Joey Votto
Joey Votto gets standing ovation during final home game of 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPNJfzrJ9cYVotto was described in a 2021 profile in The Athletic as perhaps "the most interesting man in baseball." Teammates described him as "his own man," "a genius" and "on a different wavelength than most people." He was described on SB Nation as a "magnificent weirdo." During the COVID-19 pandemic, Votto began using social media for the first time to combat feelings of isolation and engage with fans. His TikTok and Instagram posts quickly became popular, as Votto created videos with family and Reds staffers. Votto frequently posted about his love of chess and appeared at multiple local competitive chess tournaments in Toronto.
Votto has described himself as an introvert. In 2009, he missed games due to stress and other mental health concerns. He later opened up about having suffered panic attacks, being hospitalized and being diagnosed as depressed. Votto has said that, early in his career, he lacked confidence, was burnt out due to his self-imposed expectations and had no social life.
His feelings of isolation reached a breaking point after the 2017 season when the Reds traded away some of his closest friends in the clubhouse, including Zack Cozart, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto. Feeling "a little worn out," he began pursuing interests outside of baseball in earnest for the first time. After years of loosening up and expanding his life off the field, in September 2023 he was able to say, "This is the first time in my career I realize that I love what I do."
In May 2018, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Votto, who was already fluent in French, had for several years been studying Spanish through Rosetta Stone and then through a tutor in order to better communicate with teammates. In February 2023, he said that he was taking Spanish lessons "for an hour and a half, two hours three times a week," at least in part because he hoped to work in the Dominican Republic and the minor leagues.
Despite his taking language lessons, dancing lessons (in salsa, merengue and breakdancing), chess lessons from a grandmaster and improv classes, Votto has described himself as being of "below-average curiosity."
In 2021, he finished his sophomore year as a geography major at the University of Florida.
In January 2022, he became a United States citizen in a ceremony in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Votto
@Dalastark · Apr 26
