The Life of Brian: Wearing Glasses, Thanks

((HT: AJC/David O'Brien))

Blurred vision and frustration continues for Braves catcher Brian McCann, who has found no relief with contact lenses and will try wearing glasses on the field for the first time in his life.

“The contacts didn’t work,” McCann said this afternoon, after returning from a two-game rehab stint at Class-A Myrtle Beach, a trip that proved fruitless in his search for a remedy to blurred vision and dryness he has experienced in his left eye since the season began.

The three-time All-Star, who’s been on the 15-day disabled list for a week, has seen three eye specialists this month and tried three different contact lenses, in addition to various ointments and medicated drops. Nothing’s worked.

“It bothered me every at-bat,” McCann said the latest attempt to solve the problem with a pair of contact lenses prescribed by an Atlanta opthalmologist on Monday.

He played two games at Myrtle Beach on Tuesday and Wednesday, going 1-for-6 with a single, a walk and two strikeouts. McCann said the eye felt OK for about 30 minutes after putting in the lens, but the problem returned despite frequent use of drops.

He was fitted for a new pair of glasses, which he wore as he spoke to reporters Friday. McCann will wear Oakley sports glasses under a hockey-type helmet facemask, the kind of mask worn by plenty of other major-league catchers.

McCann has always worn the traditional catcher’s mask over a helmet, but that gear wouldn’t work well with the glasses. He’s going to try the new setup on a rehab assignment at Class AAA Gwinnett when that team begins an eight-game homestand Monday.

McCann plans to rejoin the Braves in Philadelphia next weekend, provided things go as hoped with the glasses. He’s eligible to come off the disabled list May 8 for the series opener against the Phillies.

“I hate being on the DL,” he said. “It feels like I’m not here. It’s so early in the season, and not playing. … This is probably the toughest thing I’ve had to go through in a long time. I hate it for the team that I can’t play.”

If he’s not able to hit and catch comfortably and effectively while wearing glasses, McCann said Lasik surgery would be the last-resort option.

He has had blurry vision and dryness in his left eye since the first week of the season, and exams showed that his vision in the left eye has worsened slightly since Lasik surgery on both eyes after the 2007 season. He hasn’t had any problems with his right eye.

McCann said tests have shown his eye is completely healthy, and doctors aren’t certain what’s causing the dryness and problems when he wears contact lenses.

He has hit only .195 with two homers and seven RBIs in 13 games and had a 1-for-20 slump shortly before going on the DL a week ago.

After having Lasik surgery following the 207 season, McCann had no vision problems in 2008, when he hit .301 with 23 homers and 87 RBI to win a second Silver Slugger Award as the National League’s best hitting catcher.

Veteran backup David Ross, who signed with the Braves as a free agent in January, has handled the catching duties in McCann’s absence.

Former University of Georgia standout Clint Sammons was recalled from Gwinnett last week to take McCann’s roster spot and serve as backup to Ross. Sammons is in the starting lineup tonight.

Matt Lincoln and our friends at WBTW-TV13 in Florence/Myrtle Beach caught up with McCann as he struggled with the contact lenses...