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Lucky is the man who can look in the mirror and be content with whom he sees. Not satisfied, necessarily; certainly not enamored. At peace, maybe, with a life well and fully lived.
And just think: Joey Votto is only 40 years old.
So many chapters to go, for a man who has invested so heavily in life. You get out of it what you put into it. That goes for hitting a baseball or learning the Sicilian Defense. Votto is a student of the world in a way that most of us are not. He’s curious and engaged. He takes his work seriously, but not always himself. It’s a good combination.
I remember way back, Votto telling me the now-familiar story of him carrying Ted Williams’ master treatise on hitting with him along the minor-league road. The Science of Hitting was Ted’s way of explaining how he did what he did. At 96 pages, it wasn’t a burden to tote from bus stop to bus stop. Maybe you remember it. Amazon’s description:
“One of baseball's most dramatic teaching tools--a photograph that divides his strike zone into 77 baseballs, seven wide by 11 high--Williams projects what he would hit at each pitch location, from .230 on the low-outside strike to .400 in what he called his "happy zone," the heart of the plate belt high.’’
Votto devoured it, not so differently than how he consumes everything that fascinates him. As a young major-league star, he still re-read The Science of Hitting on occasion.
A very good thing about doing what I did for pay was the rare chance to follow a local player who stayed his entire career here. That takes a special personality. Cincinnati is not for everyone. It’s telling that the lifers often grow up here and that if they leave, they tend to come back.
If you’re a well-known pro jock, you need a certain life view to want to play in Cincinnati your whole career.
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