Why are Max Scherzer’s eyes different colors?

Max Scherzer says he’s ready to start Game 3 of ALCS

Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer will pitch for the first time in more than five weeks. He’s been recovering from a major strain in this throwing shoulder. The team did not expect him to pitch again in 2023. But the fierce competitor says he’s ready to start Game 3 of the ALCS.

ARLINGTON, Texas – All eyes will be on Texas Rangers pitcher Max Scherzer in Game 3 of the ALCS against the Houston Astros.

Fans who haven’t seen Scherzer before may notice the Rangers’ ace has two different colored eyes.

Scherzer’s left eye is dark brown and his right eye is light blue.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON – SEPTEMBER 29: Max Scherzer of the Texas Rangers blows a bubble during the first inning Mariners at T-Mobile Park on September 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

The right-hander, who was traded to the Rangers this July, has a condition known as Heterochromia Iridis where a person’s irises, the colored part of the eye, are different.

A study of 25,346 people in Vienna released in 1979 found an occurrence in 65, or 0.26%.

Scherzer has had the different eye colors since he was a baby.

“I’ve always celebrated it,” Scherzer said in 2019 before taking on the Astros in the World Series. “Whether you liked it or not, that’s who I am.”

When Scherzer was in grade school, whenever he would draw people they would have two different colored eyes, like him.

Actors with the condition include Dan Aykroyd, Elizabeth Berkley, Kate Bosworth, Mila Kunis, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Jane Seymour.

The Associated Press contributed to this report