Sprague Admits Steroid Use

Former Jays third sacker Ed Sprague has admitted steroid use.

 Sprague also admited he used amphetamines, also known as “greenies” in baseball circles.

 “It was in the locker room forever,” Sprague said of the drug, which heightens awareness and energy and was in widespread use in baseball from the 1940s until it was banned by the sport in 2005. “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 also said he began to take steroids around the time he hit his career high in homers (36) in 1996. Sprague never topped 22 HR in any other season. At the time of Sprague’s use, androstenedione and amphetamines were not illegal.

“I took andro, and they (baseball) banned that,” Sprague told Recordnet.com in his hometown of Stockton, Calif., referring to androstenedione, a performance enhancer made famous by Mark McGwire that was available in stores until it was banned in the United States under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004. 

Sprague, who also said he took one at-bat with a corked bat before becoming too scared to do it again, was not mentioned in the recent Mitchell Report on steroid use in baseball.

“Well, amphetamines are illegal now, too, and I took those, so am I going to stand on one side and not the other side? . . . 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,” Sprague said.

He’s no Kelly Gruber, that’s for sure.