Hey, did you hear that Joey Votto retired from baseball? The news shouldn’t necessarily have been unexpected, but it still packed a punch. I’ve learned never to doubt Votto. I just assumed he’d figure out a way to make it back to the big leagues. Instead, his career is over, the retrospectives have begun pouring in, and I’m sad that a really fun era is over.
I’m also feeling a little selfish, I have to admit. If Votto had been able to play one final season for his hometown fans in Toronto, that would have been a storybook finish to a Hall of Fame career. But since that didn’t happen, it means that Votto joins the ranks of great players who played their entire career in Cincinnati: Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin, Davey Concepcion, Tim Costo, Joey Votto. Queen City legends. Selfishly, as a hopeless Reds fan, I’m glad he’s on that list. Please forgive me, Joey. I know you wanted to play another season.
With the Reds fading further in the National League playoff race in recent weeks, the Cincinnati brass has an opportunity to do something before the end of the season to get butts into the seats at Great American Ball Park. More importantly, it’ll perhaps help repair some of the damage done when the club steadfastly refused to acknowledge the end of Votto’s Cincinnati career at the end of last season. Remember that? When they didn’t celebrate him at all, and manager David Bell chose to play guys like Nick Martini over Votto in the final week. (What the hell was that all about?)
The Reds should retire Votto’s number 19. Saturday, September 21 should be declared Joey Votto Day. Celebrate his legendary career on the field in front of a sold-out crowd.
Votto’s career will be remembered very fondly in the coming years, I predict. For a generation of Reds fans, he may be the only Hall of Famer they will get to say they saw play for the hometown nine for his entire career. For my generation, that guy was Barry Larkin. He was my favorite player growing up, largely because I watched him as a rookie and then rooted for him all the way to retirement.
Last week, I moved my son into his apartment as he begins his second year of college. I’ve written about Casey before, probably much to his chagrin, though he hasn’t told me that yet. Baseball has been a thread connecting us from day one. Literally. In the hospital after his birth, I nestled Casey in my arms, standing before a tiny television screen watching Sean Casey swing the bat. (Perhaps that’s why my Casey became a lefty hitter as well.)
Photograph courtesy Chad Dotson
Over the years, Casey and I have been to many games. We’ve followed the Reds faithfully, and there’s been one player who was a constant over those years: Joey Votto.
Votto was drafted a couple of years before Casey was born, but Joey made his debut a couple of months after we celebrated his third birthday with a pool party and a Buzz Lightyear cake. Shortly thereafter, it was all baseball all the time for the boy. (OK, there was a pretty good dose of basketball tossed into the mix, too.) He became a huge Cincinnati Reds fan—I’ll take the blame for that one—and Votto was the best player on the Reds for pretty much that entire span.
Votto is now retired, and as I said above I’m sad about it. Not because I won’t get to watch him play anymore, though that’s part of it. Mostly, it’s a father-and-son thing. Votto has always been there, and now that he’s finished a small part of this thing that my son and I share will be over.
Casey and I texted about it when the news dropped. We talked a bit about Votto’s legendary career. Casey just turned 20 last month, and he’s as big an Elly De La Cruz fan as you’ll find on the planet. He’s excited about the Elly era. But the end of the Votto era also seems like yet another door closing on his childhood. As a father, I’ve experienced a few of these: Senior Night on the basketball court, his last high school baseball game, sending him off to college. Yes, I’m raging against the dying of the light.
I’ve written about Votto many times in this space. Cincinnati Magazine was kind enough to publish the hottest of hot takes (as far as the Reds are concerned) when I tried to make the case that Votto was the greatest player in Cincinnati baseball history. I’ve chronicled the last 11 seasons of his legendary career in these digital pages. And here, I’m being selfish again. I want to write about Votto one last time.
But, mostly, I want another moment with my son. I want to take him to GABP, have a coney or two, and watch a packed house celebrate the singular career of Joseph Daniel Votto. I want to see another standing ovation, a video tribute to his incredible impact on Cincinnati, No. 19 immortalized at the stadium alongside Larkin’s 11. And if the Reds wanted Casey to throw out the first pitch, perhaps I’ll consider muting some of my criticism of the club. (Don’t hold your breath on that one.)
Cynically, I expect Reds management to decide how they’ll manufacture some Votto bobbleheads for a game next season, then maybe another Joey Votto Day, and then a third game in 2025 where they actually retire his number. I’ve seen how they keep trotting out Big Red Machine members to entice crowds to the stadium occasionally. (Note to Reds management: A consistently competitive club would bring crowds to GABP, too.)
But I’m an eternal optimist. I can always hope the Reds will do the right thing. The right thing right now is to celebrate Votto as soon as possible. Joey deserves it.
Chad Dotson helms Reds coverage at Cincinnati Magazine and hosts a long-running Reds podcast, The Riverfront. His newsletter about Cincinnati sports can be found at chaddotson.com. He’s @dotsonc on Twitter.