Former Dragon Joey Votto Wins NL MVP Award
Votto was the overwhelming winner, receiving 31 of 32 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
"The Dragons would like to congratulate Joey Votto on his MVP award and a fine season," said Gary Mayse, Dragons Executive Vice President and General Manager. "This great award was well-deserved and could not have gone to a finer individual. We very much enjoyed having Joey as a member of our team in 2003 and 2004. To us, he will always be a member of the Dragons family."
Votto becomes the first Dragons player to win baseball's most prestigious award and the first Cincinnati Reds player to be selected since Barry Larkin won it in 1995. Prior to Larkin, no Reds player had won the award since George Foster in 1977. Votto becomes the 10th MVP winner in Reds history.
Votto played in 173 games for the Dragons, logging 593 at-bats and belting 16 home runs while driving in 95 runs over parts of three seasons including a brief rehabilitation assignment in 2009. He played in 60 games with the Dragons as a young 19-year-old in 2003 and then returned in 2004 when he batted .302 with 14 homers and 72 RBI in 111 games.
Votto led the National League in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage, two of the most comprehensive measures of overall offensive production. He was second in the NL in batting average at .324 while belting 37 home runs (third most in the league) and driving in 113 runs (also third in the league). He also scored 106 runs to tie for fourth. Most importantly, Votto also led the Reds to the National League Central Division title.
Former Dragons to receive MVP votes in previous seasons included Votto in 2009 when he finished 22nd in the voting; and Adam Dunn, who was 28th in 2004 and 26th in 2005.
The Dragons will open their 12th season in the Midwest League on April 7, 2011 against the Bowling Green Hod Rods at Fifth Third Field.
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