Votto proud of maple roots
HOMETOWN BOY: Reds’ star salutes longtime Etobicoke coach on return to Toronto
In a baseball sense, the boy is long gone from Toronto, gone on to massive professional success on the banks of the Ohio River.
But Toronto will always be home to Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto, the Canadian roots too strong and too deep.
It certainly surfaces when the Richview Collegiate grad returns home to Toronto for the off-season. And those youthful memories were particularly strong on a couple of frigid nights last winter, sending Votto hurtling back in time.
“I live not too far from the (Rogers Centre) and there were a couple of occasions when it was later at night and I had to get some throwing in,” Votto said on Monday, prior to his first official return to his hometown since 2009, and a 17-2 loss at the hands of the Jays. “So I had to go to a school locally and throw against the wall.
“It brought me back to the times when I was a kid, picking out a little brick and throwing at it and fielding a ground ball like I’m preparing for a season. It just reminded me of when I was eight years old, 12 years old, 15 years old.
“It was cold. It was really cold, but it definitely brought good memories back, reminded me of how much joy and how I felt about baseball for the first little bit of my life.”
The little boy Votto is gone now. In 2014 he signed a 10-year, US$225 million contract and at age 33 is well on his way to becoming the richest and most accomplished Canadian-born major-leaguer in history.
But his love for the game is stronger than ever.
Sometimes it’s easy to take Votto for granted. The Reds aren’t a contender and they rarely venture north of the border. But Votto is a gold glove winner, a multiple allstar, a National League MVP and a Lou Marsh Award winner as Canada’s outstanding athlete.
At the encouragement of the Jays, Votto received the opening pitch from Steve (Whitey) Breitner, a longtime coach with Votto’s beloved Etobicoke Rangers, another shout-out to his baseball origins in Toronto.
Votto hasn’t forgotten any of those who helped him along the way. And a particular source of pride is that he showed that a player from Toronto — even cold and wintry Toronto — can make it big in the bigs.
“A lot of the great (Canadian) players were from the west coast,” Votto said of those who made it to MLB before him.
“I think something that stands out to me and I take a lot of pride in is that I come from the east coast, from Toronto.
“I get excited about the kids in Ontario and the eastern part of the country that are perhaps excited about looking up to someone they can relate to, someone who played ball in their part of the country, someone who got better in indoor batting cages, in garages and played catch against the wall when there was ice on the ground.”