Reds' Star Joey Votto Visits The Zone!
Cincinnati Reds' rising star and Team Canada stalwart, Joey Votto of Etobicoke, ON, graciously visited The Baseball Zone on December 2, 2009. Mr. Votto spoke to our High Performance Program
athletes about the importance of becoming a well-rounded baseball player. In his typically humble manner, Joey stressed the significance of taking advantage of every opportunity, whether it be in in-season or off-season, to work on all aspects of the game: "You are always going to be excited about getting up to bat or getting on the mound to pitch, but your progress through various levels of the game will also largely depend upon fielding your position well, stretching a hit into an extra base or even just being a better teammate." In sharing his wisdom, he explained that he probably could have been to the Major Leagues a year or two earlier if he had taken more interest in becoming more well-rounded as he was developing. Instead, he had to take extra time in the minors learning the "little things" that he had to get better at before he could make it with the Reds.Drafted by the Reds in the 2nd round of the Major League Baseball Draft in 2002, Votto was called up to the Reds on September 1, 2007. In that short span he has become a bona fide rising star – this past season he finished with the 2nd highest OPS in the National League, only being outdone by league MVP Albert Pujols. An amazing accomplishment for just his second full season! (Read more about Joey here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Votto)
While Joey spends most of his offseason in Florida now, he had been a frequent visitor to The Baseball Zone in his first few offseasons. As naturally talented as he is, we have never had a harder, more deliberate and dedicated worker in our midst. However, further to Joey's message, in the short time that he has been home this year, we have seen a change in what he spends time working on compared to his earlier years. In addition to his devotion to getting even better with the bat, he now spends countless hours doing other things as simple as getting on one knee and bouncing balls of the wall working on picks at first base. He is most definitely an athlete for young players to look up to as an athlete and a role model. We would also be remiss by not mentioning that Joey never misses an opportunity to give great credit to his youth coach, Bob Smyth, for helping him grow as an athlete and young man.
Thanks so much Joey for taking time out of your short time home to speak to the boys. We know that it is both a message and memory that they will never forget!
Joey Votto visits The Baseball Zone
