Joey Votto apologizes to tearful young Reds fan for ejection with signed ball
NY Post
Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto sent a written apology on a signed baseball to a tearful young fan to make up for getting tossed in the first inning of Saturday’s game in San Diego.
Soon after Votto was ejected for arguing a third strike on a check-swing appeal, Reds fan Kristin Courtney tagged the Reds in a tweet showing her tearful daughter Abigail wearing a Votto t-shirt with the caption, “When it’s your first MLB game and your favorite player of all time gets thrown out of the game in the first inning” along with three crying emojis and the hashtag #WeLoveYouJoey. Courtney, who told MLB.com she grew up in Ohio but now lives in Los Angeles, soon after offered a happy update on what she called “the sad Abigail situation.”It was only a three-second glimpse, but Matt Rempe, finally, showcased offensive strides. The ones he started talking about in the preseason — after a summer’s worth of work — and kept doubling down on, even when he fluctuated in and out of the Rangers lineup and shuttled back and forth to AHL Hartford.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.