Joey Votto opens up

Photo: The Enquirer/Gary Landers

C. Trent Rosecrans has written a fantastic article about Joey Votto, including a long interview with the Reds’ first baseman. It covers a wide range of topics, but the focus is on Votto’s polarizing 2013 season, his desire to do a series of recent appearances on the Lance McAlister radio show, his concerns — and finding them misplaced — about a loss of privacy that comes with fame …

“Over time, I’ve realized those things are few and far between, that those are isolated circumstances and my life can be completely normal. I wanted to open up because I do like to talk baseball. I love talking baseball. I think it’s an interesting subject, I think it’s something I’m familiar with. It’s something I can constantly learn about, I do like talking with the fans and I do like talking with everyman. I really enjoy it. I look forward to the half-hour or the hour because it’s ball talk and I’m connecting to the fans. It’s totally my sweet spot. It’s effortless.”

… and becoming the face of certain advanced baseball metrics, like wRC+.

“It’s the future – no one can deny that. The same thing with a lot of the new things that are being legalized and things that are being changed in the constitution, that’s not changing,” Votto said. “It’s coming, accept it. There are people who pushed back in the ’70s and people who pushed back in the ’30s, it’s human nature. I’m going to push back on something one day and guess what, the world’s going to fly by me. In a smaller way, this is making the game better and more efficient.”

Read the entire article.