Cincinnati Reds superstar Joey Votto’s glorious career ended not with a bang but with a whimper. Votto retired on Wednesday after a storied 17-year Major League career, the entirety of which was spent with the Reds. Although the last years of his career were spent as an off-injured, part-time player, we are mindful to remember when he was a real difference maker on the diamond.
So, rather than just say goodbye to an all-time great, lets instead celebrate his triumphs, his record-breaking accomplishments, and also some disappointments he faced during his big-league career. This is your baseball life, Joey Votto.
Joey Votto’s Early Career
Toronto born Votto was selected by the Reds out of high school in the second-round (44th overall pick) in the 2002 Major League Baseball (MLB) Amateur Draft. He made a steady rise through Cincinnati’s farm system until he was promoted to the majors in September of 2007. Votto had an outstanding rookie season in 2008 producing a slash line of .297/.368/.506 and adding 24 home runs. He finished second that year in the NL Rookie of the Year Voting to the Chicago Cubs’ Geovany Soto.
He also had an excellent sophomore campaign batting, .322 with 25 homers and 84 RBIs. He accomplished all of this despite missing 21 games due to a bout of depression caused by the passing of his father the previous August. This all served as a buildup to an explosive 2010 season for Votto.
MVP Season
Votto hit on all cylinders in the 2010 campaign. He led the league in both on base percentage (OBP), (.424) and slugging percentage (.600), while slugging 37 home runs, driving in 113 runs, and batting .324. He led the Reds to their first division title in 15 years and at the end of the season he brought home the NL MVP award garnering 31 of 32 first place votes. He also was named to his first All-Star Game.
He followed that up in 2011 with a league leading .416 OBP, while recording 109 RBIs and 101 runs scored. Honors that year included a Gold Glove for his deft fielding at first base and his first starting assignment in an All-Star Game. At the end of the season the Reds rewarded Votto for his productivity by signing him to a 12-year $251.5 million contract. It constituted the longest guaranteed contract in major league history at that time.
Votto: The Model of Consistency
For the next seven years, save for the 2014 campaign where he was sidelined with a strained quadriceps, Votto was one the most consistently productive players in baseball. He hit well over .300 in five of those seasons, topped 20 or more home runs in three of those campaigns, and scored 95 or more runs four times. He also led the Reds to playoff appearances in 2012 and 2013 and was named to four additional All-Star Games during this period.
His game started to fall off during the 2019 season and it continued to snowball into the pandemic year where he batted only .226 with 11 homers. Perhaps Father Time had finally caught up to the once talented ballplayer. There were whispers that perhaps 2021 could be his last year in the majors.
Redemption and the End
But a healthy Joey Votto turned the world on its head one more time in 2021. He slammed 36 dingers and drove in 99 runs. His OPS for the year was a sterling .938 and he received the NL Player of the Month Award in July of that year. But that was the last hurrah for Votto in a Reds uniform. Two injury plagued years followed which led to the Reds declining to pick up his option for the 2024 season.
Not wanting to say goodbye yet, Votto hooked up with the Toronto Blues Jays as a non-roster invite. Having a mediocre season in the Blue Jays farm system, it all came to head in a game with him playing for the Buffalo Bisons when he was asked to pinch hit. Declining, he was then approached by the Bisons’ first base coach and former Blue Jay Devon White, Votto’s idol growing up.
The exchange went like this. “He said to me, ‘What do you think you’re going to do?’ And he was talking about my hitting style and what adjustments I’m going to make,” Votto said. “And I go, ‘I think I’m done,’ and he goes, ‘you mean retiring?’ and I go, ‘Yeah, I think I’m done,’ and he goes ‘Okay.’” And just like that, Joey Votto became an ex-player.
Hall of Famer?
Is he a future hall of famer? The answer to that question is a resounding, yes? First ballot inductee? You could certainly make that case. No matter what, as one of the most accomplished ballplayers of his generation, there will be plaque with Joey Votto’s name on it at Cooperstown New York in the very near future.
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