For the past couple nights Kevin Youkilis has donned a sweet pair of goggles to help cover that nasty swollen eye after being hit with a throw from Mike Lowell. That thing looked more damaged than Brett Myers’ girlfriend in the middle of the Boston streets. Let’s hope Youk can make a full recovery and beat this swollen eye. If not, at least we can check out some really cool pair of goggles.

To help renown Youk’s new pair of eye wear I’ve come up with a list of the top 5 athletes who deserve to be recognized for their superior representation that is……The Goggled Athlete. Four of these guys just happen to play basketball, but of course, the guy who tops our list comes from the great sport of America’s past time.

Just to make things more clear, each player can make their case for claiming the top spot…but the final 2 was an absolute toss-up.

(h/t to Center Field for providing the Youk pic.)

5. Kurt Rambis

It’s not hard to recognize what Kurt’s career ended up being summarized as……he’s the guy who received a clothesline from hell from Mr. Kevin McHale. But Kurt wore his goggles (which really resemble more like a pair of dork-glasses) with pride. He still occasionally wears the goggles/nerd glasses from time to time.

4. James Worthy

Our second Laker on the board. I don’t know what type of water these guys were drinking, whatever it was, it seemed to blur their vision, or somehow decided to give these guys a phobia of eye injury. Worthy’s were better than Rambis’ because of the monstrosity and curve. It also seemed like they had a slight shade to them, especially if it was caught under the light, which is a big bonus.

3. Horace Grant

Grant makes a strong case, as he could easily be #1 because of the originality. Who wears bright white goggles? Horace Grant does! What I remember most about Horace Grant is his dunk animation that’s always payed during intermission of an NBA Jam game. He wore them, and he wore them well.

2. Lew Alcindor a.k.a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

It wasn’t just the goggles, it was the whole package that helped propel Kareem to 2nd. The afro, the beard, he looks like a monkey for Christs sake. Nothing like defending a 7′2 goggled-sportin’, afro wearin’, skyhook shootin’ son of a bitch! Kareem will forever go down as one of the bests to play the game. I wonder if a pair of his goggles are in Springfield?

1. Chris Sabo

Tough choice, but Sabo takes it by a hair. His goggles were thick……reeeeaaaal thick. Just look at the depth. Aren’t baseball players, especially position players supposed to have extremely keen eyesight? You couldn’t tell with Sabo. Rec Specs is what they’re called and Sabo, corked bat and all, somehow pulled it off quite gracefully.