-57912-777-0.
- ^ Westcott, Rich and Bill Campbell (2003). Native Sons: Philadelphia Baseball Players Who Made the Major Leagues. Temple University Press. p. 63. ISBN 1-59213-215-4.
- ^ "Swift remains mound choice", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 15 May 1934
- ^ Porter, David L. (1995). Biographical Dictionary of American Sports: 1992-1995 Supplement for Baseball, Football, Basketball, and Other Sports. Greenwood. ISBN 978-0-313-28431-1.