Ed Sprague Catcher, Third Baseman and First Baseman A former Olympian catcher Ed Sprague was the Blue Jays number one draft pick in 1988. After playing with the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League AAA in 1990 and early 1991 he was called by Toronto and made his MLB debut on May 7 1991 and batted a solid .275 with 4 homers and 20 RBI in 160 at bats.He Played the first part of 1992 with Syracuse before joining the Blue Jays at the end of July and hit .234 in 22 games. In the 1992 World Series Game 2 Ed Sprague lined a game winning pinch-hit homer with a man on for the Blue Jays. Toronto won back to back World Series 1992 and 1993. Playing 3rd base Ed Sprague had a breakout 1996 season, reaching career highs in these categories 35 doubles, 37 home runs, 88 runs, 60 walks, 146 strikeouts, 146 hits, while batting .247, and was chosen MVP of the team. In 1997 he played with a tore labrum in his right shoulder and offensively had a down year in batting. And, his 225 game consecutive game played streak ended, which at the time was the third highest in Blue Jays history. In late 1988 Ed Sprague went to Oakland and the next year played with Pittsburgh and posted very fine batting numbers for the Pirates. baseballhistorian.com |
