It has been claimed by some that in 1882, Mr. Paul Hines was the first professional baseball player to compete while wearing a pair of sunglasses. There doesn’t appear to be any photo evidence of the shades that he was rocking while defending the diamond in the late 19th century, but still, we can probably consider him the Godfather of the sunglasses movement in baseball.
Fast forward to today and we’ve got dozens of companies out there battling to protect the eyes of baseball players from the treacherous rays of the summer sun. And because of the emergence of so many companies, we decided to construct a guide listing the best baseball sunglasses out there. Here we go…
100%
Like many sunglasses and goggles companies, the history of 100% is linked to an extreme sport. In their case, it was specifically Motocross. However, their transition to creating lifestyle and active shades appears to have been seamless.
When it comes to star power, 100% is a supernova as they have locked down one of the brightest and flashiest stars in baseball: Fernando Tatis Jr. Tatis’s collection of glasses features the bright pink and yellow hues that this San Diego Padre’s star loves to rock.
Oakley
This writer’s first indoctrination into “cool” sunglasses came during the 1990s when stars like Mark McGwire and Tony Gwynn were rocking big, yet sleek shades while out on the field. I wasn’t able to scrape together the money to get the exact glasses that my big league heroes were rocking, but I’d try to find discount options to come anywhere close to the look that Tony Gwynn had below…
As you could have guessed, it was Oakley that patented this look that pro players mastered and amateurs tried to imitate. Today, Oakley probably claims the crown as THE baseball sunglasses company. They’ve never stopped innovating and have an extensive selection of baseball shades. However, their Encoders are the showstopper that features a perfect fitting to go under the brim of a hat or helmet.
Blenders
The eyewear of a nightclub DJ is what originally sparked the inspiration behind the sunglasses company now known as Blenders. And today, Blenders has a line of active and everyday shades, plus a burgeoning line of head and eyewear for snow sports. Naturally, they have pegged a few of their items as baseball friendly. But specifically, their Eclipse model of glasses features the wrap-around shape that baseball players love and a flat upper rim that should fit underneath a baseball hat or helmet. Just take a look at their Eclipse style below with the Saturn Cloud lenses…
Nike
No matter the sport, Nike always delivers. And things are no different when it comes to baseball and sunglasses.
Nike is touting more than a handful of styles that they feel can be used for baseball. However, the model that will resonate most with ball players has to be the Nike Windshield Elites. These glasses have a wrap around design and flat upper rim that players are very attracted to as it fits well beneath the bill of a hat or helmet.
Under Armour
The dedication of Under Armour to ballplayers can be seen in their sunglasses. On many different models of glasses, they offer their Tuned technology that is going to be specifically designed for baseball. This tech increases contrast and allows a ball to be spotted more quickly and tracked for longer. We think that this technology goes best with their Gameday model of glasses. The Gameday Series is giving the larger shape that most ball players are seeking these days. You’ll not only be seeing the ball clearly, but you’ll be looking sharp at the same time.
And An Ode To A Legend...
Gargoyles
There is something about flip up sunglasses that get baseball players fired up. And although images of the flip up style shades have been iconic throughout the history of baseball, it can be hard to understand their effectiveness. But if you watch below, you’ll hear Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr shed some light on the use of these glasses…
The reason a baseball player would wear the flip sunglasses would be if they had a strong aversion to wearing any type of lenses over their eyes while fielding a baseball. The flip up sunglasses allow a defender to field a baseball on the ground or at eye level without the interference of lenses, but if a ball goes high enough in the air where the sun could cause a hindrance to catch the baseball, the glasses can be flipped down to assist with seeing the ball.
Regardless of the effectiveness, we believe that this design of sunglasses looks undeniably cool. And the company that has pumped out the flip style glasses with regularity since the 90s is Gargoyles. During the 90s, the flag bearer for these shades was Ken Griffey Jr…
Sadly though, at the end of 2022. The Gargoyles brand closed up shop after 40+ years of creating glasses. It seems like these flip sunglasses will become increasingly rare until someone else decides to start creating flip glasses for baseball players once more!
__
If you’ve recently found yourself stuck in a search for your next pair of baseball sunglasses, we hope that this blog post has helped you pare down your options. There are a number of impressive brands that can meet your needs, especially in regard to giving you the look you desire when handling the infield dirt or outfield grass.
However, if you’ve made it to our site just looking to get some pointers on your next glove purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Glove Experts. They can be contacted by phone at 866-321-4568, through email by shooting a message to experts@justgloves.com or by chatting with an expert right here. We’re JustGloves and we are here for you from Click To Catch!
&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.justballgloves.com%2fblog%2fpost%2fbest-sunglasses-for-baseball%2f){kind=small}
