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Joey Votto Punctuates Long-Awaited Return With Dramatic HR And Fans Were Ecstatic

The Reds icon made a triumphant return after rotator cuff surgery in August 2022.

Patrick Andres

Joey Votto Punctuates Long-Awaited Return With Dramatic HR And Fans Were Ecstatic
Joey Votto Punctuates Long-Awaited Return With Dramatic HR And Fans Were Ecstatic /
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A season after going 62–100, the Reds have gradually emerged as one of baseball's best stories in 2023. Ignited by the promotion of highly touted infield prospect Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati has won eight consecutive games to move within a half-game of the first-place Brewers in the NL Central.

Monday evening, the Reds took their feel-good 2023 to a new level.

Cincinnati reinstated first baseman Joey Votto from the 60-day injured list and inserted him into its lineup for the first time in 10 months. The 2010 NL MVP rewarded the Reds with a dramatic solo home run to give his team a 3–1 lead against the Rockies in the bottom of the fifth.

Hardened by years of their team taking a tepid approach to winning, Cincinnati’s already excited fans promptly lost their minds.

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Votto was recognized for having joined a unique club in the annals of baseball’s oldest team.

The Canadian slugger duly posed in the Reds' home run Viking helmet after hitting his dinger.

All told, it was an auspicious return for Votto after a lengthy recovery from rotator cuff surgery in August 2022—one that presumably made at least one couple very happy.

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PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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