Canadian baseball star Joey Votto announces retirement after 17 MLB seasons
40-year-old slugger had laboured to .143 average with Blue Jays' affiliate this season
Canadian baseball star Joey Votto is retiring.
The 40-year-old first baseman announced in an Instagram post Wednesday evening that he's hanging up his cleats.
"That's it. I'm done," Votto said in a video. "I am officially retiring from baseball."
Votto played 17 MLB seasons, earning six all-star selections, one Gold Glove and a 2010 National League MVP award.
After playing his entire career with the Cincinnati Reds, the Toronto native signed a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays last spring, but never played a major-league game for his hometown team.
Votto homered off Philadelphia's Zack Wheeler in his only spring training at-bat on March 17 for the Blue Jays before he stepped on a bat in the dugout later in that game and was sidelined for the next three months.
He had one home run, four runs batted in and a .143 average in 15 games with Triple-A Buffalo this season.
"Toronto + Canada, I wanted to play in front of you. Sigh, I tried with all my heart to play for my people. I'm just not good anymore," Votto wrote in his post, thanking his parents, brother and former teammates and coaches.
"Thank you for all the support during my attempt."
Toronto hosted Cincinnati in the finale of a three-game series Wednesday night.
Drafted out of high school by the Reds in the second round of the 2002 MLB draft, Votto hit .294 with 356 home runs and 1,444 RBI in 2,056 games. He finishes with a career on-base plus slugging percentage of .920.
Votto posted a career-best 37 home runs during his MVP season. He also homered 36 times in 2017 and 2021.
A shoulder injury limited him to 65 games last season with the Reds.
"To the MLB fans. You energized me with your cheers, I loved the boos, the trash talk, the moments where I broke a road cities moment, or was humbled on stage," Votto wrote.
"I'll never forget, early in my career, my first time at Wrigley Field and the crowd standing and cheering toward my failure. I remember standing at the plate, smiling and thinking, this is my home. I belong here."
