Joey Votto Signs Ball For Young Reds Fan, Says Sorry For Ejection

SAN DIEGO — Kristin Courtney wanted to wait under her daughter, Abigail, was 6-years-old to take her to her first Cincinnati Reds baseball game. She wanted the experience to be one the young Reds fan would be old enough to remember.

Thanks to Abigail’s favorite player, longtime Reds first baseman Joey Votto, it would turn into an experience she could never forget.

It didn’t start out that way, however.

Votto was ejected from the Reds’ Saturday afternoon road game against the San Diego Padres early in the game after arguing a call with the umpire. Abigail, who had just finished kindergarten a few days earlier, had been looking forward to her first Reds’ game for weeks, and her family had made the two-hour trip from Los Angeles to San Diego to make it happen.

“When Joey exited the game, Abigail was really sobbing,” Courtney, a Dayton, Ohio-area native and lifelong Reds fan, told Patch. “She kept saying she needed more hugs, and wasn’t calming down. She kept saying, ‘They made Joey leave.’ 'They made Joey leave.' She cried for two full innings.”

Courtney tweeted about Abigail’s sadness, and tagged the Reds in the tweet. The team didn’t respond on Twitter, they did one better.

Later in the game, Courtney told Patch someone from the Reds’ dugout waved her down from her fourth row seat at the Padres' Petco Park. Abigail had already left with her father and 3-year-old brother, Parker, since it was getting late for the toddler.

“They handed me a ball, and said, ‘This is from Joey.’,” Courtney said.

The ball was signed by Votto himself, with a note that read, “I am sorry I didn’t play the entire game.”

“I was floored,” Courtney said. “I certainly didn’t expect any of this.”

Abigail was thrilled when her mom met her back at the hotel with the baseball. The tears had all turned to smiles by now.

A VERY happy little Joey Votto fan at bedtime tonight!!! A big thank you again to Joey Votto and the @Reds for making Abigail’s first MLB game so special and memorable! pic.twitter.com/iKrQWHrx4E
— Kristin (@SuperBarry11) June 20, 2021

“Born and raised in Ohio, I’m a lifelong Reds fan,” Courtney said. “Barry Larkin was my favorite player, and I would have reacted the same way if he had been thrown out when I was a kid.”

Votto, who has played for the Reds long enough to have been a teammate of Larkin’s his rookie year, didn’t stop with the gift of a signed baseball. He gave Abigail and her family tickets to Sunday’s game as well, and the 2010 National League MVP and six-time All-Star even reached base with a hit in one of his Sunday at bats.

Amid Sunday's game, Votto had the chance to meet his No. 1 fan. The Reds tweeted video of the warm embrace.

Joey got to meet his biggest fan, Abigail. pic.twitter.com/S6GySOo6BK
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 20, 2021

“I have immense gratitude for the Reds,” Courtney said. “It’s a good feeling when the team you’ve rooted for your whole life does something like this.”

The Reds lost Saturday’s game, but in the process may have locked in a longtime fan from thousands of miles away in Southern California.