- Ed Sprague (pitcher)
Edward Nelson Sprague, Sr. (born
September 16 1945 inBoston, Massachusetts ) is a formerpitcher inMajor League Baseball who played for four different teams between 1968 and 1976. Listed at 6' 4", 195 lb., he batted and threwright-handed .A hard-thrower, Sprague did not play at school level. He was scouted while pitching in the Army in
Germany and was signed by theSt. Louis Cardinals in 1966. A year later he was sold to theOakland Athletics . He entered the majors in 1968 with the Athletics, playing for them until 1969 before joining theCincinnati Reds (1971-1973 ["start"] ), St. Louis Cardinals (1973 ["mid"] ) andMilwaukee Brewers (1973 ["end"] -1976). He filled various pitching roles, coming out from thebullpen as a closer or a middle reliever, and as an occasional starter as well. His most productive season came in 1974 with Milwaukee, when he set career-highs in wins (7),strikeout s (57) andearned run average (2.39) in 20 games, including 10 as a starter, before damaging knee ligaments during the midseason which ruled him out for the year.In an eight-season career, Sprague posted a 17-23 record with 188 strikeouts and a 3.84 ERA in 198 games, including 23 starts, three
complete game s, nine saves and 408.0innings pitched .Following his playing career, Sprague became the owner of the
Stockton Ports and his wife the owner of theLodi Crushers , both teams based in theCalifornia League . His son, Ed Jr., was theToronto Blue Jays ' first pick in the 1988 draft and played in the majors from 1991-2001.ources
*baseball-reference|id=s/spraged01
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/ed-sprague-1.shtml The Baseball Cube]
* [http://www.baseballlibrary.com/baseballlibrary/ballplayers/S/Sprague_Ed.stm Baseball Library]
* [http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/S/Psprae101.htm Retrosheet]
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