Joey Votto, former MVP and face of Reds, officially retires

TORONTO -- Moments before first pitch between the only team he’s ever known and the team he grew up cheering for, Joey Votto announced that he was retiring from baseball.

Votto has spent the past six months trying to make it back to the big leagues one more time with the Blue Jays. He’d signed a Minor League deal in the spring saying he wanted to “try out” for the local club, but an ankle injury cost him half the season. This week’s series between the Blue Jays and Reds, with whom Votto played 17 incredible seasons, came and went without him getting the call from Triple-A Buffalo.

“That’s it. I’m done. I am officially retired from baseball,” Votto said in an eight-second video, standing in a parking lot outside Buffalo’s Sahlen Field.

After making the announcement via Instagram, Votto made the relatively short journey from Buffalo to Toronto and arrived at Rogers Centre moments after the Reds completed an 11-7 victory over the Blue Jays. He visited the visitor's clubhouse and exchanged hugs and smiles with several of his former teammates.

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"To be able to come to the stadium, be able to say hello and catch up with some of my longtime friends, is really cool," said Votto, dressed casually in a T-shirt and athletic shorts. "I had to hustle in from Triple-A Buffalo. Good thing I caught [them]. I was intending on watching the game, but I had some car issues.”

The decision to call it a career came gradually as Votto struggled while playing with Triple-A Buffalo. A couple of days ago, Votto had lunch in the Niagara Falls area with his mother and brothers.

"I was like, ‘This feels good.’ I’ve been isolated," Votto said. "I’m not going to be dramatic here, but I’ve been in a hotel room for four to five months with the ankle injury, with the Minor League stops. And I can exchange the time alone for good performance, but I wasn’t performing well enough to make that transaction."

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Votto was asked by a Buffalo coach if he wanted to pinch-hit before the team played an afternoon game on Wednesday.

"I said, ‘I’m available, but not really,'" Votto said. "And how are you going to represent this sport? The fans come to watch hunger and aggression. They come to watch people playing at their very, very best and not passing on professional at-bats. That’s enough."

During his effort to return, Votto was often alone in hotel rooms, with his ankle elevated while unable to walk. He initially watched all of the Blue Jays' games on television hoping to learn more about his teammates.

"I had to stop watching the Jays games, because it hurt so much," Votto said. "I wanted so desperately to be a part of this team. 'How can I fit in with the guys? How can I complement so-and-so? How can I help in any sort of way?' It just took so long to recover that I found that challenging."

Over 15 games in Triple-A after Votto was finally healthy enough to play this season, he hit .143 with a .489 OPS.

“An unbelievable career," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. "Getting to know him briefly in spring was a treat for everyone. … What a unique player and wonderful person. He’s been a great teammate his entire career. It was cool to get to know him a little bit. I wish him the best in his retirement. He was one of the best for the last 20 years.”

Votto, just three weeks shy of his 41st birthday, was one of the best hitters of his generation and a Canadian baseball legend with a fine case for the Baseball Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible for the ballot in five years. From 2007-23 with the Reds, Votto hit .294 with 356 home runs and a .920 OPS over 2,056 career games, earning six All-Star nods to go along with his 2010 NL MVP Award. An on-base machine, Votto led Major League Baseball in walks three times and had nine seasons with an OBP over .400.

Votto ranks second all time in Reds franchise history in homers, doubles (459) and OPS, first in walks (1,365), third in runs (1,171), fourth in hits (2,135) and fifth in games.

"It would have been awesome for him to be here and to play against him, but he had a hell of a career," Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said. "It was an honor to get to know him as a friend and as a player. He’s an all-time great. I grew up watching him when I was in high school and here we are, I got to be a teammate with him. He had an unbelievable career. Great teammate. Great friend."

The final two seasons of Votto's time with the Reds were a struggle. In 2022-23, he batted .204 with a .712 OPS and 25 homers over only 156 games. He had left shoulder surgery in August 2022 to repair a torn rotator cuff and biceps that kept him out for 10 months.

The 10-year, $225 million contract extension Votto signed with Cincinnati in 2012 ended last season. In November, the Reds declined his $20 million club option, making him a free agent for the first time.

Votto had already bid a tearful and heartfelt goodbye from Cincinnati during his final home game on Sept. 24 at Great American Ball Park. On Oct. 1, in what proved to be his final Major League game at St. Louis, he was ejected after his first at-bat for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate umpire.

Reds backup catcher Luke Maile, a Cincinnati-area native who played with Votto in 2023, learned from reporters postgame that Votto had retired.

"Simply put, one of the greatest hitters I’ve ever witnessed with my own eyes," Maile said. "I was fortunate enough to watch him when he first came up and I was in high school. I felt like I watched every single one of his at-bats for entire summers growing up. Having a chance to play with him was enormously special.

"I will say this, growing up a Reds fan and standing on the line next to him Opening Day 2023, one of the coolest moments in my career."

Another person Votto hugged was his last Reds manager, David Bell.

Bell also only learned of Votto's retirement after the game.

"I can’t express how happy I am for the career that Joey had as a player, the impact he had on so many people in the game," Bell said. "I think he’ll look back and be very proud of that. Just an incredible career, obviously. I was hoping that maybe we’d see him here [with the Blue Jays].

"I think I’m even more happy that he gets to sit back and enjoy everything that he’s accomplished and the impact on the game of baseball, teammates, people throughout our organization -- and I’m sure here as well."

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Both Votto and the Blue Jays had envisioned a world in which he joined this club during the season and contributed to a postseason run, but as the Blue Jays fell out of the postseason race and pivoted to a younger roster with an eye on the future, the plan no longer aligned.

"I decided, ‘You know, you’ve played long enough.' You can interpret what’s going on," Votto said. "I was awful down there. The trend was not fast enough and I didn’t feel at any point in time like I was anywhere near Major League ready. I can say to the very last pitch I was giving my very all. But there is an end for all athletes."

Votto was hoping to be able to play in front of family and friends. In Toronto, at the same suburban training facility he worked out at since he was 13, kids often asked him when he would play for the Blue Jays.

"I’m really saddened that I wasn’t able to make it happen, that I wasn’t able to arrive and perform at Rogers Centre, in a Blue Jays uniform, representing the city that I grew up in, the country I grew up in and my people," Votto said. "How can I show up and make it my day, my moment? 'Here’s an at-bat, here’s a game, here’s a stretch of time?' To me, it’s disrespectful to the game. I also think it’s disrespectful to the paying fans that want to see a high-end performance. And I would have given them an awful performance.

"Truly, I can say I tried my very best and I just came up short. I’ve had 22 years of not coming up short, so I guess I’m due.”