List of bespectacled baseball players

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William Henry "Whoop-La" White

In

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

Non-pitchers

Chris Sabo wearing glasses while batting during a game in 1988

Other notable non-pitchers who wore glasses include:

Pitchers

Sean Doolittle wearing glasses while warming up for a 2020 spring training game

Pitchers who wear or have worn glasses include:

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 0005-609X
    .
  2. ISSN 0005-609X
    .
  3. ^ Bruce Markusen. "Cooperstown Confidential - Regular Season Edition - Glasses Half Full". Oakland Athletics Fan Coalition. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9780786481958
  5. ^ 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
  6. ISBN 0-271-00332-4
    .
  7. ^ Lewis, Franklin. "DeWitts Proved Shrewd Dealers". Baseball Digest (September 1951): 99–100.
  8. ^ "Bryce Harper wore regular glasses in a game". USA Today.
  9. ISBN 0-7432-2722-0
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-06-126060-5
    .
  11. ISBN 978-1-57912-777-0
    .
  12. ISBN 1-59213-215-4
    .
  13. ^ "Swift remains mound choice", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 15 May 1934
  14. ISBN 978-0-313-28431-1
    .
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