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Staff photo by Jim Witmer
Gregg and Linda Trebnick and their 20-year-old daughter, April, are close friends with Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto. The Trebnicks were Votto’s host family when he played for the Dragons, and the major-leaguer sometimes lives with them in the offseason, vacations with them and talks with them daily.
Associated Press photo by David Kohl
Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto, right, is congratulated by Brandon Phillips after Votto hit a solo home run off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Brad Thompson in the fifth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, July 4, 2009, in Cincinnati. The Reds won 5-2.
Contributed photo
April (left) and Amy Trebnick of Washington Twp. celebrate with Joey Votto at his 24th birthday dinner the September he was called up to the major leagues.
Washington Twp. residents helped Votto on his road back
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Trebnicks knew Reds first baseman needed them.
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“Wait, wait ... that’s not for print,” Linda said with an exasperated look at her husband.
“You can print it,” Gregg said. Linda finally shrugged, “OK, but I just want you to know he’s full of it.”
And so with relish, Gregg explained: “Back then our daughters were maybe 12 and 16, and I didn’t want them to grow up naive. People said, ‘How could you let three ballplayers and the team trainer live with you?’ I said, ‘Well, the girls are kind of ugly. I’m trying to help them out.’ ”
Linda shook her head and said the real goal was to provide “a good Christian home” for players who stayed with them. In the process, there also was a supportive, fun-loving environment.
Over the years, they’ve had about a dozen players live with them, including Votto, who spent his entire 2004 season with the Dragons at their home.
“Yeah, they had three rules,” he said with a laugh. “No drinking. No girls. Don’t mess with the daughters.”
Linda smiled when his recollection later was relayed to her: “He’s exactly right, but let me tell you something. Over the course of years, all of those rules have been broken, and one player broke all three at once.”
Gregg nodded: “She chewed them out, and the one player hasn’t talked to her since.”
But over the years, Votto’s relationship with the family has deepened.
“They’re a nice family,” he said. “They don’t smother you, but they enjoy spending time with you and they’d do anything for you. And there are no strings attached. Occasionally they’ll catch a game, but they don’t care one way or another about baseball. They just care about you. That’s what’s so comforting about them.”
In fact, Linda told how she heard the guys talking about RBIs and, with some puzzlement, finally said, “Why are you eating at Arby’s?”
Away from the ballpark, the Trebnicks said Votto was consumed by baseball and often watched videos of hitters and pitchers.
“One year he saw every pitch that was thrown to Barry Bonds — and he saw them all about 25 times,” Gregg said. “I call it perpetual learning.
“That’s why, when the players come in the door here, it’s like ‘pffffffff.’ It’s like a steam release.”
Gregg and Joey especially hit it off.
“I’m from the Iron Range of northern Minnesota — a little town called Bovey — and he’s from Canada,” Gregg said. “I guess we both froze our minds.”
After Votto moved on up the minor-league ranks and then onto the Reds near the end of the 2007 season, he stayed in close contact with the family and spent a lot of time in the Dayton area. Whether it was working out at Neo Limits, shopping at Kroger or hitting golf balls at Rollandia, he often went unnoticed.
“They played a round of golf at Yankee Trace with a doctor,” Linda said. “Afterward the guy told Gregg, ‘That kid looks like he could have been a good athlete. He really has something special.’ ”
Gregg just smiled: “Yes, I think you’re right.”
On the road with the Reds, Votto sometimes will play online Scrabble with Linda, who is back home.
“Last year he started text-messaging me before the Super Bowl,” Gregg said. “He was in Florida and I was in my room upstairs, and next thing I know, the game is over and we’re still messaging. Five hours straight. I missed the whole game, but we talked about everything.”
Votto has stayed with the family in the winter, he visits them on Reds off days or sometimes after a day game and, more than once, he’s invited himself along on the Trebnicks’ trips to Florida.
“We went to Universal Studio because he absolutely loves roller coasters,” Linda said. “I mean, he just loves a roller-coaster ride.”
She was talking about the amusement park kind.
‘Now that’s class’
When Votto reached out to the Trebnicks for help, he got the whole family. Even their dogs.
They’re Vizslas, velvety-brown Hungarian bird dogs named Aspen and Q, and it’s safe to say they love the Cincinnati slugger even more than the most ardent Reds fan.
They sleep with him when he stays with the Trebnicks, and when Gregg and Linda came back home from Votto’s place, they sent their two dogs to stay with him.
Votto brought the bird dogs to Great American Ball Park, where Gregg said with a laugh, “They’ve even been kicked off the field. They’ve been with Joey to the weight room, too, and they even stood outside the shower room waiting for him to clean up.”
Just as Aspen and Q were waiting for him, Votto knew the Reds were, too. The team’s top hitter when he left, he missed 21 games in late May and June.
“Here’s one scene I won’t forget,” Gregg said. “Joey’s lying on our couch here trying to get better and the Reds are on TV and he’s rooting for them. He’s really pulling hard for Jay Bruce and then Jay hits a home run. Joey texts him a message and Jay sends him one back.”
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