Free-agent Joey Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) wants to play in 2024 and has taken up sparring to strengthen his left shoulder and biceps at the Pro Teach facility in Etobicoke, the same buidling he worked out in 28 years ago as a grade 9 student. Photos: Ryan Fowler-Palmer.

February 8, 2024

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

Joey Votto had finished another line-drive round of batting practice at Pro Teach Baseball facility in Etobicoke, Ont.

Just like the millions of others he has taken in that same building.

All the way back to grade 9 ... 28 winters ago.

When his round was finished, Votto sat on the green astroturf, waiting for his visitor to ask questions.

I sat on a bench, alongside Votto’s gloves ... but more on that later.

And at the other end of the bench was a man I had never met ... but more on him later.

The 17-year veteran of Cincinnati Reds has been working indoors as a free agent for the first time since he was in grade 13 in 2002.

“I think I’ll sign with a team at some point,” the former Etobicoke Ranger said. “My agent (Dan Lozano) has been talking to teams. I don’t think I’m far off from signing.”

Almost every day Votto drives from Mississauga to the Etobicoke facility and is there from 9:45 a.m. until 2:30 in the afternoon. He does physical therapy and hitting off the pitching machine. After he was drafted in the second round by scout John Castlebury as a grade 13 student someone asked his coach:

“How long did Votto hit in your cages?”

Bobby Smyth answered, “How long did he hit? HA! He hit as long as he wanted -- until his hands bled.”

A torn biceps and torn labrum limited Votto to 156 games the past two seasons which saw him combine to bat .204 with 25 homers, 79 RBIs and a .719 OPS. The first baseman tore his rotator cuff in 2015.

“An innocent play at first base, I don’t even remember who the runner was,” said Votto. “I couldn’t lift my arm over my head, but it didn’t affect my hitting.”

Votto batted .292 with a .923 OPS from 2015 to 2021. He had a career .302 average after the 2021 season and his average now sits at .294.

Then, came the torn biceps in 2022 and he was struggling. Was he couching too much? Was he standing too upright? Was he expanding the zone? No. He was injured.

While some major leaguers are already in Florida and Arizona, Votto said he doesn’t consider himself late, saying “I can get all my work in here -- I would usually show five days before position players were scheduled to report.”

* * *

CONSULTING THE EXPERT: One person Votto contacted for advice on returning from injury was former New York Yankee captain Derek Jeter. They were of a similar age when they had to recover from a serious injury.

Jeter fractured his left ankle during Game 1 of the 2012 American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. He began 2013 on the disabled list, the first of four trips to the DL that year in which he played in only 17 games and had 73 plate appearances, batting .190 with a .542 OPS.

“I spoke with Derek on the phone, there were a lot of similarities,” Votto said. “He told me he worked as hard preparing for 2014 as he did for any other season. He left no stone unturned in getting ready.”

In Jeter’s final season, he played 145 games, hitting .256, including a walk-off single against Baltimore Orioles Evan Meek in his final game at Yankee Stadium.

Jeter turned 40 on June 26 in 2014. Votto turned 40 on Sept. 10.

* * *

SOCIALLY ADEPT: Votto was never into social media until 2022. He showed a unique sense of humor. Mostly Canadian. His highlight was appearing on High Heat with Chris (Mad Dog) Russo. Told it was hilarious Votto replied, “Oh yeah ‘with your crisp pocket squares, your tailored suits, your polished shoes and BROADWAY hair.’ I had to practice that for a couple of weeks.”

Votto answered co-host Alanna Rizzo’s initial question and then Chris (Mad Dog) Russo asked a general question.

“Yup, part of the game, had to perform,” mumbled Votto, looking off camera.

After another Rizzo question, Russo had a follow up, Votto looked away, mumbling again. Russo said Votto was “sharp as a tack.”

And then Votto went into a rant which was a bang-on dramatic Russo imitation partly saying, partly screaming:

“Sharp as a tack!... Sharp as a tack? ... Sharp as a tack? ... I got something to say ... I got something to say ... I got something to say to you ... A couple of months ago you said that Zack Greinke and I are Hall of Very Good Ball players ... I think Zack and I would agree -- you might be right.

