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Watch Joey Votto expertly shut down a heckler in Cincinnati

Joey Votto’s heckler did not win the battle. (Screen shot)
Joey Votto’s heckler did not win the battle. (Screen shot)

An All-Star player the caliber of Joey Votto shouldn’t expect to be heckled at his home ballpark.

All bets are off, however, when his Cincinnati Reds are playing the nearby Cleveland Indians and fans of the Tribe make the trip down for the game.

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Votto was prepared for the possibility and expertly handled a heckler as he warmed up for an at-bat during the Reds’ 5-1 victory on Monday night at Great American Ballpark.

“I remember when you used to be good,” the fan started off as Votto warmed up in the on-deck circle.

“I remember when you used to be thin,” Votto shot back as a Reds fan recorded on his phone.

And then they were off …

As Votto told the Indians fan, he had everything to lose if he fully took the fan’s bait and went off on him while the other fan was filming. But the best part about being a ballplayer in that situation is that his bat has the ability to deliver the last word (even if Votto has shown a previous inclination to interact with fans when he doesn’t have a bat in his hands).

And Votto’s bat did.

Of course, any nearby Reds fan should have been happy to tell the fan how wrong he was before the first at-bat. Votto is currently hitting at a .293/.412/.592 clip with 12 homers, 38 RBI and a 160 OPS+.

The fan saying he remembers when Votto “used to be good” doesn’t speak much to his retention skills.

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