A Look at Where Joey Votto's Career Stands in Regards to Baseball History
On Wednesday night, Cincinnati Reds legend Joey Votto announced his retirement after 17 years in the big leagues. After having his team option declined last offseason, Votto signed with the Toronto Blue Jays back in spring training.
An ankle injury forced him to miss several months of action, but he remained committed and tried to earn a call-up to Toronto, but it just didn't materialize. The 40-year-old hit .185 with two homers and 12 RBI through just 85 at-bats.
Votto leaves behind an incredibly impressive resume that will garner him significant support for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. A lifetime .294 hitter, Votto hit 356 career home runs. He made six All-Star Games, won a Gold Glove Award and earned MVP back in 2010.
Votto also led baseball in on-base percentage in three different seasons. He led the National League seven times.
With regards to baseball history, there's a mountain of important and fun stats that paint the picture of just how good Votto was.
First, per Sarah Langs of MLB.com:
Joey Votto’s peak 7-year WAR was 46.9
that ranks 9th among 1B all-time, trailing only 7 players already in the HOF + Albert Pujols, who will be
Joey Votto led his league in OBP 7 times
only players to do so more in MLB history: Ted Williams (12), Barry Bonds (10), Babe Ruth (10) & Rogers Hornsby (9)
Per @StatsCentre:
Joey Votto key career stats and rankings among players in @Reds franchise history (1882-):
Walks- 1365 (1st)
Home runs- 356 (2nd)
Extra base hits- 837 (2nd)
Times on base- 3581 (2nd)
Total bases- 3644 (3rd)
Runs batted in- 1144 (3rd)
Runs scored- 1171 (4th)
Total hits- 2135 (5th)
And per Ryan Spaeder:
#Reds Joey Votto saw 35,630 pitches over 8,746 career plate appearances. He pulled a ball foul for an out just twice ever.
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