Will Joey Votto Become the Third Canadian in The Baseball Hall of Fame?

 

Yesterday, Joey Votto, who played his entire 17-year MLB career with the Cincinnati Reds, announced his retirement. 

Votto, 40, had signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays back in March and had been playing their Triple-AAA affiliate in Buffalo at the time of his announcement. The slugging first baseman was born and raised in Toronto. 

There are only two Canadian MLB players in Cooperstown - pitcher Ferguson Jenkins and outfielder Larry Walker who were inducted in 1991 and 2020, respectively. Will Votto join Jenkins and Walker become Canada's third baseball Hall of Famer?

Well, let's look at the numbers. Over 17 seasons, Votto played in 2,056 games collecting 2,135 hits for a lifetime batting average of .294 with 356 HR and 1144 RBIs. He was a 6-time NL All-Star who won the NL MVP in 2010 and came very close to doing so again in 2017. While Votto has good numbers and has earned some plaudits, he isn't in the same as league as fellow first baseman Albert Pujols.

However, there are a couple of things working in Votto's favor. For starters, he played his entire career in Cincinnati and is among the greatest to ever wear that uniform. The Reds do have a first baseman in Cooperstown - Tony Perez. Votto isn't the run producer that Perez was in his heyday with the Big Red Machine. Perez drove in 100 or more runs 7 times while Votto did it thrice. However, Votto excelled in other areas. 

Which brings me to my second point. Votto's greatest strength was getting on base leading the NL in walks five times and led the NL in OBP seven times. He also led the NL in slugging percentage once and in OPS twice (once during his MVP season in 2010 and when he finished runner up to then Miami Marlin Giancarlo Stanton). Votto had an OBP of .400 or greater in nine seasons finishing with a career OBP of .409. Given how much sabermetricians love walks and OBP, Votto has a plausible chance of getting into Cooperstown. 

I'm not sure if Votto would get in his first year of eligibility in 2029. But depending on the competition he might get to give a Hall of Fame speech in a decade from now. Hall of Fame or no Hall of Fame, Joey Votto has made both Canada and Cincinnati proud.