He earned his official sushi chef accreditation from the government of Japan. He’s now a certified yoga instructor — in Cádiz, Spain.
He went surfing off the coast of Ireland. He caught a cricket match in Dubai. He went riding on “a random bus” in Egypt and on a tuk-tuk in Sri Lanka.
So I don’t know what you’ve been doing for the last year and a half. But compared to what Joey Votto has been up to, there’s a good chance we can all be considered the most boring people on Earth.
The longtime hitting savant for the Cincinnati Reds took a breather from his months and months of post-retirement world travels to join me and my co-host, Doug Glanville, on the new Starkville edition of The Athletic’s Rates and Barrels podcast. And here’s what we learned:
As much as he loved baseball, Votto’s post-retirement game plan was pretty much the opposite of sitting around, wishing he was still going 1-for-3, with a double and two walks.
You should really check out the entire conversation. I confess I could have listened to him talk for the next week and a half. But if you’d like just a taste, we’ve assembled a few highlights. (Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.)
Where he went, what he saw, what he took away
For the first three weeks after his retirement, in August 2024, Votto helped take care of his mother after she had ankle surgery. Then, he said, “like a good boy, I asked permission: ‘Hey, can I leave now? Are you OK enough that I can leave now?’ And she said yes. And I hopped on a plane, and I started in Italy. …”
Ready for just a partial rundown of his travelogue? Here it comes.
“I spent three months in Japan,” he said. “I spent a ton of time in Europe. I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. I’ve seen Petra in Jordan. I’ve been to all kinds of stuff — all the stuff to visit in Egypt. … I’ve been all over. I spent tons of time in Spain, Mexico, continuing to refine my Spanish.
“And I just had a really lovely time exploring, and trying the very best I could to ‘small’ myself. And I think exposing yourself to the world and realizing how so few people care (that he was a famous baseball player in another life) … I think it helped my well-being.”
Joey Votto said that during his adventures he’s been “trying the very best I could to ‘small’ myself.” (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
The most ubiquitous man in the world is a baseball player
In all those months of roaming the globe, Votto was never out there searching for baseball. But that didn’t mean baseball didn’t appear in his viewfinder from time to time.
As he strolled the streets of Tokyo, he couldn’t help but notice that there apparently is this superhero named Ohtani. You may be familiar with him. And that man they call Shohei seemed to be waiting for Votto, every time he turned another corner.
“When you walk through Tokyo, Shohei Ohtani is ubiquitous,” he said. “He’s on every single building, every vending machine, every pharmacy, every product. I mean, I can’t think of an apt comparison to him. … I can’t think of anybody comparable in my life.”
So was there a moment, I asked, when Ohtani came to bat across the Pacific and — because the entire country was watching on TV — everything stopped?
“Interesting that you asked that question,” Votto replied — because it was almost the opposite!
“So the timing of Dodgers games is approximately 11 o’clock in the morning in Japan,” he said. “And I injured my intercostal, my rib, surfing when I was in Sri Lanka. I flew to Tokyo afterward, and it was really bothering me. So I had to get physical therapy in Tokyo. … And every day, while I was laying on the table, they had the game on, and it was always the Dodgers game. …
“So while I was laying on the table watching it, I’m locked in, because I think he’s must-see TV. And they (the Japanese fans in the room) were watching, (but) they were, you know, casual. I think it’s because he’s just so common there.
“You turn your shoulder, and it’s Shohei Ohtani on a billboard. Or he’s on the product you buy at CVR, which is like Walgreens there. Or he’s on your rice ball, that sort of thing. So I think it’s almost like … it’s (not like they’re) tired of him. I don’t want to speak to their mindset. But he’s just everywhere, including in a Dodgers uniform.”
In other words, do the Japanese just take this superhero act for granted by now?
“I don’t know,” Votto said. “It’s almost like it’s in the flow of: He’s done it for so long that the greatness is expected. … He’s 31 years old, and he’s been around for a long time, and he’s just so great, he’s made it mundane.”
Does Votto ever dream about playing baseball?
Votto is on the other side of 40 now. He hasn’t played in an official (non-spring training) MLB game for 32 months. So his glory days are deep in the rear-view mirror. But he’s a man with many thoughts — baseball thoughts and otherwise — constantly swirling above his eyebrows. So I asked him:
“Do you ever dream about baseball? Do you ever dream you’re still playing baseball?”
He was mostly trying to answer: No. But that would have been the least Votto-esque answer ever. So instead, he entertained a fantasy about what might have been — and what he might be doing right now in that alternate universe.
Could you picture a 42-year-old Joey Votto as a Kyle Schwarber-type long-ball specialist? Votto could!
“The only thing that gets me,” he began, “is … when I was 37 or 38, I hit a lot of home runs. I hit like 36 homers (in 2021). And I did that in 120 games or 130 games or something. And I thought I found something.
“And I have felt physically quite well (recently), as far as feeling strong and feeling like I have good grip strength and good rotational. And I just thought it’s a bit of a bummer that I didn’t stay healthy enough that I could have just had this stretch of time in my career, where all I did was just try to hit homers. And it would have come pretty naturally to me.”
Pause for a moment here to imagine this man working counts and pumping 40 majestic bombs a year into the Great American Ball Park seats. Could that have been him? Why not? There’s another longtime NL Central star who had a final act just like that. Votto recalls it well.
“So I think that’s the only bummer thing,” he said, “because when you see Albert Pujols hit his 700th home run when he’s like 43 years old, 42 years old, you think to yourself: That would have been cool, tacking on another two or three years … because he was doing it basically as I sit here right now. And I’m 42 now.
“So no, I don’t dream about it. I don’t miss the sport — because of just how challenging it was and how much it asked of me. But I was, for sure, thankful to have the opportunity to play until the wheels fell off.”
Oh, there was much more. So much more. We urge you to find this show on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. If you do, you’ll learn all about …
• The life lesson he wishes people had warned him about when he retired.
• How he thinks ABS would have changed a major feature of his offensive game — and the ABS bombshell that’s lurking in this postseason.
• Where he was last October, as a famous resident of Toronto, as the Blue Jays were firing up all of Canada and roaring into the World Series.
• The young player he thinks is as great, at his position, as there “has ever been in the history of the sport.”
• How he views the take-that season of Bryce Harper — and the hurdles Harper still has to conquer.
• What he gleaned, from his travels, about how the effort and dedication of everyday people differ from the effort and dedication of baseball players.
• The must-see event he’d stage after the World Series that would rock the baseball earth.
• What he’ll be doing as a member of NBC’s new Sunday Night Baseball team — and how he’d like to do that job.
• And what “the older generation” gets wrong about baseball in 2026: “The thing that I do the most now is try to understand what I understand and what I don’t understand.”
I’ll sum it all up like this: I’ve been having conversations with baseball players for many years now, but I’ve never had one quite like this.
So join us in Starkville. Visitors are always welcome.
