Top 60 Joey Votto Quotes

Baseball has been very good to me, but baseball has evolved into a hybrid of work and passion.

Each and every day, I think about the importance of earning my paycheck and playing well.

I’m proud to wear a Reds uniform, and I look forward to doing that until the last day of my Major League Baseball career.

There’s nothing more fun than standing at the plate and hitting the ball really hard, see the ball go over the fence. It’s really a satisfying feeling. It always makes you feel like you’re doing your job.

Initially when I got called up, I thought it would change my life. And it didn’t. Then when I won the Most Valuable Player, I thought I’d be a Beatle and I’d be overwhelmed and not be able to leave my hotel room. I don’t say that with arrogance, I say it with unknown.

Almost all the great players I admire performed well deep into their 30s and their 40s, almost all of them, and I don’t think I’m any different.

I was raised in Mimico, a small neighborhood just outside of Toronto, Canada. One of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.

Some say I’m selfish. My approach is the complete opposite of selfishness.

I think it’s very difficult to have fewer opportunities to have success and still execute. My favorite player was Barry Bonds, and he got so few opportunities.

I’ll be disappointed if I retire and I am not part of a championship club here in Cincinnati specifically.

Personally, until Mike Trout came into the league I thought I would be in the conversation for best player in the game. Then he screwed that up for everybody – Babe Ruth and Ted Williams included. He has ruined it for everyone.

I’d like to continue to reduce the amount of balls I swing at outside the strike zone. I’ve been told I have a really low number, one of the lowest percentages in the game, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be the lowest.

I’m grateful for the things I’ve faced in my career because they make me better – every single one of them.

I think if I let the team’s performance dictate how I behave or how I perceive my performance, or whether or not there’s value, or whether or not anyone even cares, it’s a dangerous and slippery slope.

I’m part of the entertainment industry.

When I was younger, I was like, ‘I’m working now, and you go work.’ That was all I knew, because I was trying to keep my head above water. Now I’m more willing to say, ‘Let’s do our work side by side and cooperate.’ That’s really difficult to do in this sport sometimes because it can be so individualized.

I think that I’ve proven when healthy that I’m a healthy part of the team.

Randy Johnson had a tell. If he thought you knew what was coming, he would hit you. So that was his tell. That’s probably, that’s a tell. That’s a tell from Randy Johnson. He’d hit you, happily.

When you are raised in a restaurant you really don’t want to go to one that often, I’d rather cook.

I spend most of my time thinking about – whether I am making the minimum or a big number, salary-wise – how can I be competitive as long as I have an opportunity to play.

I don’t think materialistic things are my priority.

Some players just have the natural stroke that you throw them in the lineup and all of the sudden they turn on a ball and hit it out of the ballpark.

I want to be great at what I do. I take a lot of pride in it. And I try not to sell myself short in my work and preparation.

I will admit when I was 16, 17 years old, the thought of playing for the Jays was at the top. There’s something about joining a club and being embraced by a club and then building a relationship and commitment to a team.

Baseball-Reference has been very good to me during my career.

I look forward to batting practice. I look forward to practice work.

I’ve got some teammates telling me I can play for a long time, ooh, boy, I don’t want to play for a long time.

No matter what, I’m being paid to perform.

I come into camp every year with the hope and expectation of playing every game I’m available, every game that is available to me.

I think we’re in a new era of baseball where it’s not OK to have a lumbering slugger in the corner of the outfield not catching the ball, and not taking the extra base.

My goal is to play as often as possible and help the team in any way, shape or form I can.

If I was just a guy who hit 24 home runs and drove in 100, I wouldn’t be a special player.

I came out of a Canadian high school where the hardest people were throwing was in the 70-mph range – 70-75 mph, maybe. I found that getting to pro ball was overwhelming.

I would not be where I am now without the efforts of so many Canadian baseball people and the fans of Canadian baseball.

My objective with men at 2nd and 3rd is to get one quality pitch to drive them in. If it’s not available, I’m going to go to first base. I won’t make any apologies about that.

The people in St. Louis have been great to me. Fans have been great.

I know a lot of athletes, they want to play until their 45 or 50 or whatever, some athletes claim, but count me out on that.

I think people do things and say things emotionally when they make it personal.

I just want to be in the middle of the order, playing solid defense, playing every day, being competitive and earning that my manager, the coaching staff, the front office, my teammates have faith that I’m going to be a helpful teammate. I want to do that until the very end.

In this league, if you’re going to be tested, you have to answer quickly. I feel like if you show signs of weakness, people attack that pretty quickly.

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.

If I’m on the field not performing well, it’s because I’m not performing well, not because I’m not healthy.

Seeing certain players join certain teams, basically throwing off the entire power dynamic, more or less removing any chance of any other team sharing in success, I just – no.

I’m not trying to do something in particular each at-bat, I’m just trying to get the most out of that at-bat, do something that helps the team in the long run.

You won’t give yourself an opportunity to do good things unless you are out on the field.

I’ve been in a Reds’ uniform, in Cincinnati, owning a house here, part of the community. I cross paths with tons of people. Every time it’s about ‘let’s win, let’s keep going, let’s win a championship here.’ And the support has been tremendous. And I want to be a part of the team that gives that back to the community.

Cincinnati is a prettier city than people give it credit for, I like it here, like the people. They’re so polite.

I know the feeling of being in a city – and a team winning a championship – as a young person, and then seeing the impact in the community, seeing the excitement for days, for weeks, for long stretch of time, and how special it can be.

It bothered me when Kevin Durant left Oklahoma City.

I’m a different hitter than most.

I come to work every day and fit in, and be respectful of my teammates.

The challenges of my career have made me better and tougher overall and made me resilient.

I go back to Toronto each off season and feel renewed every time I cross the border to my home and native land.

I appreciate some of the attention and the accolades, but I typically shy away from it.

The best hitters can do everything.

If you give a guy 1,000 opportunities and he hits 30 home runs or 500 opportunities and he hits 30 home runs, it’s not the same thing. I know. This is what I do for a living, and I know who is better at what I do.

I’m always ready to be attacked.

I never want to be apologetic for anything I say.

I follow basketball. That was always one of my passions and enjoyed watching it. I appreciate how athletically gifted those guys are. Just never got into hockey.

I used to be a big fan of the NBA until Kevin Durant joined the Golden State Warriors.