Ed Sprague Jr.

Edward Nelson Sprague Jr. (born July 25, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball third baseman. He played 11 seasons in the major leagues from 1991 to 2001, with six different teams. He later served as the head baseball coach of the NCAA's Pacific Tigers for 12 seasons, from 2004 to 2015.[1] He is now the Oakland Athletics Coordinator of Instruction.

Ed Sprague Jr.
Third baseman
Born: (1967-07-25) July 25, 1967
Castro Valley, California
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 8, 1991, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
October 7, 2001, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average.247
Home runs152
Runs batted in558
Teams
Career highlights and awards
Medals
Men's baseball
Representing  United States
Olympic Games
1988 Seoul Team
Baseball World Cup
1988 Rome Team

Sprague is the only baseball player ever to win the College World Series, an Olympic championship, and the World Series. He is also the only baseball player to win the College World Series two years in a row and the World Series two years in a row.[2]

College career and Olympics

Sprague was an NCAA standout where he played third base helping Stanford win College World Series championships in 1987 and 1988. In 1986, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[3] He collected an Olympic Gold Medal in the 1988 Olympics on the men's baseball team. (However, because baseball was a demonstration sport that year, the medals were unofficial and did not count towards respective countries' medal counts.) He is a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity.[4]

Sprague was drafted in the first round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Major league career

Sprague made his debut in 1991 for the Toronto Blue Jays and was a part of the 1992 and 1993 World Series championships. He is particularly remembered for hitting the game-winning home run in the ninth inning of Game 2 of the 1992 Series against the Atlanta Braves. His best individual year came in 1996 when he hit .247 with 36 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

Sprague was a regular with Toronto until 1998, when he was traded to the Oakland Athletics. He was granted free agency at the end of 1998, and then played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1999, for which he made his only All-Star game appearance. That year, he hit .267 with 22 homers, 81 RBI and a .352 on-base percentage, the best of his career as a regular player.

In 2000, Sprague played for the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox. After becoming a free agent at the end of the year, he signed with the Seattle Mariners for the 2001 season, playing in 45 regular season games. He signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers in early 2002, but did not return to the major leagues.

Sprague twice led the league in getting hit by pitches and finished with a career total of 91. Sprague is the only baseball player ever to win championships in the College World Series, the Olympics, and the World Series.[5]

Sprague's final career totals include 1203 games played, 506 runs, 1010 hits, 225 doubles, 12 triples, 152 home runs, 558 runs batted in, a .247 batting average, a .318 on-base average, and a .419 slugging average.

According to a report in the Stockton Record, Sprague said he used performance-enhancing substances later banned by Major League Baseball and admitted hitting a home run with a corked bat.[6]

Coaching career

Sprague was the head coach of the Pacific Tigers college baseball team from the 2004 season until he resigned following the 2015 season.[7]

In 2016, Sprague returned to Major League Baseball as a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. He is still with the organization as the team's Coordinator of Instruction.

Personal life

Sprague and his wife Kristen Babb-Sprague, who is an Olympic Gold Medalist in synchronized swimming, have four children. Their daughter Payton attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business and currently works in the Oakland Athletics front office. Their son Jed plays baseball at University of Nevada, and was selected by the Chicago White Sox in the 37th round of the 2014 MLB Draft. His other kids are Paris and John. Sprague is an alumnus of St. Mary's High School in Stockton, California.

Sprague's father, Ed Sr., pitched in the majors from 1968 through 1976.

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Sprague's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.[8][9]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Pacific Tigers (Big West Conference) (2004–2013)
2004 Pacific 20–345–16T–7th
2005 Pacific 30–289–126th
2006 Pacific 30–259–12T–5th
2007 Pacific 16–433–18T–7th
2008 Pacific 14–415–199th
2009 Pacific 21–329–157th
2010 Pacific 31–2312–124th
2011 Pacific 17–379–158th
2012 Pacific 16–406–189th
2013 Pacific 15–397–209th
Pacific Tigers (West Coast Conference) (2014–2015)
2014 Pacific 26–2715–126th
2015 Pacific 14–3710–179th
Pacific: 250–40699–186
Total:250–406

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

References
  1. "Sprague Ex-big leaguer Ed Sprague acknowledges using Andro, amphetamines". USA Today. Associated Press. April 11, 2008. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  2. Stanford Athletics (December 7, 2020). "Ed Sprague's Title Trifecta". Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  3. "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  4. The Rainbow, vol. 132, no. 3, p. 50
  5. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080410/A_SPORTS/804100346
  6. Jason Anderson (April 10, 2008). "Sprague admits use of Andro". recordnet.com. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
  7. "#33 Ed Sprague". PacificTigers.com. Pacific Sports Information. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  8. "2012 Big West Conference Baseball Media Guide" (PDF). BigWest.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013.
  9. "2013 Big West Conference Baseball Standings". D1Baseball.com. Jeremy Mills. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
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