The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim drafted Jose Jimenez in the 33rd round of the Major League Baseball Draft, but he has returned to UT to play his senior season with the Spartans in hope of winning another national championship.
‘We have so much fun here playing baseball and winning two national titles, and losing last year pretty much had a big part of it,’ Jimenez explained. ‘I wanted to come back and try to win another one, and get closer to finishing school.’
Falling short of the national championship last year was sure to have an impact on the first baseman’s choice to stay, but so did his final year in college.
‘I just wanted to come back and enjoy my senior year of school, that was my biggest thing. We’ll see at the end of the year how that goes,’ he said.
The decision to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a professional baseball player was in his hands last June, but he turned it down to return to school.
‘It was tough because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I was given the opportunity to pick and I didn’t think it was going to be this hard to decide. It was definitely tough,’ said Jimenez.
The Spartans opened up the 2009 season this week with a target on their backs, being preseason favorites to win the Sunshine State Conference.
Jimenez is looking forward to a great season and having as much fun as possible.The former first baseman defended the plate against Florida Tech in their season opener.
As for his decision to stay at UT instead of joining the Angels, Jimenez is satisfied with his choice.
‘I felt a lot better when I finally came to my decision,’ he said, ‘and I haven’t regretted it one bit.’
Olivia Glynn can be reached at oglynn@ut.edu.
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