A dizzying turn Life has changed drastically for the catcher Offerman hit with his bat

He used to catch 95-mile-per-hour fastballs fired by Pedro Martínez, Bret Saberhagen, and Jon Lester in spring training. Now former Red Sox prospect John Nathans catches a large red rubber ball lobbed underhand by a physical therapist . . . sometimes.

Other times it bounces off his face and he has to stop because he’s dizzy or nauseated. Or worse, he has to go home, pull the covers over his head to shut out the world, and try again tomorrow. He can’t tolerate much outside stimuli.

On Aug. 14, 2007, Nathans was struck in the head attempting to stop a bat-wielding Jose Offerman, the former Red Sox second baseman, who charged the mound after being hit by a pitch in a game between the Bridgeport Blues and the Long Island Ducks in the independent Atlantic League. Bridgeport pitcher John Beech suffered a broken middle finger on his non-pitching hand but was spared further injury thanks to Nathan’s actions.

Offerman was arrested at the ballpark and charged with two counts of felony assault, which carried a maximum sentence of 10 years. But a Bridgeport Superior Court judge granted Offerman “accelerated rehabilitation” - two years probation - and ordered him to receive anger management treatment and pay for the medical expenses of Nathans and Beech. His record would then be expunged.

Major leaguers Tom Glavine and Torii Hunter wrote letters of support for Offerman. They said he is a good person, quiet.

“Everybody’s a good person until they do something bad,” says Nathans. “In this case, the judicial system did not hold him accountable for what he did. He assaulted two people with a bat, and if you did that on the street, you’d be in jail for a very long time.”

Nathans, 29, filed a $4.8 million suit against Offerman and the Ducks in February in US District Court in Bridgeport, claiming he suffered permanent, career-ending injuries from a concussion, inner-ear problems, vomiting, headaches, vertigo, and post-concussion syndrome.

He says the lawsuit is not about money.

“This lawsuit is all about making someone accountable for their actions,” says Nathans. “There was no resolution to this. He walked away and lived his life.