Joey Votto plays chess, as well he should; this is a game of visualization, patience, and evaluation, all requirements for a good first baseman and, indeed, an elite batter. But Votto didn’t sign the most long-ranging contract in this baseball team’s history for his skills with a glove. He was brought on board for the long-term in expectation of creating many happy events with his bat. This he has done.
But the Reds got far more than they bargained for with Votto. No doubt they wanted a clubhouse leader, and they got one—one who stays out of jail, waves to the folks at Redsfest, and keeps his trap shut regarding the steady downward spiral of his team.
So it should surprise no one that he stepped into spring training having adroitly read the room. Rather than resenting the exasperation for the home nine, he endeavored to Win Fans and Influence Twitter Comments:
Joey Votto was asked about #Reds fan’s frustration:
“We are aware of it and we deserve it. We have to play better. It’s a failure of ours to leave such a supportive fanbase dissatisfied. The cynicism, in my opinion, is completely justified.” pic.twitter.com/pOduGnjAfJ
— Cincinnati ? (@CincyProblems) February 20, 2023
I don’t mean to suggest here that Votto is a politician or that he doesn’t mean what he says. He has every reason in the world to back up a dump truck of complaints upon his bosses– what are they going to do, fire him in the final year of his contract?– but it cannot have missed noticing that the first thought most Reds fans have when they hear his name is “That man got robbed.”
Indeed, the replies to Votto’s comments took to task not his fading batting average, but the constant construction zone in which he managed to build a career. The man came of age dodging the orange cones of a neverending rebuild.
Most apologized to him for feeling that he had to apologize (this is what happens when you stick a Canadian in the Midwest for fifteen years) and assured him that they understood the complexity of the situation. Some even encouraged him to go elsewhere– a good team, a Moneyball team, one that has social media ads ready to go for the playoffs.
One was particularly blunt: “They had a real window,” he said, and now it’s gone. Votto will reiterate that he’s grateful just to have had a life as a Major League baseball player. But the sudden fits and starts of management and ownership have left him just about the only guiding star left in the organization. And someday soon, his teammates will have to find another true north.
With little to hope for, the fan base has tried turning away from the gate, renting billboards, and complaining in general. It’s our only move, and it hasn’t worked at all, But we have no other option.
The actual team is offered many more options for action, and Jonathan India has chosen open combat. He will fight. He texted position players to nudge them into showing up early for spring training at a time when Christmas decorations are still dangling from the roofs of Cincinnati. Some stayed. But most of them came.
“Everyone (should have the) same mindset of competing every day no matter the outcome,” India told The Enquirer. He then pronounced this year’s team “scary.” With the injured Votto relegated to piecing together film noir-inspired videos on social media, this is a fine testing ground for a 26 year old. Some might say he simply hasn’t been ground down by the heavy exhaustion of feeling each team in the division sitting above him yet– but even if that’s the case, the man at least doesn’t seem to want to insult us. Which, if that’s our baseline, says a great deal about the absolute fourteener India must scale to turn this team around.
In the meantime, we wait. We have no other move.
