Schwartz: Nike Vision's Mission Is To Keep Youth Baseball Players Safe

By Peter Schwartz
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It's a bright sunny day as the batter digs in at the plate. The pitcher stares in at the catcher and fires a fastball that is belted into the gap in left-center. The center fielder is able to get under the ball, look into the sky and catch the ball with no difficulty.

Given the conditions, the above scenario could very well happen in a major league game. Yet it's also possible in Little League. As we get set for the hot summer months, intramural seasons are ending and that means the start of travel baseball, which can be very competitive and entertaining.

To ensure that they're on top of their game and don't lose any balls in the sun, youth baseball players need to make sure that they are wearing the best possible sunglasses.

"From a protection standpoint, kids' eyes are more susceptible to damage from the sun as they are still developing," said Stephen Tripi, the senior director of marketing of sports brands for Marchon Eyewear.

Since 2000, Marchon has been the global licensee for Nike eyewear. The company designs, manufactures, markets, and distributes sunglasses, standard eyewear and goggles on behalf of the footwear giant.

When it comes to being out in the sun, taking care of your eyes with sunglasses is no different than protecting your skin with sunscreen. Your eyes are made up of the same type of cells as your skin and they both need to be protected. This is especially the case with kids on the baseball field.

"Nike Vision" has a line of youth sunglasses with technology that goes further than the traditional UV protection. The player is protected if he or she is looking up into the sun as well as in the event of the ball making contact with the eyewear.

"We have a special Zeiss lens that better protects developing eyes from high frequency light," Tripi said. "We also design our performance sunglasses so that if an impact does occur, the frame has a safety bevel behind the lens which prohibits the lens from bouncing inward toward the eye area."

These days it shouldn't be too hard to convince kids to wear sunglasses. Since it's common for youth players to emulate professionals with a batting stance, uniform number, or even accessories like wristbands and arm sleeves, they can now do the same with Nike Vision.

Mike Trout, Alex Rodriguez, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Mark Teixeira are among the players in Major League Baseball that use the innovative Nike glasses and now youth players can wear the very same thing. The feeling is that if a big leaguer is going to wear the glasses, then the kids should, too.

"We shouldn't sacrifice on technology," Tripi said. "In fact, you could say that amateurs need the technology more than the pros."

Nike and Marchon continue to work with the best athletes in the world to help design and develop eyewear that circles the bases in terms of the necessary equipment that a player needs to be successful.

The technology is called Nike Max Optics and features a patented lens that reduces distortion across the complete curve of the lens. The end result is that the players' eyes are not being tricked by distortion into thinking that an object is slightly off from where it really is.

"If your brain thinks the object is behind or in front of where it really is, your reaction time will be delayed," Tripi said.

Just look at any Little League field and you'll see kids doing their best to follow in the footsteps of their favorite players. Whether it's that player's model bat or glove, a fancy pair of wristbands or even those colorful arm sleeves, kids like to look like big leaguers.

But while it's cool to be stylish like a major league player, it's also important for a child to protect themselves like a Rodriguez or Trout. With the sun beating down this summer, the right sunglasses are important and some of the best players in baseball are using Nike Vision from Marchon.

And that is an important way for a kid to emulate a star.

Follow Pete on Twitter at @pschwartzcbsfan. You can also follow @nikevision and @MarchonEyewear