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On Wednesday night, Reds legend Joey Votto retired in true Joey Votto fashion, and now I have to find a new favorite non-Cubs player.
Votto was standing alone in front of the home field of the minor league Buffalo Bisons, who were trying to make one last comeback this year. 9-second Instagram video To put an end to his career.
“This is it. I am officially retired from baseball,” he declared.
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The gravity of the news Votto delivered was somewhat undercut by the Samuel Beckett-esque atmosphere of the half-filled stadium parking lot and the video ending before the impact of Votto’s announcement could sink in. As one of baseball’s most eccentric and interesting players of the past two decades, that’s probably what Votto would have wanted.
Standard MLB practice for a legendary player’s final season is an extended retirement tour, complete with pre-game ceremonies at every stadium visited and endless strings of awkward gifts the retired player would never use in his right mind.
Votto opted out of all the pomp and circumstance, which was a bit of a shame because I was looking forward to the Padres presenting him with a surfboard and hearing him tell the crowd, “This is perfect for anybody who spends their winters in Toronto.”
I knew Votto was a player I liked relatively early in his career. His favorite player was 1940s hit icon Ted Williams.she’s also my baseball world’s Beyonce.
Without going too deep into advanced metrics, in a nutshell Bot Stats Page To my eyes, it looks like what would happen if Baseball Reference could ping Grindr games.
It didn’t take long for me to become a Votto fan. His razor-sharp strike zone judgment and incredible on-base percentage numbers were everything I love about watching a great hitter.
What I love most in baseball are players who make opposing pitchers pitch like it’s a chess game that’s impossible to get an out of. This sense of constant impending doom was a defining feature of Votto in his prime, and even when he dominated Cubs pitchers, he was awe-inspiring to watch.
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What’s more, Votto understood that baseball is most fun when you become a showman.
Baseball has always had players like AJ Pierzynski who incited loathing with their relentless aggressive play, but Votto understood that playing the heel role should be fun, too.
For example, his final year as a hitter coincided with the time “Ted Lasso” became a pop culture phenomenon.
In July of that year, Votto hit six home runs in four games at Wrigley Field, each time hitting a home run. He celebrated He turned his back on the thousands of booing Cubs fans, pointed to the name on his jersey and yelled, Jamie Tartt-style, “It’s me! It’s me!”
Even though he was beating my team, I was hooked.
Which meant I didn’t need to look any further for a reason to root for Votto. Then, a few years ago, I read Dale Scott’s excellent autobiography, The Umpire Is Out, and learned that at Scott’s first spring training game in 2015 after coming out, “Joey Votto shook my hand and told me he was proud of me.”
It was just one example of the many kindnesses Scott received that season, but for me it reaffirmed all the good things about Bott that I hoped were true.
By this point, Votto was already the MVP and face of the Reds, wielding great influence over his peers, and when he shook Scott’s hand, it signaled to the rest of baseball that one of baseball’s biggest stars was on the side of acceptance and inclusion during an uncertain time for umpiring.
Similar to when my idol, Ryne Sandberg, walked in the Chicago Pride Parade, this felt like the universe was saying, “You have great taste in baseball stars.”
Votto was never a social justice activist or reformer; his Hall of Fame plaque will honor him as a temperamental, articulate hitting genius who made baseball infinitely more entertaining every time he played.
But he also deserves to be remembered for helping ensure that the first active gay umpire in MLB history felt fully welcomed as his true self.
It won’t show up in his career statistics, but this was one of Votto’s most important periods leading the league in scoring.
This week’s MLB Thirst Trap
When Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s Cubs-Tigers game to seal an 8-2 victory for Detroit, I wasn’t happy at all.
But as we were rounding the bases, Carpenter’s helmet flew off, and I suddenly felt…conflicted.
Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
The way I discover my proclivities is through humiliation — but only to the Cubs bullpen.
Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
