Hey Ump are you blind?

[argodad]

My problem was slightly different. I developed early-onset cataracts in both eyes. (Apparently, it's yet another adverse side effect of chemotherapy. ) Surgery to insert artificial lenses was not optional -- it was required. I had the operations about six months apart, and chose to have the left focused for distance and the right focused for reading. (I went against the surgeon's recommendation. He wanted to set them both for distance and have me use reading glasses.)

I'm glad I did it my way. The amazing human brain filters out the fuzzy signal and keeps the good signal. I'm 20/20 to 20/30, depending on the distance. I have glasses, but use them mainly for watching TV, because it helps me read the scores and the "crawl" at the bottom of the screen. Like debeau, I now have a nice assortment of sunglasses.

A side note. The day before my first surgery I did a doubleheader for a D-III team visiting Pensacola from Nebraska on an early-season southern road trip. They were a nice team with a really friendly and funny coach. Naturally, I was wearing glasses. The next morning I had outpatient surgery. I went by the field that evening (wearing a patch over the eye) and happened to run into the Nebraska coach. I told him that he could truthfully tell people that he once had an umpire that was so blind that he needed eye surgery the next day.