“But I get the gist of what’s going on here ... I know what you’re doing ... You’re looking down on us ... A couple of small market, mid-west ball players.

“Just because we’re not Big City ... just like you, Mr. New York City ... Sirius XM radio star ... Mr. National Television, ESPN star ... with your Fifth Avenue ties and your crisp pocket squares, your tailored suits and your polished shoes.

“Annnnnd your hair, your perfectly coiffed BROADWAY hair ... Must be nice to sit atop your Madison Avenue ivory tower looking down on us with those luscious locks ... Not everyone can be the next Roger Peckinpaugh (a former Yankee from 1913-21) ... You should be ashamed of yourself ... YOU’RE A DISGRACE!”

It was pretend Mad Dog dogging Mad Dog and it was excellent.

Sending congrats to new Hall of Famer Joe Mauer on Twitter, he explained how he had watched Mauer videos as a youngster. For that, he was knocked since Mauer is only about five months older than him.

“I was watching his scouting videos,” said Votto, who remains a Toronto Raptors fan and this winter has begun attending Maple Leafs games.

* * *

GOODBYE GREAT AMERICAN BALL PARK?: Votto is one of only 21 players (minimum 8,000 career plate appearances) to hit at least .294 with an on-base percentage of .400 (.409) and a slugging percentage of .500 (.511). A total of 17 of the players are in the Hall of Fame.

Votto played 2,056 games (sixth in club history) and has an OPS mark of .920, second to only Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. And now his Reds career is over?

“Well, you never say never,” Votto said.

What would you miss most if your days in Cincinnati are over?

“I’d miss being tied to one team, I’d miss the batter’s box, Rob Butcher (the veteran P.R. man who is retiring after spring training), clubhouse manager Rick Stowe (son of Reds clubhouse boss Bernie Stowe of the Big Red Machine), the staff, the clubhouse attendants ... 17 years. That’s a long time to be in one place.”

* * *

THE NL CENTRAL: Votto loved “our division.”

“You go into St. Louis and Busch Stadium, Wrigley Field in Chicago, Milwaukee, which may have one of the most supportive, loyal fans bases in the game, Pittsburgh and our place ... the atmosphere is great in each place,” Votto said. “I go to those cities and I am always stopped on the street.”

Votto told of the final weekend in a Reds uniform when Cincinnati was closing out the year at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

“They gave me a big round of applause in my first at-bat ... I gave it a moment, but I remembered reading a quote from Albert Pujols where he said ‘You never take a curtain call in the other team’s park.’ He was right. You respect your fans. And you don’t disrespect the other team’s players.”

* * *

FAVOURITE TEAMMATES: Votto said he learned the most from Hall of Fame 3B Scott Rolen, the ex-Blue Jay.

“He was a mentor, not so much with verbal guidance, but the way he treated people,” said Votto, “We always got along well.”

Plus former Reds OF Jay Bruce of Beaumont, Tex., Venezuelan 3B Eugenio Suárez and Amir Garrett of Henderson, Nev.

“Amir and I are in touch all the time, he keeps saying, ‘I want to play on your team again,’” Votto said. Garrett pitched with the Kansas City Royals last season.

* * *

THE YOUNG PUPS: Votto knew a lot about the Reds kiddie core before his teammates, spending 24 games at triple-A Louisville rehabbing his left shoulder.

SS Elly De La Cruz, 21, hit .235 with 13 homers and a .710 OPS in 98 games, as well as showing an electric arm and legs like Ronald Acuna, DH Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 23, who hit .270 with 13 homers and an .805 OPS in 23 games, INF Matt McLain. 23, who had 16 homers, 50 RBIs and an .864 OPS in 89 games and LHP Andrew Abbott, 24, who was 8-6 with a 3.87 ERA, striking out 120 in 109 1/3 innings.

“I looked at some of them and thought ‘Holy cow ... I could be your dad,” Votto said. “The best? McLain. It wasn’t surprising when he went up and starred.”

The second week of his big-league career, McLain earned NL Player of the Week, going 15-for-31, .484, with three doubles, two homers, seven RBIs and a 1.317 OPS. His 10 homers were fifth-most by any Reds batter in his first 60 career appearances (Frank Robinson 16, Hank Sauer 13, Josh Hamilton 13 and Votto 12). And his 89 hits were second-most by a Reds batter in his first 70 career appearances (Frank Baumholtz, 94 hits, 1947).

