• 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


    References

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