"Before he was on a Sports Illustrated cover, named the National League's Most Valuable Player, or rewarded with a $38 million contract, Joey Votto was just one of countless 15-year-olds who had sought guidance from youth baseball coach Bob Smyth at an indoor facility in suburban Toronto.

Votto has said that 90 percent of what he knows about baseball he learned from Smyth, who has been coaching young Canadians since the 1970s. The mentor, though, hesitates to take too much of the credit for his pupil's success.

"You've got to understand, he had a whole bunch of natural talent too, so I wasn't dealing with clay pigeons," Smyth said. "It's all right to work hard, but same as anything else, you've got to have a lot of natural talent, and he certainly did. He was very inquisitive (too) - if he didn't understand something, he would ask you to explain it to him. But I didn't have to do that too much - he was a pretty quick learner."

Smyth remembers the 15-year-old Votto as being big, strong, and raw, not unlike most players at that age. He taught the youngster a host of baseball fundamentals, but the most important teaching point was the significance of a strong work ethic. By 17, Votto was completely dedicated to the game, and taking so many swings his coach gave him the keys to the facility.

"I just told him, 'If you want to become a very good hitter, a really good player, it's all repetition,'" Smyth said. "'The more reps you do, the better you're going to become. But it's hard work - it's not easy, and you've got to push yourself.' And he did.""