Joey Votto befriends a toddler Cubs fan

The Joey Votto legend grew up with another delightful interaction with fans on Thursday night. The Cincinnati Redswho faced the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, got off to a shaky start, allowing seven unanswered runs in the first three innings of the eventual 15–7 loss.

That may have justifiably spoiled the mood. Not the case for Votto, who remained optimistic enough to make a new friend while he was in the on-deck circle at the top of the fourth set:

As he is known to do, the Reds’ first baseman struck up a brief conversation with a kid Cubs fan sitting in the front row, exchanging a fist bump before taking his second at-bat. He then singled, driving in the Reds’ first run of the night.

Because things could only get better for the Reds, the real action came a couple of innings later, when Votto hit his sixth home run of the season off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks.

After accepting congratulations from his teammate Mike Moustakas, Votto high-fived his new friend, and we’re happy to report that the boy, team loyalties aside, was more than willing to join in the celebration of the HR of the legendary Canadian.

You can also read: MLB Canadian Reds player revived Matt Carpenter and told him not to retire

Just another heartwarming story of friendship overcoming a serious hurdle, in this case, a National League rivalry older than Major League Baseball itself.

Raphael Martinez

I am a fan of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and all Mexican baseball in general. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, LMB All Star, LMP (uninterruptedly since 2009), signatures of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, although as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I have baseball in my veins. Degree in Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and a reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I arrived at El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services at Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and a few days later, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. This is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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