Visionary Exercises

Teig had already renamed his office the Institute for Sports Vision. As it happened, many staffers from Tennis and Golf Digest magazines in nearby Trumbull were among his patients. One referral led to another, and the practice began to grow. "I'm not saying we haven't had problems," says Teig. "Sometimes the medical establishment associated with a team would refuse to let us do our thing. Or the distance to our office created logistic problems."

One solution was to take the show on the road. A huge van, or "mobile eye gym," brings the institute's equipment to tennis camps, golf schools and spring training sites. This year the institute hopes to set up six regional offices, called the Vision Institutes of America, which will be staffed by optometrists, ophthalmologists and vision trainers. Clearly Teig has his sights set on success.

Jim Kaplan is the co-author, with Ira Berkow, of a book published last year about Casey Stengel.