Joey Votto earns two-game suspension after meltdown, plans to appeal

Joey Votto, the exceptional Cincinnati Reds first baseman, straight up went ballistic Wednesday night on home-plate umpire Bill Welke, getting as much in an umpire’s face as a baseball player can get.

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And for that, Major League Baseball slapped Votto with a two-game suspension and an undisclosed fine on Friday. Votto, however, has decided to appeal and, as is MLB’s policy, is free to play until his appeal his heard.

Just how mad was Votto on Wednesday? This mad.

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The question is, even a couple days, whether Votto had a right to be angry? Manager Bryan Price has said that Votto was angry because he asked for timeout and wasn’t granted it by Welke. If you believe in ump shows, this might be considered one.

Here’s what Votto said Friday, speaking publicly for the first time about the incident to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

I asked Votto if he’d ever been told no when he asked for time, here’s his response: pic.twitter.com/1jvQX0oEbd

— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) September 11, 2015

It’s clear Votto doesn’t think two games is an appropriate punishment. Though, it’s worth noting that Votto was suspended once this year for bumping an umpire. Guess we’ll see what MLB thinks a second time around.

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