* * *

OLD TIMES: Votto first came into the Etobicoke facility in grade 9 -- when it was known as The Baseball Facility. And it was run by his future coach Bob Smyth. Back then the building was divided in three sections. The far east end was where amateur theatre groups and choirs would practice. The middle section was the batting cages and clay mounds. So, some weekends you could hear a chorus through the wall as line drives clanked into the L screens. And the western end was city storage like sidewalk snowplows

“We used to go into the back area and play long toss, 100, 120 feet,” Votto said. “Every once in a while Warren Bradley or I would throw the ball too high and hit a pipe. We’d hear Bobby scream, ‘DON’T HIT THE SHIT PIPE!’

“I was lucky. I didn’t have to pay to come in here and hit.”

Votto said he picked up tips from watching the likes of pros like C Greg O’Halloran (Mississauga, Ont.), Jays bullpen C Alex Andreopoulos (Etobicoke, Ont.) as well as OFs Rob and Rich Butler (East York, Ont.). Votto was a catcher at the time.

Under Denny Bernyi, Pro Teach has been restructured and expanded somewhat. Geoff McCallum now has a weight room where the old storage area used to be.

* * *

THE MAN ON THE BENCH: Also on the bench was former boxer Sam Vargas, 34, who was born in Columbia but lives in Toronto and won:

_ The vacant National Championship of Canada welterweight title beating Manolis Plaitis (Montreal, Que.) on a TKO at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga in 2012.

_ The WBA-NABA Canada super welterweight title beating Julius Bunda (Kitchener, Ont.) on a TKO at the Royal York Hotel in 2013.

_ The WBA-NABA interim welterweight title when he scored a TKO over Brazil’s Robson Assis at The Mattamy Events Centre in 2016.

_ Retained the WBA-NABA welterweight against South Africa’s Ali Funeka at the Powerade Centre, Brampton in 2017.

_ Retained the belt beating Finland’s Jussi Koivula in 2017.

_ And retained it again battling Argentina’s Mauro Maximiliano Godoy to a draw at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont.

Vargas, who retired in 2022, had a career mark of 31-8-2. When Votto introduced us I said, “You are the third most famous boxer I have ever met?”

Who was ahead of him? I answered “Muhammad Ali and Ted Barrett.” I met Ali at a press conference leading up to the Sugar Ray Leonard-Roberto Duran fight in Montreal in 1980. An umpire, Barrett made his big-league debut in 1994, as a triple-A call up, was hired full-time in 2000 and retired after the 2022 season. Barrett grew up on the streets of North Tonawanda, N.Y. AL umpire supervisor Marty (Bruce) Spingstead arranged a lunch in Las Vegas in 1996 since the Jays were opening against the Oakland A’s and the Oakland Coliseum was undergoing renovations.

“Teddy was a great ump, an easy guy to talk to when he worked first base,” Votto explained.

* * *

THE GLOVES: The gloves on the bench were not Rawlings batting gloves alongside me. Nor were they first baseman’s mitts.

They were 16-ounce boxing gloves.

Votto has been sparring with Vargas in order to get his left shoulder in shape. Votto’s trainer Jason Martin (Mississauga, Ont.) who attended McGill University, found Vargas to work with the first baseman.

“My arm is feeling a lot better,” Votto said, “last year I couldn’t compete. After a game I’d have to go for more PT (physical therapy). Ted Barrett said it was a good idea to spar -- ‘just don’t get hit in the head.’ I took his advice.”

Barrett sparred with the likes of boxers George Foreman, Greg Page, James Broad and Greg Haugen.

And now Votto is sparring to get ready. Not for a 10-round championship fight, but rather the 162-game grind.

“I want to go somewhere I am wanted, to play and perform, and at the end of the season pat myself on the back -- that I’ve done a good job.”

Pro Teach is a 15-minute drive from Rogers Centre ... or 9.3 miles ... if there are any teams along the route, lopsided with right-handed hitters and could use a left-handed hitter …

You know he probably has a puncher’s chance.

Elliott: In this corner, the challenger ... Joey Votto