Edward Nelson Sprague Jr. (born July 25, 1967) is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

third baseman 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 u ...

. 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 The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Pacific Tigers The Pacific Tigers represent the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in intercollegiate athletics. The Tigers compete in NCAA Division I, and are currently in their second stint as members of the West Coast Conference (WCC). Con ...

for 12 seasons, from 2004 to 2015. He is now the Oakland Athletics Director of Player Development. 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.

College career and Olympics

Sprague was an

standout where he played third base helping

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

win

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divis ...

championships in 1987 and 1988. In 1986, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate ...

with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thous ...

. 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 Delta Tau Delta () is a United States-based international Greek letter college fraternity. Delta Tau Delta was founded at Bethany College, Bethany, Virginia, (now West Virginia) in 1858. The fraternity currently has around 130 collegiate chapter ...

International Fraternity. Sprague was drafted in the first round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Major league career

Sprague made his debut in 1991 for the Toronto Blue Jays and was a part of the

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment building in Amsterdam after two of its engines ...

and

1993 World Series The 1993 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 90th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the defending World Series champion and American League (AL) champi ...

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 The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

. His best individual year came in 1996 when he hit .247 with 36

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run is ...

s and 101

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

. Sprague was a regular with Toronto until 1998, when he was traded to the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

. He was granted free agency at the end of 1998, and then played for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

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 In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

, the best of his career as a regular player. In 2000, Sprague played for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and

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) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eig ...

. After becoming a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

at the end of the year, he signed with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

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 pitch In baseball, hit by pitch (HBP) is an event in which a batter or his clothing or equipment (other than his bat) is struck directly by a pitch from the pitcher; the batter is called a hit batsman (HB). A hit batsman is awarded first base, provided ...

es 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. 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 ''The Record'' is a daily newspaper based in Stockton, California, serving San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Record'' was founded in 1895 by Irving Martin as the ''Evening Record.'' It is a newspape ...

'', Sprague said he used performance-enhancing substances later banned by Major League Baseball and admitted hitting a home run with a corked bat.

Coaching career

Sprague was the head coach of the

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

team from the 2004 season until he resigned following the 2015 season. In 2016, Sprague returned to Major League Baseball as a Special Assistant to the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics. He was named Director of Player Development following the 2019 season.

Personal life

Sprague and his wife

Kristen Babb-Sprague Kristen Elizabeth Babb-Sprague (born July 29, 1968) is an American former synchronized swimmer. Babb-Sprague was awarded a gold medal in the women's solo event at the 1992 Summer Olympics after a scoring scandal. In the technical figures routine ...

, who is an Olympic Gold Medalist in

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

, 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.

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
o
Pelota Binaria (Venezuelan Winter League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sprague, Ed 1967 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Baseball players from California Boston Red Sox players Cardenales de Lara players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Cotuit Kettleers players Dunedin Blue Jays players Major League Baseball third basemen Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics National League All-Stars Oakland Athletics players Oklahoma RedHawks players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in baseball Pacific Tigers baseball coaches Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States People from Castro Valley, California Pittsburgh Pirates players Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players San Diego Padres players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Castro Valley, California Stanford Cardinal baseball players Syracuse Chiefs players Tacoma Rainiers players Toronto Blue Jays players Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games