- Source: List of bespectacled baseball players
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. Baseball talent scouts routinely rejected spectacled prospects on sight. 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. The development of shatter-resistant lenses in the latter half of the 1940s contributed to their acceptance.
The first major-league player to wear spectacles was Will 'Whoop-La' White in 1878–86. 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. Because his vision became so variable, Hafey was obliged to rotate among three different pairs of glasses.
Dick Allen was posthumously voted to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 2024. After his induction in 2025, he will be the fourth bespectacled player in the Hall of Fame.
List
= Non-pitchers
=Other notable non-pitchers who wore glasses include:
Dick Allen — first American League MVP to wear glasses
Jay Bell
Jonah Bride
Horace Clarke
Alex Cole
Bob Coluccio
Clint Courtney — first catcher to wear glasses
Al Cowens
Mike Davis
Bob Dillinger
Dom DiMaggio — "The Little Professor"
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. Opted to get LASIK in 2017.
Atsuya Furuta
Randal Grichuk
Johnny Grubb
Chick Hafey
Jerry Hairston
Bryce Harper — Typically wears contact lenses, but wore prescription eyeglasses in 2018.
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
John Lowenstein
Greg Luzinski
Drew Maggi
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.
Earl Torgeson — Replied "Because I want to be able to see." when asked by Jack Brickhouse why he wore glasses when he played.
Bill Virdon
Paul Waner
Bob Watson
Glenn Wilson
Steve Yeager
= Pitchers
=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
Tanner Bibee
Joe Boyle
Corbin Burnes — (originally, before having lasik)
Isaiah Campbell
Brett Cecil
Gustavo Chacin
Tyler Clippard
Bill Dietrich
Randy Dobnak
Sean Doolittle
Ryne Duren — once hit a batter in the on-deck circle
Kyle Farnsworth
Josh Fleming
J. P. France
Éric Gagné
Zac Gallen
Scott Garrelts
Kevin Gregg
A. J. Griffin
Josh Hader
JD Hammer
Mel Harder
Tom Henke
Jimmy Herget
Carmen Hill
Jeff Hoffman
Dick Hughes
Tom Hume
Tyrell Jenkins
Anthony Kay
Joe Kelly
Jim Konstanty
Jesús Luzardo
'Deacon Danny' MacFayden
Denny McLain
Craig McMurtry
Lee Meadows
Pete Mikkelsen
Greg Minton
Óliver Pérez
Eric Plunk
Matt Purke
Cody Reed
Nate Robertson
Francisco Rodríguez
Andrew Saalfrank
Dave Sisler
D. J. Snelten
Nick Snyder
Vic Sorrell of the Detroit Tigers
Paul Splittorff
Kent Tekulve
Trent Thornton
Julio Urías
José Valverde
Bob Veale
Fernando Valenzuela
Vance Worley