Former Cardinals center fielder, Jim Edmonds, has worn several hats throughout his 17-year career in the big leagues. The 50-year-old former pro baseball player, known by some as one of best center fielders of his generation, celebrated many great moments in his Major League Baseball career. Besides being a Silver Slugger Award winner and a Gold Glove Award winner, in 2006, Jim helped the St. Louis Cardinals win their first World Series title since 1982. But, as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
“I think sometimes when you get a little older, you just have to let it go. I had a long career and you know you can't play forever. I’m pretty satisfied with the way my career ended,” says Jim.
In 2013, he began a new career when Fox Sports Midwest hired him as an analyst on their St. Louis Cardinals broadcasting crew. He is now in his fifth year of doing both the pregame and the postgame, and broadcasting the games.
“It was a little hard to get used to, but I'm really starting to enjoy it a lot more each time I do it. I also just really enjoy being in the organization. I was assistant to the president the last two years and liked that because it gave me access to the players to help with coaching,” Jim explains.
Now the man affectionately known by Cardinals fans as, "Jimmy Baseball" and "Jimmy Ballgame," is entering a new chapter in his life and he’s especially looking forward to the new hat he’ll be wearing, as a great St. Louis father, and new St. Louis homeowner.
“Right now, I’m just living for my family. I have seven great kids, the two oldest are in their late twenties and living in California. Then I have five younger kids, all here in St. Louis,” he says.
St. Louis and the Redbirds always held a special place in his heart, so when St. Louis property that he’d been keeping an eye on came up for sale, he snatched it up and began building his dream home.
“I got lucky enough to buy 3 acres, so I moved in and I'm still trying to finish the house,“ he says. “I've been here now off and on for almost 21 years and always kept a home here. My kids are here going to school, and I'm now anchored down completely.”
The home, located in Frontenac, is approximately 20,000 square feet with plenty of room for all the kids. There are seven bedrooms, and an apartment above the garage for when his parents come into town. And, to say “it is kid friendly” would be an understatement. There’s a batting cage, bowling alley, pool, work out gym, and a basketball court in the garage so the kids can continue playing in the winter. Besides putting down permanent roots and finishing his dream home, Jim also has a new love in his life.
“I'm in a really good place right now. Kortnie is an amazing woman. We’re really good together and the kids love her. She is so great with them, and is doing an amazing job. I give her a lot of credit for how she's handling it," says Jim.
Kortnie O'Connor is a 35-year-old model and real estate agent from Los Angeles. She and Jim met in the past but had not kept in touch. After his separation, they ran into each other. He asked her to be his date for Albert Pujol’s birthday party and she accepted.
“She’s definitely changed me for the better, as far as my eating habits and the way I address certain things. It's obviously early in the dating phase at 9 or 10 months, but she’s probably the best thing that’s ever happened to me. She lets me be myself and that’s really important to me,” he adds.
In March of this year, Jim unfortunately found out he’d contracted COVID-19.
”It wasn't bad at first, then all of a sudden I started feeling terrible. I finally went to the ER and they told me I was positive and had pneumonia. I went home and just rode it out until it slowly went away. A few of us got it, but thank God not the little ones. No one else had the pneumonia, but everyone had the sweats and the loss of taste and some of the other symptoms,” Jim explains.
The Edmonds' home is a joyous place filled with love and laughter. Jim's oldest daughter is pregnant, and he soon will become a grandfather for the first time.
“We had an amusing mishap when my daughter and Kortnie planned to shoot the announcement of the baby’s gender out of a cannon. My second daughter had the cannon backwards so it shot out that she was having a boy when it’s really a girl. It was pretty funny,” Jim chuckles.
The home is decorated exquisitely for the holidays, as every one of his homes have always been.
“I’ve always wanted to really decorate because I grew up with not a whole lot. My house was never decorated, never very festive as a kid, so I wanted to make sure that I went a little bit overboard with it from time to time,” he says.
Elegant Events by MJ has turned the Edmonds' home into a magical holiday vision as they have done with his other homes every year. “They’re incredible. They’ve always done an amazing job. I just love it, and my kids love it. It really brings the holidays back home, and that's how I wanted it to be for my kids because I didn't have it for myself," Jim confides.
Jim teases about having enough kids to almost create his own baseball team. He’s not there yet, but all in all, this Major Leaguer seems to have everything else for which he’s looking.“I've been very blessed. I have amazing friends and children and an amazing lifestyle that I’ve worked hard for, and I'm just going to enjoy it and be thankful for what I have.”
For more decorating info, visit ElegantEventsByMJ.com/j