Fielders of Vision: Baseball Players Who Wear Glasses

We can understand why the commissioner of Major League Baseball would ban players associated with gambling.

Baseball player diving towards base, focused expression, wearing a gray jersey with red accents.
We can also understand why the commissioner of Major League Baseball would ban players who have used steroids.

Baseball player wearing a San Francisco Giants uniform in action with a bat in hand.
But we were thrown a curveball, so to speak, when we saw a headline claiming that the current commissioner of Major League Baseball, Bud Selig, decided to ban eyeglasses and contact lenses.

Man in a suit and red tie with a displeased expression in front of an MLB logo.
Therefore, we were relieved, as it were, when we learned that this was a fake “news story” from CAP News, a satirical website in the style of The Onion.

How could it be otherwise? After all, without his eyeglasses, Oakland A’s second baseman Eric Sogard would never get a hit or field a ball.

Person wearing an Oakland Athletics cap and glasses, smiling. The cap has "A's" logo in white text.
Sogard looks awesome in his full-rim, rectangular “ombre” (two-tone) frame, not unlike Zenni frame 286315.

Brown and clear gradient eyeglasses frame with Zenni logo on the inner left temple.
Among contemporary baseball players, Sogard is joined in wearing glasses on the field by Washington Nationals relief pitcher Tyler Clippard.

Man wearing a Washington Nationals baseball cap, black glasses, and a white jersey with red accents.
Clippard’s half-rim frame is very similar to Zenni frame 294316.

Blue rectangular half-rim eyeglasses with black and gray accents, model number visible on the arm.
Sugard and Clippard are upholding a long tradition that started with pitcher Will “Whoop-La” White, the first baseball player to wear glasses, who played for several teams, including the Cincinnati Reds, from 1877-86.

Man with a receding hairline, round glasses, and a mustache, wearing a light-colored shirt.
Amazingly, White’s full-rim round translucent eyeglasses are still popular today. Check out Zenni’s similar frame 620315.

Round clear eyeglasses with thin frames and a slight gradient toward the temples.
However, for players who were not pitchers, there was a stigma (and maybe an astigmatism) attached to wearing glasses. That ended in 1921, when utility infielder George “Specs” Toporcer debuted in Major League Baseball, playing for the St. Louis Cardinals.

A sepia-toned photograph of a baseball player wearing a cap and round glasses.
Specs is wearing a classic round frame that is not unlike Zenni frame 679715.

Round brown eyeglasses with thin metal frame and clear nose pads.
Only two Hall of Fame players wore glasses on the field. One, a very famous late-20th-century player, should be easy to guess. If you need a hint, his nickname is “Mr. October.”

Baseball player wearing a Yankees uniform and helmet, holding a bat and wearing glasses.
Yep. That would be Reggie Jackson, whose metal aviator-style frame never goes out of style. Zenni frame 453415 is very similar.

Brown metal-framed eyeglasses with adjustable nose pads and slender arms.
The other Hall of Famer might be a little harder to guess.

Baseball player in striped uniform with birds on chest, wearing a cap and round glasses.
No, that’s not Specs Toporcer, although Specs and his glasses bear a strong resemblance to Charles “Chick” Hafey, who is depicted here.

Hafey was an outfielder who played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in the 1920s and ’30s. He represented eyeglasses wearers well, as the National League Batting Champion in 1931, with a .349 average. He sports the classic round style of eyeglasses similar to Toporcer’s, and similar to Zenni frame 450014.

Gold metal round eyeglasses with black temple tips and adjustable nose pads.
Relief pitcher Jim Konstanty was the first eyeglasses wearing player to win the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, winning 16 games and saving 22 in 1950, when he played for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Man in a "Phillies" baseball uniform and cap.
His rimless-glasses look could be duplicated by Zenni frame 314911, with lens shape 230.

Round wireframe glasses with thin metal temples and black temple tips.
Infielder and outfielder Dick Allen, who played in both the National and American Leagues, was the first eyeglasses wearer to win the American League MVP award, in 1972.

Baseball player wearing a Phillies uniform, a helmet with "P" logo, glasses, and holding a glove.
Not too many ballplayers can make this claim, but Allen was also an R&B singer. His group, Rich Allen and the Ebonistics, had a 1968 hit, “Echo’s (sic) of November.”

Vinyl record, GROOVEY GROOVES, Echo's of November by Rich Allen and the Bossmen, 33 rpm, yellow label.
Allen’s classic, full-rim ombre frame is similar to Zenni frame 627034.

Brown and green tortoiseshell eyeglasses with round frames and clear lower rim.
Finally, Boston Red Sox centerfielder Dom DiMaggio was nicknamed “The Little Professor,” in part because he was one of the few players of his time (the 1940s-early ’50s) to wear eyeglasses.

Man wearing eyeglasses and a baseball cap.
DiMaggio’s classic metal round glasses are similar to Zenni frame 151314.

Round metal frame eyeglasses with tortoiseshell arms and labeled "Zenni" near the hinge.
DiMaggio still holds the Red Sox hitting-streak record, 34 games in 1949. His brother Joe, who played centerfield for the New York Yankees and whose 56-game streak in 1941 remains a Major League Baseball record, ended Dom’s streak when he caught a line drive his brother hit to centerfield.

Two baseball players in uniforms, one wearing a "Red Sox" jersey, and the other wearing a "Yankees" jersey.
They had another centerfielder brother, Vince, who played for National League teams, but like Joe he didn’t wear glasses.

Black-and-white photo of a young baseball player in a Boston uniform, smiling and wearing a cap with a "B".
Presumably Dom made sure to wear his glasses at DiMaggio family gatherings, so he’d have a good look at his sister-in-law.

Woman in a white halter dress and high heels laughing as her dress is blown upwards revealing her legs.
That’s how to keep your eye on the ball!