Joey Votto makes headlines with ‘NL Central prediction,’ Athletic oral history annotation

Over the years, Cincinnati Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto has made a lot of headlines for his various comments. His most recent there is a discussion of a “wild” NL Central prediction in response to a comment from @MLB on Instagram:

This is @JoeyVotto's world and we’re just living in it. pic.twitter.com/tOxXCaJoBn

— Cut4 (@Cut4) February 27, 2023

This fits in with a lot of what we’ve seen from Votto in the past, including wagering a new truck for a fan, discussing a Reds-Braves game while mic’d up, and talking about Max Kellerman’s takes on Albert Pujols. But it’s still notable to see him chime in this way. And, while that adds to the absurdity of preseason baseball discussion, it also elevates Votto as a voice on all of that absurdity. And that fits with his own annotation of The Athletic’s oral history on him:

We asked @JoeyVotto to annotate his own oral history. And he agreed.

Finally, the special-edition "Votto cut" is here.

Read more: https://t.co/wU0OU6TdT0 pic.twitter.com/ExYFt3saDy

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) February 27, 2023

Here are just a few of the very notable comments from Votto in that piece:

“Yeah, I cared for a bit how tight my pants were, whether I had the tightest pants in the league. It was a point of pride for me. Not so much that they were the tightest but the best fitting. Everyone was wearing baggy pants over their shoes. I was paying attention to current street trends and fashion in general.”

…”I’m f—ing with most people at first base.”

…”I don’t want to paint any sort of picture that I’m intelligent. I’m below-average intelligence, below-average curiosity. I have a couple things that I’m good at in life. Really just one thing that I’m good at in life.”

…”My routine every day is to compete, then go home, play chess and listen to old Norm Macdonald and old David Letterman, have a sleeve of saltines and then go to sleep. I’m dead-ass serious. That’s my life routine from basically spring training on.”

As we’ve seen with many recent media appearances from Votto (seen at top last August), this adds to the idea that he has a lot to offer in the media. And it will be interesting to see if he winds up there after his playing career. But for now, it’s certainly notable to take note of what he says on broadcasts, and in response to other social media posts.

[Cut4 on Twitter/The Athletic; photo from Bryon Houlgrave/The Des Moines Register, via USA Today Sports]