Starkville | Joey Votto Traveled the World and Arrived Back in Baseball
Starkville | Joey Votto Traveled the World and Arrived Back in Baseball  
Podcast: Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball
Published On: Sat May 23 2026
Description: Joey Votto spent the years since his 2024 retirement surfing in Sri Lanka, watching cricket in Dubai, and learning to make sushi in Japan. Now he's back in North America and stopping by Starkville for a wide-ranging conversation with Jayson and Doug — what he took away from his travels, and how he sees baseball differently from the outside. Plus, the Pittsburgh Zoo and Boston's Franklin Park Zoo just completed a gorilla-for-gorilla swap — Frankie for Little Joe, straight up — and Jayson and Doug break it down before building their own MLB all-zoo team.Rundown:3:00 A Most Unusual Trade Involving Gorillas6:45 Starkville’s All-Zoo Team17:18 Joey Votto Joins the Show20:00 Living the Retired Life28:17 Greatness of Shohei Ohtani38:48 Analyzing the Game41:13 Reaction to ABS48:07 If You Were Commissioner…53:23 Living the Retired Life1:00:06 Coming Back to the Game1:04:45 Strange But True: Byron Buxton and the Minnesota TwinsFollow Jayson on Bluesky: @jaysonst.bsky.socialFollow Doug on Bluesky: @dougglanville.bsky.socialE-mail: starkville@theathletic.comStarkville Hotline: (347) 313-8371Subscribe to The Athletic: theathletic.com/ratesandbarrelsHosts: Jayson Stark & Doug GlanvilleWith: Joey VottoProducer: Jason Potere Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.