Reds slugger Joey Votto apologizes for remarks ripping Canadian baseball
Saying his comments came from an “absolutely silly, short-sighted, selfish place,” Cincinnati Reds slugger Joey Votto apologized Wednesday for saying that he doesn’t care about Canada, Canadian baseball or his hometown of Toronto.
Votto distanced himself from his home country Tuesday after being asked on a Yahoo Sports baseball podcast about James Paxton’s recent no-hitter. Votto later issued a statement saying he was “terribly ashamed,” and apologized for the comments again Wednesday on a conference call.
“I cringed hearing it because I’m so embarrassed by what I said,” Votto said. “I feel very strongly that it couldn’t be less in line with how I feel about Canadian baseball, Toronto and James Paxton.”
Paxton, from Ladner, B.C., threw a no-hitter for the Seattle Mariners last week in Toronto, becoming the first Canadian in Major League Baseball history to do so on home soil.