Joey Votto has been fantastic in 2018. The Cincinnati Reds have not.
Baseball is a team sport, though, so while Votto may be enjoying his best campaign since his 2010 NL MVP-winning season, he's still had to endure through 49 losses through 88 games. Last season Votto began to develop a bit of a reputation for taunting fans with an apparent heel turn. From crunching paper airplanes, to humorously chirping kids asking for his batting gloves, Votto's kayfabe villain game was looking strong. But this season Votto seems to have cut down on his fan-related theatrics. Why? His team's record has something to do with it.
“Last year, I was trying to have some fun,” Votto said at Marlins Park earalier this week, “and I realized that it’s not much fun when you’re on a losing ballclub. After a while, I just went back to the hotel or back to the house sour.
“It’s no fun losing. Losing sucks. And we’ve lost too much of late. I have my good moments when we’re winning, but you can’t have a smile on your face when you’re down 7-2, or something like that. It’s embarrassing. I think it’s embarrassing. This is what we get paid to do.”
“It’s no fun losing. Losing sucks. And we’ve lost too much of late. I have my good moments when we’re winning, but you can’t have a smile on your face when you’re down 7-2, or something like that. It’s embarrassing. I think it’s embarrassing. This is what we get paid to do.”
As amusing as Votto's past antics were, this is probably exactly what Reds fans want to hear from their slugger, because the Canadian's got a great point: losing isn't fun. The Reds won't be transforming into a playoff team by season's end, so you can probably expect Votto to stick to focusing on his game instead of on the fans, but at least he provided this fantastic interaction earlier in the season.
