Former Jay Ed Sprague took steroids: report
Also admits to using amphetamines, corked bat during major league career
Last Updated: Friday, April 11, 2008 | 1:12 PM ET
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While the Toronto Blue Jays were winning back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 and 1993, there's a good chance third baseman Ed Sprague was filled with performance-enhancing substances.
In a recent interview with Recordnet.com, Sprague admitted to taking steroids, using amphetamines commonly called "greenies" and playing with a corked bat to help inflate his statistics.
Ed Sprague won World Series titles with the Blue Jays in 1992 and '93.
(Otto Greule Jr./Allsport/Getty Images)
"I took andro [androstenedione], and they [Major League Baseball] banned that [in June 2004]," Sprague told the Stockton, Calif.-based website.
"So, am I the cleanest guy? No, but I tried to be as strong and as healthy as I could as long as I could for my career."
Androstenedione, an over-the-counter supplement also referred to as andro, gained public attention in 1998 during former St. Louis Cardinal Mark McGwire's pursuit of Roger Maris's single-season home run record.
Amphetamines were not banned by baseball until 2006.
"That was an ultimate part of the game," said Sprague, who didn't offer a time frame for his use of androstenedione. "It was in the locker room forever. It was either a diet pill or a caffeine pill or whatever it was to give you more energy, and that was more prevalent than anything else. Is that a performance enhancer? Yeah, I guess it is if you're dog-ass tired."
Sprague admitted to using a corked bat once in a game, but quickly gave up the practice.
"We hit with them in [batting practice] a lot," he told Recordnet.com. "I know a couple guys in the game hit with them. I hit with one in a game once, but I was so scared after I hit it. That's the last time I ever did it."
Sprague, who earned a selection to the 1999 all-star game as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, finished his 11-year career with 152 homers and 558 runs batted in.
His best season was 1996 in Toronto when he clubbed 36 homers and added 101 RBIs.
Sprague is in his fifth season as coach of the Pacific Tigers baseball team in his hometown of Stockton. The University of the Pacific competes in NCAA Division 1 primarily in the Big West Conference.
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Ed Sprague won World Series titles with the Blue Jays in 1992 and '93.
