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SNS sports mobileSPRINGFIELD/CLARK COUNTY BASEBALL HALL OF FAME
Hall call 'pretty cool' for Journell
North grad pitched in 2003 and 2005 for St. Louis.
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
SPRINGFIELD — The disappointment is still too fresh for Jimmy Journell. The North graduate can't look back on his baseball career fondly — not yet.
Only time will help him deal with the fact that in 2005 he was pitching for the St. Louis Cardinals and by the end of 2006, his career was over.
North graduate and former major league pitcher Jimmy Journell signs his name alongside autographs of previous inductees on a bat at the 2008 Springfield/Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the UAW Local 402 Hall on Saturday. Staff photo by Barbara J. Perenic"I'm still kind of bitter toward the game," Journell said. "I'm happy I'm out, but I'm not at that level where I've been out long enough to appreciate what I did."
The Springfield/Clark County Baseball Hall of Fame appreciates Journell's accomplishments.
Journell was inducted into the hall of fame at the UAW Local 402 Hall on Saturday, along with James "Jinx" Manuel, Bill Carter, the 1978-79 Pabst Royals and the 1953 New Carlisle Morris Ford teams.
Journell, who was introduced by his former coach, North's Mark Stoll, is the youngest person enshrined since 2002. Journell turned 30 on Dec. 29.
"It's pretty cool," Journell said. "You don't think about ever being inducted into any kind of hall of fame."
Journell appeared in seven games for the Cardinals in 2003 and five games in 2005. He was invited to spring training with the Reds in 2006 but was released in March.
Journell now lives in Cincinnati and runs his own business doing fund-raisers for high school athletic teams.
"I reached a goal I set for myself," Journell said. "As soon as I got drafted, the goal was to pitch in the big leagues, and I did that. ... Whenever I have kids and they get older and realize what I did, then I can look back and say that was pretty cool."
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