James Richard Journell (born December 29, 1977), is an American former

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who played for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in 2003 and 2005.

Amateur career

Journell was born in Springfield, Ohio. He graduated from North High School and attended the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

. In 1998, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

Journell was selected by the

in the 4th round of the

1999 MLB Draft The 1999 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, was held on June 2 and 3, 1999. A total of 1474 players were drafted over the course of 50 rounds. First round selections ...

, and was selected for the US team in the 2002 All-Star Futures Game. He was once a highly regarded prospect in the Cardinals' minor league system (even considered the team's best prospect according to '' Baseball America''), but had control and injury problems in the Major Leagues. After posting an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) of 6.00 in seven games in 2003, Journell suffered a right shoulder injury in 2004, forcing him to undergo season-ending surgery. In 2005, he was 0–1 with a 10.38 ERA in five appearances for the Cardinals. On December 1, 2005 he signed a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds, but was later released on March 20, 2006, He spent the 2006 season with the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Journell, Jimmy 1977 births Living people Bridgeport Bluefish players Cotuit Kettleers players Illinois Fighting Illini baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New Haven Ravens players New Jersey Cardinals players Potomac Cannons players St. Louis Cardinals players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Memphis Redbirds players Waterloo Bucks players