Former Cincinnati Reds great Joey Votto explained during NBC's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of Cincinnati's game August 30 against the Cubs in Chicago the impact a moment at Wrigley Field from early in his MLB career had on him.
"It's one of the first locations that made me feel like a Major League player," Votto said. "I remember approaching the plate in my very first month of playing Major League Baseball and getting booed. And feeling like this is a moment where I'm either a Major League player, or I'm gonna get eaten up by the system. And I rose to the occasion. This is a personal moment. I rose to the occasion. And it gave me the confidence to think, 'I can do this.' And it took 40,000 people. It took the historic vibe of this stadium.
The weather, the history. And for me, it's a special place."
"This ballpark, in my opinion, is the best ballpark to hit in," Votto continued. "You can hit a pop-fly that the shortstop should catch and it ends up in the left-field bleachers. This is a Jekyll-and-Hyde ballpark if there ever was one, and it's part of the reason why (I had) those numbers I had (here). … This ballpark when the wind is blowing in is the absolute worst ballpark to hit in in all of baseball. Fortunately, tonight we have neutral wind."
"That's what makes this partcular ballpark so charming," Votto added. "I think (it's) the only ballpark where the wind has a direct impact on the particular style of play that you need to bring to the game."
Earlier, Votto shared a message with Reds fans in a video on his Instagram story ahead of the broadcast, to which he's contributing as an analyst.
In July, Votto explained during NBC's Sunday Night Baseball broadcast why he's never visited the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Votto also was asked while making his NBC Sunday Night Baseball debut July 26 whether he ever lobbied to play the outfield, and he mentioned a painful memory.
Earlier in the broadcast, Bob Costas asked Votto whether he might be underappreciated having played in Cincinnati without winning a World Series.
Votto generated buzz on social media with his responses to questions on "MLB Now" from MLB Network's Brian Kenny about whether Votto is interested in working for his former team.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joey Votto explains why Wrigley Field is a 'special place' for him
