Eyewear (Rec Specs) and Professional Athletes

The weather has finally turned in Madison. It’s still fairly cool here, but the snow is long gone and the grass is back, and the ground is hard enough for running and cutting and all the other things you need to do to play soccer outdoors. Finally. This week has been the first time I’ve been able to play soccer outdoors since last October, and it’s been a long time coming. I played last night and had a great time, in no small part because one of the guys I was playing with was rocking full-on sports goggles, and they were so cool (and so rare) that it got me thinking about all the pro athletes who have sported goggles or glasses of some kind. I myself am severely ocularly challenged (I’m wearing spectacles at this very moment, for example), but I’ve always worn contact lenses whenever engaging in any kind of athletic activity. These stellar athletes haven’t, however (each player’s name links to an image of them booming some kind of radical eyewear).

Football: I remembered Eric Dickerson’s rec specs right away, but was surprised to learn of several other players who used to play with glasses.

• Brandon Burlsworth
• Eric Dickerson
• Bob Griese
• Joe Lavender
• Chuck Muncie

Basketball: What’s notable about this list is that all of the players listed were either power forwards or centers (with the exception of Caron Butler, who wore glasses briefly after an eye injury). Have any guards regularly worn glasses or goggles?

• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
• Thurl Bailey
• Caron Butler
• Antoine Carr
• Harvey Grant
• Horace Grant
• George Mikan
• Hakeem Olajuwon
• Bo Outlaw
• Kurt Rambis
• Amar’e Stoudemire
• Roy Tarpley
• Ben Wallace
• Buck Williams
• James Worthy

Baseball: The first major leaguer to wear spectacles on the field was right-handed pitcher William “Whoop-La” White, 1877 – 1886. He later became an optician and founded the Buffalo Optical Company which is still in business today. I figure this is the kind of thing that Bill James is probably all over, but I don’t have a copy of his Historical Abstract handy, so I’ll have to make do with what I’ve got. UPDATE: There’s this wikipedia page that seems pretty decent.

• Dom DiMaggio, Joe’s brother
• Ryne Duren
• Kyle Farnsworth, Mormon
• Tom Henke
• Eric Gagne
• Kevin Gregg
• Reggie Jackson
• Carney Lansford
• Lee “Specs” Meadows, the first 20th century major leaguer to wear glasses on the field
• Darrell Porter, who got name-checked by a middle-aged B&B owner on my first trip to Door County.
• Nate Robertson
• Jim Konstanty
• Francisco Rodriguez
• Chris Sabo
• Kent Tekulve
• George “Specs” Toporcer, the first major league infielder to wear glasses on the field.

Soccer: Favorite story from this list: During the final leg of the 1970 Intercontinental Cup, Oscar Malbernat of Estudiantes tore Feyenoord defender Joop van Daele’s glasses off, threw them on the grass and stomped on them. The broken glasses are now exhibited in Feyenoord’s club museum.

• Edgar Davids
• Joop van Daele
• Annibale Frossi
• Rinus Israel
• Armand “Jef” Jurion

Track and Field: If you’re going to check out just one of the glasses-wearing athletes on the page, make it Ato Boldon. Seriously, you will not regret it.

• Ato Boldon
• Dayron Robles

Golf: I’m sure there’s more, but since I don’t really consider golf a sport, one will have to suffice.

• Tom Kite

Hockey:

• Al Arbour (who both wore glasses and played without a helmet!)

Aussie Rules Football:

• Geoff Blethyn

and, for the ladies, Tennis:

• Billie Jean King
• Martina Natratilova

If there’s anyone I’m forgetting or slighting (outside of baseball and golf), please let me know. I’m aiming for comprehensive coverage here.