He was listed at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and 195 pounds (88 kg), he batted and threw right-handed.

[1] Sprague was scouted while playing softball as a catcher in the 509th Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in Germany and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals[2] in 1966.

He entered the majors in 1968 with the Athletics, playing with them until 1969 before joining the Cincinnati Reds (1971–73), St. Louis Cardinals (1973) and Milwaukee Brewers (1973–76).

With Milwaukee in 1974, when he set career-highs in wins (7), strikeouts (57) and earned run average (2.39) in 20 games, including 10 as a starter, before damaging knee ligaments which ended his season.

His son, Ed Jr., was the Toronto Blue Jays' first pick in the 1988 draft and played in the majors from 1991 to 2001.