VIDEO: ‘I feel like I just got called up,’ says Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto of return
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto speaks on his return to the lineup after a 10-month recovery from a shoulder injury.
Kareem Elgazzar, Cincinnati Enquirer
Whatever anybody might have heard on Twitter about the imminent demise of Joey Votto’s baseball career in recent weeks, there was no hearing the haters – or anything else – in the sixth inning Monday night over the chants of “Jo-ey! Jo-ey! Jo-ey!” from the crowd at Great American Ball Park.
And when he delivered the bases-loaded single up the middle for the tying and go-ahead runs for the Cincinnati Reds against the Colorado Rockies’ Jake Bird, the chants only got louder.
And the return of the 39-year-old MVP from a year of injury, surgery and recovery was complete. The immediate questions about his health answered.
The magic of the Reds’ June boon showing no signs of stopping.
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How else to explain a young, brash Reds team that had done so much without their aging, ailing leader, activating him from the injured list Monday, shoe-horning him into the sixth hole in the lineup – and then riding his return to a 5-4 victory and into first place in the National League Central?
“Oh, man, he’s the heart and soul,” teammate Jonathan India said.
Votto addressed the issue of joining the hottest team in baseball before the game, and fitting into what had become the feel-good story in the sport this season.
“The best way to fit in is by performing well,” he said.
Votto received a lengthy standing ovation as he stepped to the plate for the first time Monday in the second inning, removing his helmet and gesturing to the crowd in all directions before just missing a line single to center by the difference of Brenton Doyle’s shoestring catch.
“I feel much more like myself,” he said before the game. “I’m back to full health.
“Now I’m back to smash mode.”
As if on cue, he crushed his first home run since Aug. 6 to right field in his second at-bat for a 3-1 lead in the fifth – earning a curtain call.
Then came the key sixth-inning hit. He finished with an eighth-inning walk on a pitch that nearly hit him.
And on the latest most celebrated night of the month for the Reds, the latest most anticipated addition to the lineup led the way to a ninth consecutive victory and a potential leap past the Milwaukee Brewers into the top spot in the division.
So much for that imminent demise, at least for this one, loud night.
“He’s Joey Votto,” India said. “He doesn’t have to do anything to prove anything to anyone. We all know who he is.
“He’s terrorized a lot of teams in his career. I’m excited to see him do some more damage.”
His confidence in his ability to do that kind of damage is why Votto took as long as he did during rehab work this season and a second rehab assignment with Triple-A Louisville that was due to expire later this week.
“This is the first day I could have been back,” he emphasized. “I can’t rejoin a winning ballclub, with championship aspirations without being fully ready. I recognize the momentum. I recognize the excitement. I recognize the culture.
“It was my responsibility to make sure I come back and catch up, to get up to speed with them. And I feel that.”
And he looked every bit of it on Day One of the rest of his part of this magic carpet ride the kids in the clubhouse have started.
