OTTAWA - After 17 remarkable Major League Baseball seasons Joey Votto has announced his retirement from baseball.
The 40-year-old made the announcement via his Instagram account.
Votto spent the entirety of his MLB Career with the Cincinnati Reds, the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2002 MLB Draft out of Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke.
Making his MLB debut on September 4, 2007, Votto went on to represent the Reds in six All-Star Games, win a Gold Glove Award at first base in 2011 and capture National League Most Valuable Player honours in 2010.
He won the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame’s Tip O’Neill Award on seven occasions and was twice named the recipient of the Lou Marsh Award (now known as the Northern Star Award), presented annually to Canada’s top athlete.
Votto signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays in March 2024 in an attempt to continue his storied career with the team that he grew up watching.
He was a member of Triple-A Buffalo before he announced his retirement.
One of the best hitters of his era, Votto finishes his MLB career with a .294 batting average, with a .409 on-base percentage and .920 OPS (on-base plus slugging). His 356 home runs, 2,135 hits and 459 career doubles are second only to Baseball Hall of Famer Larry Walker for Canadian-born players.
Internationally, Votto represented Canada four times including the 2005 World Cup of Baseball and 2005 CONCEBE Baseball Regional Olympic Qualifier along with the 2009 and 2013 World Baseball Classics.
