Jim Edmonds

James Patrick Edmonds (born June 27, 1970) is an American former professional baseball center fielder and a broadcaster for Bally Sports Midwest.

Edmonds was born on June 27, 1970, in Fullerton, California.

His parents divorced when he was a child and had joint custody.

His father's home was within a few miles of Anaheim Stadium.

He attended Diamond Bar High School in Diamond Bar, in eastern Los Angeles County.

Edmonds was selected in the seventh round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft by the California Angels.

He had injured his shoulder in his senior year of high school, causing him to fall in the draft.

Following the draft, he was assigned to the Bend Bucks, the Angels' A-Short Season affiliate in the Northwest League.

In 1988, he played in 35 games for the Bucks and hit .221 with no home runs and 13 runs batted in.

The following year, he was promoted to the Quad Cities Angels, the team's Class-A affiliate in the Midwest League.

He played in 31 games and hit .261 with 1 home run and 4 RBIs.

In 1990, Edmonds advanced to the Palm Springs Angels, the Angels' High-A affiliate in the California League.

He played 91 games and hit .293 with 3 home runs and 56 RBIs.

He remained with Palm Springs for the 1991 season, playing 60 games while batting .294 with 2 home runs and 27 RBIs.

In 1992, he was promoted to Double-A with the Midland Angels in the Texas League.

He hit .313 with 8 home runs and 32 RBIs in 70 games for Midland.

He was promoted again in 1992, moving up to the Triple-A Edmonton Trappers for 50 games, batting .299 with 6 home runs and 36 RBIs.

He played for the California/Anaheim Angels, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1993 to 2010.

Edmonds was well known for his defensive abilities, earning eight Gold Glove Awards.

He also was a prolific hitter, batting .284 with 393 home runs and an on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) of .903.

He is affectionately known by Cardinal fans as "Jimmy Baseball", "Jimmy Ballgame", and "the Jibmaster".

In 1993, Edmonds played for the new Angels Triple-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians.

He played 95 games for the team, batting .315 and hitting 9 home runs with 74 RBIs.

On September 7, 1993, the Angels promoted Edmonds to the majors for the first time.

He made his MLB debut on September 9, starting in left field against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium, going 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Edmonds collected his first major league hit on September 10 against the Toronto Blue Jays in the SkyDome, a pinch-hit double in the ninth inning off of Duane Ward.

Edmonds collected his first major league RBI on September 14 against Seattle Mariners pitcher Roger Salkeld, driving in Chad Curtis with a single.

In his September call-up 1993 season, Edmonds batted .246 in 61 at bats across 18 games.

Despite the signings of outfielders Bo Jackson and Dwight Smith in the offseason, Edmonds made the Angels' 1994 Opening Day roster.

Edmonds received sporadic playing time for the first half of the season, often pinch hitting and rarely starting games.

He did not hit his first major league home run until May 11, 1994, in a game against the Texas Rangers where he hit a 2-run shot off Rick Helling.

Through his first 50 games in 1994, Edmonds was batting .328 with a .405 on-base percentage.

By June, Edmonds began to receive more regular playing time, serving as the primary left fielder after Bo Jackson had been benched and Dwight Smith had been traded to Baltimore.

Midway through the season, Edmonds was considered by the media to be a prime candidate for the AL Rookie of the Year Award.

Although Edmonds's high averages regressed as he played more games, he finished the strike-shortened season batting .273 with 5 home runs and 37 RBIs.

He placed eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

With the departure of Chad Curtis in the offseason, Edmonds became the Angels' everyday center fielder for the 1995 season.

In his new role as the team's primary center fielder, Edmonds also emerged as a formidable power hitter; he only had 29 home runs in his 6-year minor league career and 5 in his true rookie season, leading to him being initially recognized as a contact hitter when coupled with his high batting averages.

Edmonds did not hit any home runs through the first 17 games of the 1995 season, but hit 6 with an .857 slugging percentage in an 8-game stretch from May 15 to May 23.

Edmonds received his first All-Star Game selection in 1995 and was batting .291 with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs at the All-Star break.