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On the Effects Of Lasik Surgery on Hitters

By Matthew Namee
September 22, 2008

            It puzzles me that no one has done a thorough research project on the issue of the effects of Lasik surgery on hitters, and add me to the list of people who haven’t done that.   All I have done is a little study updating previously published research.   It’s very incomplete, based on my old study and what I could find on Google in 20 minutes of searching.

I identified 26 major league hitters who had Lasik surgery. I’ve excluded Cristian Guzman and Jason Kendall, who had the surgery before this season. I am sure that there are many more than 26 players who have had the procedure… I just can’t find them all. It appears that nobody has systematically studied this issue since I did my initial study in 2004. Maybe I’m missing something, but I can’t find a single study other than my own.

Anyway, the 26 hitters, in the Before year, were, on average 29 years old. They hit .275 in 458 plate appearances, .353 on-base percentage, .441 slugging. Their Isolated Power was .166 and their Isolated Discipline (OBP minus AVG) was .078.

In the After year, the batting averages and on-base percentages were eerily similar - .276 and .354. However, the average slugging percentage shot up to .475, a jump of .034 in Isolated Power. This was in 443 plate appearances, a bit of a decline from the previous year.

For whatever reason, Lasik seems to affect power far more than it does batting average or plate discipline. Obviously this is a very, very rough study, but it’s apparently the best thing anyone’s yet done (at least in the public forum

            This chart summarizes the performance of these 26 hitters in the year before they had their eyeballs sanded:

Player

Year

Age

PA

AB

Hits

Avg

OBA

Slg

I Power

Bob Hamelin

1996

28

299

239

61

.255

.391

.435

.180

Greg Vaughn

1997

31

422

361

78

.216

.322

.393

.177

Bernard Gilkey

1998

31

419

365

85

.233

.320

.315

.082

Wally Joyner

1998

36

494

439

131

.298

.370

.453

.155

Mike Lansing

1998

30

638

584

161

.276

.325

.411

.135

Al Martin

1998

30

479

440

105

.239

.296

.364

.125

Bobby Hughes

1998

27

237

218

50

.229

.284

.404

.175

Wade Boggs

1998

40

483

435

122

.280

.348

.400

.120

Jose Cruz Jr.

1999

25

414

349

84

.241

.358

.433

.192

Bernie Williams

1999

30

697

591

202

.342

.435

.536

.194

Todd Dunwoody

1999

24

200

186

41

.220

.270

.317

.097

Jeff Bagwell

1999

31

729

562

171

.304

.454

.591

.287

Trot Nixon

1999

25

447

381

103

.270

.357

.472

.202

Frank Catalanotto

2001

27

512

463

153

.330

.391

.490

.160

Chris Truby

2001

27

152

136

28

.206

.276

.441

.235

Larry Walker

2002

35

553

477

161

.338

.421

.602

.264

Frank Catalanotto

2002

28

250

212

57

.269

.364

.443

.174

Rocco Baldelli

2003

21

684

637

184

.289

.326

.416

.127

Troy Glaus

2003

26

367

319

79

.248

.343

.464

.216

Jeff Cirillo

2003

33

293

258

53

.205

.284

.271

.066

Rich Aurilia

2003

31

545

505

140

.277

.325

.410

.133

David Dellucci

2004

30

387

331

80

.242

.342

.441

.199

Jay Gibbons

2004

27

380

346

85

.246

.303

.379

.133

Michael Young

2004

27

739

690

216

.313

.353

.483

.170

Jhonny Peralta

2006

24

632

569

146

.257

.323

.385

.128

 

 

29

458

404

111

.275

.353

.441

.166

             And this chart summarizes their performance in the seasons AFTER the surgery:

Player

Year

Age

PA

AB

H

Avg

OBA

Slug

I Power

Bob Hamelin

1997

29

369

318

86

.270

.366

.487

.217

Greg Vaughn

1998

32

661

573

156

.272

.363

.597

.325

Bernard Gilkey

1999

32

241

204

60

.294

.379

.500

.206

Wally Joyner

1999

37

386

323

80

.248

.363

.350

.102

Mike Lansing

1999

31

155

145

45

.310

.344

.455

.145

Al Martin

1999

31

593

541

150

.277

.337

.506

.229

Bobby Hughes

1999

28

106

101

26

.257

.292

.366

.109

Wade Boggs

1999

41

334

292

88

.301

.377

.377

.076

Jose Cruz Jr.

