# Athletes who wear glasses **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [June 23, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690 "2013-06-23T07:20:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/1 "2013-06-23T07:20:32Z")
In the 80s I remember many athletes wearing glasses or prescription goggles: Reggie Jackson, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kurt Rambis, etc. Now with Lasix few athletes wear them anymore. Who do you remember wearing glasses? And what current athletes still wear glasses? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/2 "2013-06-23T07:43:54Z")
John Jefferson Chuck Muncie John Lowenstein Martina Navratilova ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2013, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/3 "2013-06-23T09:12:36Z")
Jabbar wore goggles for eye protection, not to correct his vision. He had twice had scratched corneas from game contact - the goggles were to prevent this from happening again. Dom DiMaggio’s glasses helped give him the look that led to his nickname of _The Little Professor_. Eric Sogard of the Oakland A’s wears glasses. There’s also Eric Gagne and Eric Dickerson. ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/4 "2013-06-24T18:53:02Z")
Chris Sabo played for the Reds and wore the goggles. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/5 "2013-06-24T18:56:24Z")
[Amare Stoudemire](http://www.google.com/search?gs_rn=17&gs_ri=psy-ab&suggest=p&cp=19&gs_id=26&xhr=t&q=amare+stoudemire+glasses&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48293060,d.aWc&biw=1280&bih=929&wrapid=tljp1372100091915030&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=AZbIUa_-Hsq5ywGB54GwBg) of the Knicks wears them; like Kareem, they are protective rather than prescription. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/6 "2013-06-24T18:59:52Z")
Thought of another: [James Johnson](http://www.google.com/search?gs_rn=17&gs_ri=psy-ab&suggest=p&cp=19&gs_id=26&xhr=t&q=amare+stoudemire+glasses&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48293060,d.aWc&biw=1280&bih=929&wrapid=tljp1372100091915030&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=AZbIUa_-Hsq5ywGB54GwBg#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Kings+James+Johnson&oq=Kings+James+Johnson&gs_l=img.3..0i24.92661.96549.0.96753.21.14.1.6.6.0.192.1401.9j5.14.0...0.0...1c.1.17.img.fIPH1Nvnt6I&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.48293060,d.aWc&fp=21803227785f312b&biw=1280&bih=929&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=_4_OZAjdB30_SM%3A%3BOXcNBVeDd7MVQM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cowbellkingdom.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2012%252F12%252Fjames_johnson_drive.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.cowbellkingdom.com%252F2012%252F12%252F05%252Fkings-speech-game-17-vs-toronto-raptors%252F%3B650%3B400) of the Sacramento Kings. His look like regular glasses, secured with a headband, rather than goggles. He doesn’t wear them every game, though. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/7 "2013-06-24T19:03:58Z")
Horace Grant Bob Griese Amare Stoudemire - he might be the only current one, though there are plenty of athletes that will wear the fake glasses as a fashion accessory - Westbrook, Wade, Durant, James, Harden, etc. eta - ninja’d! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/8 "2013-06-24T19:30:35Z")
Washington Senators 6’8" slugger Frank Howard Cy Young-winning Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain Minneapolic Lakers center George Mikan Relievers Ryne Duren and Kent Tekulve Tennis star Billie Jean King (don’t know if Bobby Riggs wore glasses when younger) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/9 "2013-06-24T19:38:19Z")
Edgar David’s. ---
**Author:** ![BuzzSaw101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BuzzSaw101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuzzSaw101)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/10 "2013-06-27T02:36:21Z")
1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/11 "2013-06-27T02:53:06Z")
[Joe Lavender](http://img.spokeo.com/public/900-600/joe_lavender_1977_12_10.jpg), a former Redskin DB, wore glasses. Probably not what your looking for but a lot of golfers wore glasses. Tom Kite, Miller Barber, even Arnie Palmer wore them late in his career. ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/12 "2013-06-27T02:58:13Z")
It’s not much of an issue for modern American pro athletes. Most pro teams have a LASIK surgeon affiliated with them; any athlete who needs glasses or contacts gets the surgery. This is why you’ll hear LASIK surgeons refer to themselves as the “Official Team LASIK Surgeon of the [Local Pro Team]” in radio ads. I actually asked about this when I went to the official surgeon of the Arizona Diamondbacks for a consult. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/13 "2013-06-27T03:03:22Z")
[Steve Dalkowski.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Dalkowski) > [@](#): > > During a game at Kingsport on August 31, 1957, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters in a single minor league game, yet lost 8–4. He had issued 18 walks, hit four batters, and threw six wild pitches. Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121 (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129 and threw 39 wild pitches.[4] Moving on the Northern League in 1958–59, he threw a one-hitter but lost 9–8 on the strength of 17 walks. In 1957–58, Dalkowski either struck out or walked almost three out of every four batters he faced. Didn’t seem to help much. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/14 "2013-06-27T03:04:38Z")
Eric Gagne. ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/15 "2013-06-28T03:13:39Z")
Pitchers Kyle Farnsworth and Francisco Rodriguez. ---
**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/16 "2013-06-28T04:26:45Z")
[Vance Worley](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FWn9dyz6xbw/TihWx9uXiAI/AAAAAAAAANM/6gsWM90bbnc/s1600/vance-worley3-e1304615209870.jpg) and [Brian McCann](http://bravesbanter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/McCann-Glasses1.jpg)do, or at least did recently. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/athletes-who-wear-glasses/661690/17 "2013-06-28T16:14:21Z")
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Brett Cecil.