Timely treatment helps former baseball pro survive on-field stroke with no complications

Two days after his players recognized stroke symptoms at practice, a baseball and softball coach left the hospital with zero complications or lingering effects.

Eric Harris, 53, received treatment within one hour of having an acute ischemic stroke — well within the window for receiving the two most effective available therapies.

“The next day, I was moonwalking in the hospital,” said Harris, who played six seasons of professional baseball in the Oakland Athletics organization.

“That wouldn’t have been possible without the young athletes and others who saw that something was wrong and acted quickly. They saved my life.”

While at a softball training session in June 2025, Harris didn't realize he was having a stroke. The grass of the Saline, Mich., field felt uneven. 

But before he could mention it to anyone else, he fell to the ground.

“I was able to talk, but I couldn’t move my left leg or my left arm,” he said. 

“I fully remember everything, but I did not understand what was going on.”

One of his coaches, Emily Raubuch, called 911, while her mother, Ann, called Harris’ wife, Lisa.

Within minutes, first responders arrived and transported him to University of Michigan Health in Ann Arbor.

During the drive, they identified a probable stroke, contacted the hospital and requested acute stroke activation.

“When the stroke team is activated, all the many pieces needed to care for a stroke patient move into place rapidly — like a trauma team activation,” said emergency physician Phillip Scott, M.D.

“The patient goes to the resuscitation area for immediate evaluation by a multidisciplinary team. The CT scanner is cleared, and the interventional radiology suite is placed on ready alert.”

Harris had a large vessel occlusion in his right middle cerebral artery, a critical blood vessel.

Within 15 minutes, a neurology team led by neurologist Mollie McDermott, M.D., treated him with the clot-busting medication called Tenecteplase, or TNK.

For most patients, TNK can only be given within 4.5 hours, but for some it can be considered beyond this window.

Harris was also deemed a candidate for endovascular thrombectomy, or EVT, a minimally invasive procedure during which the clot is extracted to restore blood flow.

Aditya Pandey, M.D., Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery, performed the EVT less than 90 minutes after Harris got to the hospital.

“This is a case in which swift action was taken every step of the way — from identification of stroke symptoms to hospital transport and treatment delivery — to ensure that Mr. Harris had the best chance to recover without neurological complications,” McDermott said.

Harris left the hospital having recovered all movement and feeling on his left side.

During rehabilitation, he swung golf clubs to prepare for an outing he played the following week.

The next month, he and Lisa, who were married in late 2024, went on their honeymoon.

Harris returned to the diamond in August to resume coaching baseball and softball.

“I’m very sensitive to everything that happens with my body now,” Harris said. 

“My experience is an example of why it is so important to know the signs of a stroke.”

To identify signs of a stroke, remember the acronym B.E. F.A.S.T.: