Generally, in sports, athletes who need glasses don't wear them.
They prefer goggles -- think of Horace Grant or the eternally-bespectacled Chris Sabo.
They'll wear contacts or go get laser eye surgery. Maybe they'll even risk having nothing on and get hit in the face by a ball rather than look, as some people who think they're really cool might say, "not cool."
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Star softball pitcher Sam Landry, like a certain fictional star pitcher, seems to be bucking that trend.
And why shouldn't the first overall pick in the very first iteration of the AUSL -- a groundbreaking new women's professional softball league -- be that person to make glasses on a playing field the chic choice?
Like any pro athlete, Landry's initial glasses-wearing-on-the-pitcher's-mound foray began as a superstition.
"I never wore them for games until my junior year of high school," Landry said. "I randomly decided to put them on one day and then I threw a perfect game. So, I've been wearing them ever since."
And ever since? That's also been pretty good.
The recent graduate had a storied career at both the University of Louisiana and University of Oklahoma. She put up 43 complete games, 19 shutouts, an 88-25 record and a 2.07 ERA. She was named Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s Pitcher of the Year in 2023. She threw a no-hitter in February of that same year. She led the Sooners to the College World Series this past season.
Oh, and she pitched another perfect game this past spring. With those superpower'd blue light frames around her face.
Landry said her glasses used to have some brown in them, but she's mostly used the clear ones she now wears pitching for the Volts.
You might also wonder how she keeps them from sliding off her face -- that's another reason why athletes usually prefer goggles or contacts. Landry, actually, had no idea how they stayed still for a long time. But then she found out one day by accident.
"I did my hair one day and I put my glasses on, but then I forgot to put mascara on or something," she told me. "So I went to take them off, and they were stuck. And I was like, 'I think I put them on so soon after I do my hair, that they stick to the hair spray.'"
Bartolo Colon could've used this advice for his helmets.
And the glasses, magical as they may be, have seemed to take on a life of their own.
You can order your own custom pair online, Landry jokes they're sentient, 'they're like, we're just gonna stay right here [on your face], thank you,' and, most importantly, they're gaining a following on social media and among fans watching in the bleachers.
"Yeah, at the University of Oklahoma, they started selling the glasses," Landry laughed. "Some regular blue-light glasses. I signed a bunch of them. People bought them. I don't know, it was just really cool to see."
They're undeniably cool. They're helping her make an impact. They're attracting little girls to one of the fastest growing sports in the country ... that now has an exciting, superstar-driven pro league to dream of being a part of.