A young Joey Votto got a close-up look at greatness early in his career, playing in the same division as Albert Pujols.
Votto's first two full seasons in the big leagues were 2008 and 2009, when Pujols won his second and third Most Valuable Player awards. In 2010, Pujols finished second -- to Votto.
With Pujols on the cusp of 3,000 hits, Votto talked to The Athletic about what Pujols meant to him, the game and even the city of St. Louis.
When you were a young player and you were in this division and you saw him a lot, what did you take from watching him as much as you got to see him in those days?
He was an intimidating figure in many different ways -- an older man, a bigger man, clearly when I entered into the league, he'd already established himself as one of the very best players, if not the best player in the game. He was very territorial. He wanted it to be known that he was the best player and the best at his position. He may not have ever said it, but he's a very competitive man. It was helpful for me because I really like to compete against the best. He was in our division. He was the toast of St. Louis, so that's about as good as it gets when St. Louis is playing well, when they have a marquee guy, obviously they were winning World Series, he's winning awards, so it was a lot of good things happening in that city and for him.
It was my first experience, he and that team, of what Major League Baseball at its finest looks like. It wasn't until he left and went to Anaheim that I think -- always when he was in a Cardinals uniform, I felt -- I don't want to use the word intimidated because it implies that I thought of myself as second, but I was just always aware of how special he was. He was a tremendous defensive player, I don't think he gets enough credit for that. Once he was more comfortable with me as a player and more familiar, he was generous with his knowledge.
I think when it's all said and done, he'll go down as an all-time great, an inner-circle guy, conversation for best at the position. Again, when I played against him, I got to see him in his prime and there are too many examples of games and moments where you just thought, 'Oh boy, this guy's on another level.' In every which way. It was a real treat.
The thing that fascinates me the most about him, that if you ask any player playing with him or against him that if he'd ever played with a player that is better than him, the answer would be, unequivocally, no. And now he's in Anaheim and playing with a player that almost without question is a better player than him. It has to take arguably the greatest player of all time to be better than him. I thought that was really interesting that if this all-time great player… it always fascinated me. I could not, if anyone had ever asked me, could you imagine Albert playing with a better player, I would have said, 'I don't know if that's possible.' That's how good he is.
Was there ever a point where he said something to let you know that he thought highly of you? Or that you were accepted?
No. I think with time, when we play against each other more infrequently, he's more happy to see me and handshakes and hugs and 'How you doing?' and 'Great to see you' and 'Keep playing well,' those sort of conversations. But while we were going head-to-head, he was never friendly like that -- ever, ever, ever. That was something I respected from him. I loved that in an athlete. I kind of get uncomfortable with a lot of buddy-buddyness on the field when you're competing and both want something. That was my perspective.
So back in those days, you're on first base and there's no chit-chat?
There would be times where we didn't speak for an entire series. I never took it personally. I never thought or felt terribly uncomfortable with it because -- again, I felt like he had his own thing going and I can relate to it now because there are times where I don't want to deal with certain stuff.
I was a younger player, I had two or three years in the league and he was at 10 already. He's got so much more time than I do in the game. Now the fruits of that time are showing up with all the hits and the home runs. It's amazing the career he's had.
I hope that with a little bit of distance… I'm speaking out of turn here, I hope that eventually it comes full circle and he gets to go back to St. Louis and embraced appropriately and he gets to be a part of that sort of family that they have. I know it was a very difficult "break up," but I think it's better for the game and, more importantly, better for St. Louis because of how important the Cardinals are to that city and how really, Albert's probably the best player -- him and Stan (Musial) are the best two players that ever played (there).
He won championships there. It's something that no matter how well I play here, I look at all the guys that come back, and the one thing they all have in common -- Barry Larkin, obviously the Big Red Machine -- they've won championships. Teams love the players associated with their very best moments and obviously, championships are marquee moments. The biggest moment in my life is the Toronto Blue Jays winning back-to-back World Series. It's probably the most joy I've ever felt. Albert, I hope, gets back to St. Louis and be embraced appropriately and be able to give back, also.
You beat him for the MVP in 2010…
I'm very aware of that. I've told many a St. Louis Uber driver that. They ask me who I am, they say, "You play baseball?"
I say, "Yes."
They say, "Wow, what team?"
I say, "Cincinnati."
They say, "Oh, where's that?"
I say, "Oh, it's in Ohio."
They'll say, "OK."
I say, "Do you know Albert Pujols?"
"Oh yes, of course."
I'll say, "Well, I beat him for the Most Valuable Player. He came in second to me."
He did come in second, that was a very proud moment and what's funny is he finished second and it may not have been in his seven or eight or nine best seasons. That's how good he was and how much of a monopoly he had on first base in the National League in terms of dominance. So I'm glad I snagged one.
― mookieproof, Thursday, 3 May 2018 17:02 (six years ago) link
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