Votto asks for forgiveness for past disparaging of Canadian baseball

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It didn’t take long for Joey Votto to realize the error of his ways back in 2018 when he very publicly savaged his own hard-earned reputation in his homeland by rather shockingly suggesting he didn’t give “a rat’s ass” about Canadian baseball.

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There were many apologies to follow, but contrition truly arrived when the Etobicoke native was admonished by his mother. It was a point Votto made passionately on Monday evening with a post on X of a hand-written note in what appears to be a personal journal.

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“Oof. Wow. I cringe and am ashamed as I re-write my words,” Votto wrote in his post.

Those explosive words came when Votto was asked on a U.S. based podcast for reaction to the no-hitter pitched by Canadian James Paxton at the Rogers Centre. At the time, the comments seemed out of character for such an accomplished player who twice had been named the country’s athlete of the year.

“As far as Toronto, and Canadian baseball, and the country of Canada, and (Paxton) being Canadian, I don’t care at all,” Votto said at the time. “(Paxton) or the Jays, or Canada, in general, may disagree with that, but I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass about that.

“I don’t care almost at all about Canadian baseball. I wasn’t raised inside of Canadian baseball really. I’m coming up on half of my life being in the United States working and being supported by American baseball.”

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The fallout at the time was swift, prompting Votto to swing into immediate damage control, first via an interview with Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell and later in a conference call with reporters. But as the 40-year-old veteran noted on Monday, his mother’s really hit home.

“I received and still receive occasional criticism for my comments, but it was my mother’s disappointment that hurt me the most,” Votto wrote and shared on social media.

“A letter from her, while I was away working in the U.S. she admonished me for my words. She let me know that this is not how I was raised and that I should check my ego and perspective.

“At first I was dismissive of my mother’s scolding. I’m grown! I’m no kid! Don’t talk to me like I’m a child! However, with time, that letter kept whispering to me, ‘time to learn.’”

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Perhaps recognizing that a fair number of baseball fans in the town he’s hoping to resume his career will remember the ill-timed and ill-spirited remarks, Votto continued his reflections by saying he sat with the letter and felt sad and ashamed and eventually acknowledged he was wrong. Next, he wrote a letter back to his mother apologizing and promising to be better going forward.

“Writing this letter hurt, but it was needed,” Votto wrote. “That part of me needed to be acknowledged and corrected. I wrote that I was sorry and asked for her forgiveness.”

Seeing pictures of himself in a Jays uniform for his first game with the team on Sunday — in which he hit a home run in his first at-bat before hurting his ankle in the dugout — also hit home.

“Truthfully, I may or may not play for our (country’s) team this year,” Votto wrote. “Either way, I just want those interested to know a meaningful lesson has been learned.

“Like my mother has, I hope you can forgive me.”

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