Lopez Eyes Return to Stardom

His name appears on baseball cards, box scores and major league scoreboards, but this Javy Lopez is not a professional baseball player. If it wasn’t for a freak accident three years ago, though, he could have been.

Lopez is a senior on the Harvard baseball team. He is the team’s leadoff hitter and starting left fielder. He also is completely blind in his left eye.

During his freshman year, in a preseason practice, Lopez was pitching soft toss on the sidelines when he was struck in the eye by a line drive off a teammate’s bat. Lopez was only 30 feet away from home plate, two-times closer than the pitcher’s mound.

In an instant, a world-class high school recruit with major league aspirations was transformed into an inpatient at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary without his sight or the ability to walk.

It was a horrific turn of events for Lopez, who one year earlier was mulling offers from the University of Miami (Fla.) and Florida St. to play baseball. He had even considered going straight to the majors from high school. But when Harvard Coach Joe Walsh called Lopez and asked him to make a recruiting trip up north, the high school superstar fell in love with Cambridge.

“I visited during two February days and the weather was beautiful,” Lopez said. “I remember asking my hosts, ‘Is this how it always is up here?’ I’m not sure if Coach Walsh talked to them before hand, but they told me ‘yes.’ So, that sealed the deal. I thought, ‘this isn’t so bad.’”

After discussions with his parents, Lopez decided that Harvard was the place for him. Though Miami and Florida St. are perennially ranked in the top 10 in the country, Lopez believed that obtaining an education was a top priority.

“In the back of my mind, I knew that getting an education gave me a fallback option in case I got injured and could not play baseball,” Lopez said.

Lopez planned on attending Harvard for two or three years, hoping to improve his draft prospects and then leave early to play professionally. As a high school senior, dozens of scouts attended Lopez’ games and approached him after games. An Atlanta Braves official told Lopez that if he declared himself eligible for the draft out of high school, Atlanta would likely take him in the fifth or sixth round—giving the Braves two Javy Lopezes.

Throughout high school, Lopez’s life revolved around baseball. At Westminster Christian, Lopez won a national championship and two state titles. Westminster is the same school that produced Alex Rodriguez. Lopez, in fact, became personal friends with Rodriguez, who still returns to Westminster every offseason as a conditioning coach.

Groomed to be a star, Lopez was devastated when he heard his doctor’s diagnosis of his eye injury.

“The head of optometry told me I would have the motor functions of a 65-year old man,” Lopez said. “He ruled out baseball as an option and just wanted me to focus on learning how to walk again.”

At first impact, Lopez was completely blind. The massive swelling caused total blackness in his left eye. Lopez broke seven bones around his eye and needed immediate reconstructive surgery.

Within a week, the swelling went down and Lopez began his recovery, working on regaining his balance. Without sight in his left eye, Lopez had virtually no depth perception and struggled to walk without tripping. He was forced to move out of Matthews Hall—where he lived on the fifth floor—because he would trip over the stairs.

Lopez progressed quickly, but doctors and even his parents doubted he could ever play baseball again.

“My parents were going to support whatever I tried, but to be honest, it was the first and only time when I truly felt alone,” Lopez said. “My parents were receiving word from doctors who thought it was impossible for me to play. They didn’t discourage me from trying, but I could always tell that they were skeptical and didn’t want me to be too hard on myself if I couldn’t do it.”

Three months after he was struck, Lopez began to swing a bat. He practiced with the team and amazingly had played in three games by year’s end. But in the batter’s box, the freshman was confused by what he was seeing—and not seeing.

“Without depth perception, I was completely baffled on anything that wasn’t a fastball. I would swing and miss the ball by two feet,” Lopez said. “Plus, as a right-handed hitter, my left eye is my power eye. I hit for power in high school [belting five home runs as a senior], so I’ve had to completely alter my swing just to put the ball in play.”

After practicing hard during the off-season, Lopez proved his critics wrong during his sophomore year, cracking the lineup in 22 games, eight as a starter. Lopez hit .290 on the year with six doubles in 31 at-bats.

Last season, Lopez continued to improve, ending the season third on the team with a .314 batting average and peaking at .351 after going 4-for-5 in a 17-5 victory against Cornell on April 7.

“I would say I have completely recovered from the injury [physically], but I’m still only 80 percent of what I was,” Lopez said. “I still have some trouble with change-ups, but I’m getting better. I have learned that I see the ball in one place and must swing in another to connect solidly. But I am getting to know where that place is, and I’m feeling really comfortable getting ready for the Ivy League season.”

What Lopez has done—returning to the field with his vision severely impaired—is virtually unprecedented in baseball. Former Minnesota Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett had to retire when glaucoma took away his sharp eyesight.

Last summer, ex-Red Sox righthander Bryce Florie successfully completed a comeback from a line drive back to the mound that permanently blurred his vision. But according to Lopez, Florie had a major advantage being a pitcher in the American League—he didn’t have to bat.

“There is a huge difference between eye injuries to hitters and pitchers,” Lopez said. “If I was a pitcher, I don’t think it would be as bad because my main problem is depth perception, and that only drastically alters my hitting.”

Since Lopez has returned to the field, he has no fear of getting re-injured.

“I realize it was a freak accident,” Lopez said. “If I’m afraid of the ball, I will never be able to hit. I will duck out of the way instead of stepping into it.”

Despite his composure and success on the field, Lopez still senses hints of insecurity from teammates and coaches.

“Just a couple weeks ago, when the team was in Florida, Coach Walsh came up to me and asked me if I could see the ball,” Lopez said. “He doesn’t want me to get hurt and is still scared sometimes. But it doesn’t bother me. I feel great.”

So what’s next for Lopez? Would he consider making another run at the majors as the first one-eyed hitter to break the big leagues?

Probably not. Instead, Lopez is focusing on another challenge—law school.

“Before my injury, I never, ever would have thought of going to law school,” Lopez said. “All I wanted to do was play major league baseball. Harvard, however, has opened other doors for me. I’m planning on going to law school at George Washington next year. How things can change.”