The Secret of a Great Baseball Player

Baseball season is underway, once again! Millions of fans will head out to the ball park over the next six months to watch their favorite players hit a home run or make the perfect catch.

But, did you know that there’s more to being a great baseball player than just being a great athlete?  Yes.  Truth is, most fantastic baseball players are great because they have phenomenal vision.

Most people assume that 20/20 vision is perfect vision. But that’s actually not true.  20/20 vision is just average vision.  Yet, it’s really all most of us need.  It’s vision that’s good enough (with or without correction) to help us see what most of us need to see far away, to drive and read signs, or to function normally in our world.

An eagle, by comparison, has the best eye sight ever measured which is somewhere close to 20/4.  But, survival for an eagle means spotting prey from thousands of feet away as he soars through the sky.  The eagle’s lifestyle mandates that he have better eyesight to survive.  (Plus, he doesn’t have the advantage of being able to visit an America’s Best optometrist and get a new pair of glasses or contacts.)

Do Baseball Players Have Eagle Eyes?

So where do baseball players rank? Well, somewhere between eagle eyes and average according to an ophthalmology consultant for the Boston Red Sox.  The average major-league baseball player has vision that is close to 20/12 or has been corrected to 20/12.  These guys need to see things in a little better detail from far away. That’s why our favorite catchers can hone in and follow that ball thrown from the second baseman.  Or, why a batter with great vision can see the spin on the ball that is coming at him and adjust his swing accordingly.

Better than 20/20 Vision?

Some Major League Baseball players claim to have even better vision than 20/12 though.  Kevin Youkilis who plays for the New York Yankees is reported as having 20/11 vision.  Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox wrote in his book that he had, “something like 20/10 vision.”

Players who were not naturally endowed with fantastic vision have found ways to keep up. Through contact lenses and other prescriptive measures, many of these guys have been able to make their vision better in order to stay competitive.

Want to find out how your vision stacks up?  Visit your closest America’s Best and see the optometrist today to find out how your vision rates!