Ed Sprague

I don't see how either one of them can win it. It's like a fight between two palookas. "He's up!" "He's down!" "Looka that eye!" First one guy's on the ropes, then the other. It's a Rocky fight. Honk if you've ever heard of Ed Sprague. This is the year of the backup catcher. This is the third consecutive game in this ballpark in the postseason decided by a, presumably, banjo-hitting reserve catcher. It was the second night in a row a home run from one of them decided the game.

Before this season, Ed Sprague said he had never delivered a game-winning hit in the last at-bat for his team. Now he's making it a habit. Sprague singled off the wall in left-center field in the ninth inning Saturday night to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 9-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Sprague ended the game by hitting Jeff Montgomery's 0-2 pitch into the huge gap created by a drawn-in outfield with one out.

The Blue Jays again appear to be interested in acquiring Angel left-hander Jim Abbott, for whom they offered five players in a mid-season deal that was rejected by Angel Senior Vice President Whitey Herzog. This time, though, they hope to tempt the Angels with a package that includes catcher Ed Sprague, whose pinch-home run gave the Blue Jays a victory in Game 2 of the World Series, and they're willing to deal before the expansion draft next month.

Eight runs, 12 hits, two home runs and one roughed up Angel pitching staff. Those were the totals Tuesday night for that hard-hitting team from the American League East, and no, we don't mean the Detroit Tigers. Sure, Kirk Gibson, Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton have earned a reputation as the league's undisputed long-ball champions. But a quick check of the statistics shows that the real leaders are the Toronto Blue Jays. Remember them?

Before this season, Ed Sprague said he had never delivered a game-winning hit in the last at-bat for his team. Now he's making it a habit. Sprague singled off the wall in left-center field in the ninth inning Saturday night to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 9-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Sprague ended the game by hitting Jeff Montgomery's 0-2 pitch into the huge gap created by a drawn-in outfield with one out.

Eight runs, 12 hits, two home runs and one roughed up Angel pitching staff. Those were the totals Tuesday night for that hard-hitting team from the American League East, and no, we don't mean the Detroit Tigers. Sure, Kirk Gibson, Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton have earned a reputation as the league's undisputed long-ball champions. But a quick check of the statistics shows that the real leaders are the Toronto Blue Jays. Remember them?

There wasn't much swelling in Chuck Finley's left elbow Friday, but that had nothing to do with how hard the one-hop smash off the bat of Toronto's Ed Sprague struck him Thursday night. "It was an area that was mainly bone; there's not much to swell," Manager Marcel Lachemann said. Finley said his elbow was sore to the touch, but otherwise fine.

A look at the best and worst fielding percentage at each position and each league: BEST AMERICAN LEAGUE C--Darrin Fletcher, Toronto: .998 1B--Doug Mientkiewicz, Minnesota: 1.000 2B--Roberto Alomar, Cleveland: .991 3B--Eric Chavez, Oakland: .960 SS--Mike Bordick, Baltimore: .989 LF--B.J. Surhoff, Baltimore: 1.000 CF--Brady Anderson, Baltimore: .996 RF--Shawn Green, Toronto: .996 * NATIONAL LEAGUE C--Mike Lieberthal, Philadelphia: .997 1B--J.T. Snow, San Francisco: .

Prior to Sunday night's game between Toronto and Baltimore, the Blue Jays honored Joe Carter, the man who hit the most famous home run in team history at Toronto. It was Carter's bottom-of-the-ninth, three-run homer off Mitch Williams that defeated Philadelphia, 8-6, in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series and brought the Blue Jays their second consecutive championship. Carter, now with the Orioles, tipped his hat in appreciation as the fans gave him two standing ovations.

The Blue Jays again appear to be interested in acquiring Angel left-hander Jim Abbott, for whom they offered five players in a mid-season deal that was rejected by Angel Senior Vice President Whitey Herzog. This time, though, they hope to tempt the Angels with a package that includes catcher Ed Sprague, whose pinch-home run gave the Blue Jays a victory in Game 2 of the World Series, and they're willing to deal before the expansion draft next month.

I don't see how either one of them can win it. It's like a fight between two palookas. "He's up!" "He's down!" "Looka that eye!" First one guy's on the ropes, then the other. It's a Rocky fight. Honk if you've ever heard of Ed Sprague. This is the year of the backup catcher. This is the third consecutive game in this ballpark in the postseason decided by a, presumably, banjo-hitting reserve catcher. It was the second night in a row a home run from one of them decided the game.

There wasn't a lot of swelling in Chuck Finley's left elbow Friday, but that had nothing to do with how hard the one-hop smash off the bat of Toronto's Ed Sprague struck him Thursday night. "It was an area that was mainly bone so there's not much to swell," Manager Marcel Lachemann said. "But I can't think of a lot people who would have continued to pitch after that."

First baseman J.T. Snow, who sprinted back about 120 feet before making a spectacular diving catch of Ed Sprague's popup in front of the bleachers in foul territory Sunday, gave the SkyDome fans an assist on the play. "Certain people in the crowd were standing up like they were going to catch the ball, so I just ran right at them," Snow said. "Then I looked up again, and sure enough I was right on the ball."