Top Blue Jays Player #33: Ed Sprague
Position: Third
baseman
Seasons With the
Jays: 8 (1991-98)
Stats: Games Played 888 Batting Average .245
Base Hits 773 Runs
Scored 388
Home Runs 113 RBIs 418
Doubles
170 Triples 110
Stolen Bases 2 Walks 270
A member of the 1988 United
States Olympic Baseball team, Ed Sprague was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays
in the first round (25th pick overall) in the 1988 June Amateur draft.
He had been drafted in the 1984 draft by the Boston Red Sox but did not sign.
Before winning gold for the US team, he led the Stanford Cardinal to the
College World Series Championship in 1987 and 1988.
Sprague broke into the big
leagues in 1991 when he played 31 games at third, substituting for the Jays’
regular third baseman, Kelly Gruber, who was injured. In that first season,
Sprague also played 18 games at first base and two games at catcher. At the
plate, he batted .275, hit four home runs and added 20 RBIs. His solid play at
third and his decent performance at the plate prompted many fans and media to
suggest he should take over for Gruber on a permanent basis. (For some reason,
the fans were starting to turn on Gruber, who had been an All-Star in 1990.)
In 1992, Sprague saw limited
playing time, appearing in only 22 games, 15 of them as a catcher. But his
biggest moment as a member of the Blue Jays came in the World Series against
the Atlanta Braves. In Game 2, Atlanta led Toronto 4-3 in the top of the ninth
with closer, Jeff Reardon, on the mound for the Braves. With a runner on first,
Sprague blasted a two-run home run to give the Jays a 5-4 lead in a game they
would win by that same score and tie the World Series at a game a piece.
Gruber was gone after the 1992
season, allowing Sprague to become the everyday third baseman. While not the
budding superstar his predecessor had been in the late 80s, Sprague was decent
at third, holding a .955 fielding percentage while batting .260 with 12 home
runs and 73 RBIs while batting in the number eight spot in the lineup.
In the 1993 postseason, he
batted .286 in the ALCS against the White Sox with four RBIs and while he
struggled at the plate in the World Series against Philadelphia, he did knock
in a couple of runs, including one in the Series-clinching Game 6.
After having average seasons in
1994 and 1995, Sprague’s best season offensively was 1996, even though his
batting average was a meagre .247. His power numbers, however, were the best of
his career as he slugged 36 home runs and added 101 RBIs. But his numbers
dropped off considerably in 1997 as he only hit 14 home runs and his batting
average was a bleak .228, the lowest he would have in his Blue Jays’ career.
Things didn’t improve much in
1998 and he was traded to the Oakland Athletics on trade deadline day. After
1998, he would play for five more seasons with four different teams:
Pittsburgh, San Diego, Boston, back to San Diego and Seattle in his final
season of 2001. He earned his only All-Star selection while with Pittsburgh in
1999.
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