What's with the KISS-like eye black?

[cjw]

Watching the Jays, Orioles game on the tube...from Toronto and noticed that Roberts has eye black painted down from the corner of his eyes, along his cheeks. I assumed that it was hot in the stadium and the grease had started to run, until I saw the exact same look on Tejada and Millar, the next 2 batters.

Does this really help deflect the glare of the sun? It looks like a Gene Simmons got caught in the rain.

[metsbats]

This is what i found on wikipedia... -David


Eye black is a grease applied under the eyes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye) to reduce glare (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_pollution#Glare). It is often used by baseball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball) and American football (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football) players, where sunlight or stadium lights can impair vision of an airborne ball. Traditional grease consists of beeswax (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeswax), paraffin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraffin), and carbon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon).[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_black#_note-0) Patented antiglare stickers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Label) that emulate the grease are also manufactured, sometimes with a sports team logo printed on. According to Paul Lukas of ESPN.com, the earliest known instance of a player wearing eye black is Washington Redskins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Redskins) fullback (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullback_%28American_football%29) Andrew Farkas (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrew_Farkas&action=edit), who apparently came up with the idea on his own in 1942.
A 2003 study by Brian DeBroff and Patricia Pahk tested whether black eye grease actually had anti-glare properties. The subjects of the study were divided into three groups: wearers of eye black, wearers of antiglare stickers, and wearers of petroleum jelly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum_jelly). The subjects' vision was tested using an eye chart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_chart) while being exposed to natural sunlight. The study concluded that eye black reduced glare of the sun and improved contrast (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_%28vision%29) sensitivity, whereas commercial antiglare stickers and petroleum jelly (the control substance) were found to be ineffective.[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_black#_note-1) A further study which set to improve DeBroff's methodology also found eye black to reduce glare from the sun, but less so in blue-eyed individuals and males.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_black#_note-2)

[ahuff]

Nobody outdoes Kevin Millar (for Kiss style eye black) in MLB.

[grandpahoo]

Watching the Jays, Orioles game on the tube...from Toronto and noticed that Roberts has eye black painted down from the corner of his eyes, along his cheeks. I assumed that it was hot in the stadium and the grease had started to run, until I saw the exact same look on Tejada and Millar, the next 2 batters.

Does this really help deflect the glare of the sun? It looks like a Gene Simmons got caught in the rain.

Roberts also wears red contacts, which supposedly help him see the ball better. My guess is that he wears his eye black like that for the same reason.