Long-time NL Central foe, Brewers killer officially announces retirement

On one hand, the Milwaukee Brewers won't have to worry about terrorized by a familiar foe ever again. On the other, MLB is losing not only one of the best players of the last couple decades but a great personality as well.

Joey Votto, who played for 17 seasons in the majors, all of which coming with the Cincinnati Reds, officially retired from MLB on Wednesday. He took to his Instagram account to make the announcement, thanking his family and fans across baseball, among others.

Votto leaves MLB as one of its most accomplished first basemen in league history. He retires with a career slash line of .294/.409/.511 (.920 OPS) and 459 doubles, 22 triples, and 356 home runs, which places him at No. 92 on the all-time home run leaderboard.

Among his many accolades are six All-Star game appearances, including four straight from 2010 to 2013, a Gold Glove in 2011, a 2nd place Rookie of the Year finish in 2008, and an NL MVP award back in 2010. Shockingly, as one of the top hitting first basemen of his time, he never won a Silver Slugger award.

Drafted in the 2nd round of the 2002 draft, Votto made his MLB debut in 2007 and went 3-for-3 with a homer in his second career appearance, which was also the first start of his career. Soon, he would also begin his reign of terror against the Milwaukee Brewers.

In 227 career games against the Crew, Votto hit .287 with a .406 OBP and a .915 OPS while slugging 46 doubles, 43 homers, and driving in 134. He also treated American Family Field like his second home with a .309 average and whopping .978 OPS.

Unfortunately, injuries started plaguing Votto late in his career as he played in less than 100 games in both 2022 and 2023. His stats started declining as well and after last season, the Reds let him become a free agent for the first time in his career.

The native of Canada had one final shot to realize a dream scenario of playing in his home country when he was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays last offseason. Sadly, that dream never materialized as he once more missed much of the season due to injury and eventually turned to retirement.

Cheers to Joey Votto and best wishes to him in his retirement. Though he won't be able to break Brewers fans' hearts anymore, the baseball world will be a little less fun without him.