Laser Eye Surgery from LASIK MD – LASIK Hits Home Run with Major League Players

BY GORDON WITTENMYER
Pioneer Press


They talk about the ceiling when they talk about the Metrodome's home-field advantage. They talk about the playing surface.

But rarely discussed is the stuff in between.

Because of the air pressure needed to hold the roof up, conditions inside the Metrodome can be as dry as Arizona and irritating on sensitive eyes as a glance at Denny Hocking's middle finger.

Especially for players who wear contact lenses, such as Anaheim's Troy Glaus and Darin Erstad.
It's one of the reasons the Twins' medical staff in recent years has been diligent in educating players throughout the organization about the benefits and risks of corrective laser eye surgery, or LASIK.

"I feel it just with myself in my eyes, and I have really good vision,'' Twins trainer Jim Kahmann said. "There were times when I feel the pressure in here. Because there's pumped air in here, it's going to dry out the eyes of guys with contacts.''

Over the years, Twins trainers have ordered eye drops and saline solution by the gallons. "They'd take the resin bags, weighted bats and pine tar rags out to the on-deck circle. Then they'd have to take the eyewash out there,'' Kahmann said. "It was the most used thing out of our kit.''

Twins teams in the late 1990s had as many as a half-dozen players in the lineup at once who wore contact lenses, including Marty Cordova and Todd Walker.

"They'd stand in the on-deck circle just doing this with the eyewash,'' Kahmann said, putting his head back and pretending to squirt drops into his eyes. "Then the guy would go up to bat and toss the bottle to the next guy.''

Walker had enough trouble that he often had to step out of the batter's box to blink for moisture or to put in drops.

But since the recent advances in the laser-surgery technique, the Twins have taken advantage. Minor league catcher Jeff Smith and Twins reserve outfielder Bobby Kielty are among those who have had the procedure and swear by it.

Around baseball, Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams, former Seattle catcher Joe Oliver, Atlanta pitcher Greg Maddux and Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers also have had the surgery.

Erstad, Glaus and Twins rookie outfielder Michael Cuddyer are among those who continue to wear contacts and refuse to get the surgery for fear they'll be among the rare cases where something goes wrong. Glaus is particularly adamant about keeping the surgeons away from his means of making a living.

Cuddyer said it's an ongoing debate he wages in the back of his mind.

"A lot of people get it, and I haven't heard anything bad about it, but I'm still apprehensive,'' Cuddyer said. "I'm just a little trigger shy.''

And so far, he said, he's had no problems with his contacts in the Dome, except for occasional drying out between plays in the outfield. A blink or two has taken care of it, he said, and he's never had a problem batting. In fact, his eyes bothered him more in the hot, dry weather in Oakland than in the Metrodome.

Glaus said he feels the effects of the Dome but has little trouble adjusting.

"It's drier here,'' Glaus said. "It's a dry atmosphere in here. But as long as I'm putting drops in, they do fine.''

Kielty figures that without the LASIK surgery he had over the winter of 1999-2000, he might not be having the success with the Twins that he is now.

"My eyes couldn't handle the contacts. My eyes were very sensitive and blurring up all the time,'' he said. "If this is a place that gives guys problems with contacts, I'd be a nightmare here because I had problems anyway.''