Edward James Jurak (born October 24, 1957) is an American retired baseball player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for parts of six seasons, from 1982 through 1989. Jurak played for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

from 1982 to 1985, the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in 1988 and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in 1989. After Boston released him in spring training of 1986, he played on the independent San Jose Bees of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

that season. Jurak spent 1987 in the minor leagues for the Texas Rangers organization before returning to the big leagues in 1988. One of the finest moments of Jurak's career occurred during the

Triple-A All-Star Game The Triple-A All-Star Game was an annual baseball game held from 1988 to 2019 between professional players from the affiliated Triple-A leagues of Minor League Baseball. These leagues were the International League (IL) and Pacific Coast League (P ...

in 1988. The game was nationally televised as a way to introduce the baseball audience to the best prospects in the sport. That night, Jurak, at the age of 30 and hitting .314 for

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

, the top farm club of the Oakland A's, tripled and scored in the ninth inning as the American League defeated the National League 2-1. The National League had tied the game at one via a home run hit by

Gregg Jefferies Gregory Scott Jefferies (born August 1, 1967) is an American former infielder/outfielder in Major League Baseball who had a 14-year career from 1987 to 2000. He was a highly touted prospect who became the first two-time winner of the ''Baseball ...

. Jurak was a utility player, playing in the field at

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

, and as an

outfield The outfield, in cricket, baseball and softball is the area of the field of play further from the batsman or batter than the infield. In association football, the outfield players are positioned outside the goal area. In bat and ball games ...

er in his major-league appearances. As a minor leaguer, Jurak won the 1981 Eastern League batting title with the

Bristol Red Sox The Bristol Red Sox baseball club was an American minor league baseball franchise. Based in Bristol, Connecticut, it was the Double-A Eastern League farm system affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for ten seasons (1973–82) and played at Muzzy Fie ...

(AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox). Because of his Croatian ancestry, Jurak's 1989 Giants teammates nicknamed him "Croatian Man" in the clubhouse.

References

External links

Sons of Sam Horn wiki: Ed Jurak
– Red Sox-centric wiki resource. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jurak, Ed 1957 births Living people Acereros de Monclova players American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American people of Croatian descent Baseball players from Los Angeles Boston Red Sox players Bristol Red Sox players Calgary Cannons players Diablos Rojos del México players Elmira Pioneers players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball infielders Mobile Baysharks players Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma City 89ers players Pawtucket Red Sox players Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Bees players Tacoma Tigers players Tulsa Drillers players Winston-Salem Red Sox players Winter Haven Red Sox players San Pedro High School alumni