Baseball players talk about surviving a long season one game and one day at a time.

That oft-quoted locker room phrase took on new meaning eight years ago for former Lawrence High School baseball standout Brad Harker.

In 1995 Harker, then playing semi-pro baseball in Columbus, Ohio, and possibly headed for a Major League career, was attacked and beaten almost to death. Injuries suffered in that attack eventually ended his baseball opportunities.

“I realize I probably will never get to 100 percent of where I was before the incident,” Harker said during a recent interview at his Lawrence home. “I just look at each day as another day of recovery.”

Harker spent three months in a Columbus hospital after the attack. He went through months of physical therapy, three major surgeries and a few minor ones. He had to readjust his personal attitude and life goals.

Today Harker is still blind in his right eye. Over the past few years he gradually lost much of the hearing in his right ear.

“I’ve gotten a lot better about not being able to see out of one eye,” Harker said. “I basically have a constant ringing in my ear now.”

Otherwise, Harker is physically fine. He works out three days a week with a personal trainer doing cardiovascular exercises and lifting weights.

During the summer he plays softball and has coached Little League players.

Brad Harker, who was almost beaten to death in 1995 as his baseball career was blossoming, has readjusted to life, thanks to the support of his friends and family. On Thursday, he chatted with a neighbor across the street while shooting hoops in front of his Lawrence home.

Brutal attack

But Harker’s life changed the night of July 16, 1995. He still remembers much of what happened after he went to bed in his room at an Ohio State University fraternity house where he lived while playing with the Columbus All-Americans of the Great Summer Lakes League.

Harker remembers that someone came into his room, carrying what Harker described as a metal car tool. The man knew Harker’s name.

“I remember lying there thinking, ‘What’s going on here? Something’s weird,'” Harker said.

The man then attacked him with the metal piece.

No one was ever arrested. Harker said he hasn’t heard from Columbus police for some time. The last he knew they thought they might have a couple of suspects.

“I can remember that evening, but I can’t see that person’s face in my memories,” Harker said. “Until I can do that there really is nothing the police can do.”

Harker has no idea why the man attacked him.

Changing goals

In the spring of 1996 Harker returned to Kansas State University’s baseball team, where he had played first base during his freshman and sophomore years after graduating from LHS. He had to wear a helmet while playing on the field, along with a face mask and eye protectors.

It didn’t work out, mainly because he couldn’t see out of one eye. He was red-shirted but never came back. But Harker still held out hope that his eyesight would eventually return and allow him to play baseball.

“They (doctors) said I could wake up one day and just naturally see again,” Harker said.

That hope was dashed, however, after Harker was examined by an eye specialist with the University of Iowa. The doctor told Harker the eye would never regain sight and explained to him the medical reasons why and why surgery would not do any good.

“As hard as it was for me to hear, at least then I knew,” Harker said. “I no longer woke up every morning disappointed because I still couldn’t see.”

That realization allowed Harker to get on with the rest of his life.

Although his long recovery has had many tough moments, Harker credits his family, friends and former teammates for their support in helping him and giving him motivation to continue.

“I keep telling myself that despite what has happened and what was taken away from me, I can still take care of myself,” Harker said. “I can still work. I can help other people. If you really work at it you can still be a beneficial citizen.”

Perseverance

Harker, who lives with his parents, Jay and Sue Harker, currently works in the Journal-World mail room. He has held other jobs the past few years, such as bank teller and paraprofessional educator at South Junior High School.

Harker chose to go to K-State after being initially drafted out of high school by the Chicago White Sox.

“For me, the hardest part about this is I’ll never know how far I could have gone, now,” he said. “I never got to a point where a coach said ‘you’re not good enough anymore.'”

Harker’s LHS baseball coach, Lynn Harrod, said Harker had all the tools that could have taken him to the Major Leagues. He also thinks that with the right tutelage, Harker would make a great baseball coach.

And Harrod said he was not surprised at how well Harker has overcome the physical and mental adversity.

“No matter how bad the hands have been dealt, Brad is always going to try to pull a card to make it better,” said Harrod, now an assistant principal at South Junior High School. “There’s no door that’s shut that he’s not going to try to go through.”