To qualify they must have worn glasses while playing.
Safety goggles don’t count unless they are prescription (so don’t give a 100 name list of skiers)
Outfielders wearing sunglasses once a week don’t count either.
Here’s who I thought of:
Kareem Abdul Jabbar
Reggie Jackson
Billie Jean King
Also of note:
Marcus Dupree
Kurt Rambis
Bob Griese
Another one: wide receiver/kick returner Billy “White Shoes” Johnson sometimes wore glasses while playing.
And, from basketball: Horace Grant.
Apparently, he originally wore them for vision correction (and was legally blind without them), but partway through his career, he had Lasik surgery, and didn’t need them anymore. But, as he had gotten many thanks from parents for wearing glasses while playing (which made kids who had to wear glasses feel that “glasses are cool”), he continued wearing non-prescription goggles.
Huh - I assumed James Worthy wore goggles for vision correction, but I just read that he wore them for protection after he suffered a scratched cornea.
Martina Navratilova comes to mind.
…Daniel Vettori, former slow left-arm orthodox bowler/batsman for the NZ cricket team.
Chris Sabo
Pro golfer Tom Kite had very poor vision, and always wore glasses on the course. At some point, he had laser eye surgery to correct his vision, and no longer wears the glasses.
Rinold George “Ryne” Duren pitched 1954 through 1965. Was said to be the inspiration for the Wild Thing in Major League.
He was known for the combination of his blazing fastball and his very poor vision. With his thick Coke bottle glasses, few batters dared to dig in against Duren. Casey Stengel said, “I would not admire hitting against Ryne Duren, because if he ever hit you in the head you might be in the past tense.”
He was the first one I thought of.
Tennis great Arthur Ashe.
Cleveland Indians’ great 1B/DH Andre Thornton
1985 snooker World Champion, Dennis Taylor.
And Billie Jean King.
What is the most recent NBA player to play without wearing athletic glasses?
Kareem’s weren’t prescription, were they? I always thought they were protective only. I remember when he first started wearing them, they were for protection because he was so unstoppable that he thought some opposing players were going for his eyes.
One that I just thought of: Greg Maddux during his years with the Braves.
Current Yankee Gleyber Torres wears contact lenses on the field, but he also wears clear ‘glasses’ sometimes, for reasons. It sort of counts.
Joe Kelly, reliever for the Dodgers, Red Sox, and Cardinals.
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