In an effort to solve his problems hitting in day games Josh Hamilton wore a pair of specially designed sunglasses yesterday, but after going 0-for-3 he ditched the shades in his final plate appearance ... and drew a walk.
Hamilton has also tried eye drops and what Jeff Caplan of ESPN Dallas describes as “lid scrubs designed to wipe away sweat that can make its way to the eye and dry on the cornea overnight.”
And nothing has worked yet, as the reigning MVP is hitting just .111 in 18 day games this season to continue career-long struggles in the afternoon. At night he’s hitting .365 with 13 homers.
Hamilton explained to Caplan that doctors have told him having blue eyes and sweating a lot are to blame for his afternoon struggles, but that seems only semi-plausible given that plenty of other blue-eyed hitters sweat a lot and don’t see their production plummet in day games. For his career Hamilton has hit .335 with a .980 OPS at night compared to just .235 with a .717 OPS during the day.