2000

26

681

603

146

.242

.323

.466

.224

Bernie Williams

2000

31

616

537

165

.307

.391

.566

.259

Todd Dunwoody

2000

25

195

178

37

.208

.238

.275

.067

Jeff Bagwell

2000

32

719

590

183

.310

.424

.615

.305

Trot Nixon

2000

26

502

427

118

.276

.368

.461

.185

Frank Catalanotto

2002

28

250

212

57

.269

.364

.443

.174

Chris Truby

2002

28

404

382

82

.215

.238

.314

.099

Larry Walker

2003

36

564

454

129

.284

.422

.476

.192

Frank Catalanotto

2003

29

535

489

146

.299

.351

.472

.173

Rocco Baldelli

2004

22

565

518

145

.280

.326

.436

.156

Troy Glaus

2004

27

242

207

52

.251

.355

.575

.324

Jeff Cirillo

2004

34

81

75

16

.213

.259

.293

.080

Rich Aurilia

2004

32

450

399

98

.246

.314

.353

.107

David Dellucci

2005

31

518

435

109

.251

.367

.513

.262

Jay Gibbons

2005

28

518

488

135

.277

.317

.516

.239

Michael Young

2005

28

732

668

221

.331

.385

.513

.182

Jhonny Peralta

2007

25

647

574

155

.270

.341

.430

.160

 

 

30

443

389

107

.276

.344

.454

.184

Matthew Namee's original article from 2004:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/new-eyes-better-bats/

​
 
 

COMMENTS (8 Comments, most recent shown first)

enamee
Brandon, the problem with using 3-year averages is the age difference. The average player in the study was 29 in the Before year, 30 in the After year. Almost every player in baseball will be better from 27-29 than from 30-32. In my other article (Lasik II), where I matched Lasik players to a non-Lasik Control group, I suppose 3-year comparisons might be more appropriate.
12:10 PM Oct 31st
 
bheikoop
Your study doesn't really allow for any irregular jumps, a 'lucky' or 'unlucky' season. I think this would become more accurate if you took a look at 3 year averages.
11:04 PM Oct 22nd
 
evanecurb
Matthew: Good study and interesting topic. Reminds me of comments I heard about two players - (1) Jim Rice, who supposedly was too vain to wear glasses as he aged and this accelerated his decline. (2) Mitchell Page, who was terrible in his first few weeks with the 1974(?) Salem Pirates (my hometown at the time) then got glasses and all of a sudden became a great prospect. He later had a couple of good seasons with Oakland in the late seventies.
6:45 PM Sep 24th
 
enamee
You make a good point about glasses/contacts. I'd guess that every single player who got Lasik previously wore contacts when he played. In which case, as you say, the improvement with Lasik would be minimal.
8:57 AM Sep 24th
 
monahan
Is it possible that a MLB hitter with glasses/contacts doesn't have an appreciable real sight difference once lasik is completed, because glasses/contacts are designed to do the same job with less permanence? I mean, did any of these players opt for lasik without needing glasses or contacts beforehand?

I'd guess that what we're seeing in the SLG increases, then, is essentially placebo effect. Basically, their skills are no different, but they have more confidence and are thus apt to swing a little harder (believing their 'new' eyes make it possible to focus less on 'just putting the ball in play').

Great study. I'd love to see an in-depth version, especially one that focused on hitters without glasses/contacts undergoing lasik.
3:22 AM Sep 24th
 
enamee
Okay, I have an answer: In the Before years, the players had an average K:BB of 76:47. In the After years, it was 74:45. In other words, there was no change.
9:26 AM Sep 23rd
 
enamee
Good question. I'll try to do that soon, unless someone beats me to it.
3:16 PM Sep 22nd
 
Trailbzr
Could you easily compare their strikeout/walk ratios?
That would seem the most directly vision-related commonly measured batting skill.
12:56 PM Sep 22nd
 
 
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