This Post's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades

It truly does seem like there is a "National Day of *Insert Random Object or Cause" here every single day now.  I suppose the encroachment of social media upon our everyday lives has made these usually trivial "celebrations" more into the mainstream, as people grasp onto anything for attention on Twitter, Facebook, Snap Chat, etc.  However, for the most part, it's harmless fun and draws our focus away from the stresses of life and the often all out disgust and vitriol which usually populates the timelines, walls, feeds, etc.  

Today's "National Day of Whatever" happens to be National Sunglasses Day.  For the most part, I've had the same pair of cheap sunglasses for darn near ten years now... seriously cheap too, as they actually came from a Halloween costume store; however, that's not important right now.  What is important, is that I'm not really clear on how one is supposed to celebrate this occasion.  That said, at least (from where I reside) it's a bright sunny day and the weather is perfectly appropriate for breaking out the stunner shades.  So, without any further ado, it's time to comb through my CATRC binder and see which Cubs decided to rock their UV protection on their baseball cards:

As if Javy Baez needs to look any cooler.  Of course, these sweet shades could be entirely necessary, seeing as this die-cut, Top Prospects insert from Bowman Platinum from a few years back is so shiny that it actually might be capable of burning corneas if viewed unprotected.

Here we have a pair of outfielders who know that while playing in the confines of Wrigley Field, the sun can be anything but friendly.  That being said, Brian McRae is obviously playing in some other park on this UD Collector's Choice single, but my statement still stands.

Jonathan Herrera, I assume, is sliding back into first on a pick off attempt and, though that's not the protection his glasses are designed for, I can only hope that his shades helped to deflect some of that dirt and dust from his eye balls.  That can be downright painful, am I right?

A lot of catchers throw shade at the umpire, especially when strike calls are blown - not Tim Federowicz.  No, no - the short-term Cubs catcher (who didn't stick around long enough for a Cubs card) is showing off the shade instead on his 2012 Topps rookie card.  No word on if the signal caller was impressed, but you have to try everything to curry the blue's favor.

Surprisingly, there weren't too many examples of sunglasses on Cubs baseball cards, at least in this particular binder.  I guess the manufacturers like to focus on photographs that actually allow you to see the player's face and allow the collector to identify the athlete, most of the time - go figure.  That said, I did come across one final sunglasses card and, boy oh boy, is it a doozy:

To be fair, I'm not entirely sure that Mr. Earley isn't just sporting his regular eye-ware on his vintage 1967 Topps card.  However, the yellowish tint on those vaguely aviator-like, artifacts of their time glasses is so dark that I have to believe that they at least helped somewhat with the glare from the sun.  At any rate, I will take any excuse I could come up with to show off this card because... I mean... just look at it!

As an added bonus, this is the veteran reliever's only mainstream baseball card and, thus, his only Chicago Cubs card.  Therefore, this glorious piece of vintage won't ever be knocked out of my CATRC.  Strange though, that the eight-year MLB starter would only receive one card from Topps, especially since 7 of his 8 years in the Bigs were spent with the Red Sox, whose jersey you can clearly see he is sporting on the card in question.

So, there you have it, a handful of shaded Cubs in celebration of National Sunglasses Day.  Now, in order to continue properly celebrating this momentous holiday, I highly encourage you to go out and enjoy what's left of this beautiful, summer day... with proper UV protection, of course!