Joey Votto has 51 pizzas delivered to Ichiro for prank

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto sent Marlins player Ichiro Suzuki 51 pizzas as retaliation for a donut joke this past week.

There’s a food war going on between the Reds’ Joey Votto and Marlins’ Ichiro Suzuki. The Miami speedster reportedly received 51 pizzas this past week and Votto was supposedly the man who ordered the delivery. Reportedly, Votto did this all in retaliation for some food that Ichiro sent his way.

According to MLB.com, an “anonymous Marlins player” sent donuts to Votto on Monday in Cincinnati as the Marlins had just arrived for a series with the Reds. On Wednesday, Ichiro was on first base joking around with Votto. This led many people to believe Ichiro was the “donut sender.”

Cue up the old pizza delivery joke, as Votto returned the favor this week. He reportedly had 51 boxes of pizza delivered from California Pizza Kitchen. That’s because Votto had heard Ichiro often enjoys a CPK cheese pizza before games.

Since Cincinnati has no CPK locations, Votto contacted a Louisville location, which just so happened to be 95 miles away from the ballpark. Nonetheless, Votto made it happen, as they were in fact delivered to Great American Ballpark prior to game time on Thursday.

All 51 pizzas were delivered and stacked right in front of Ichiro’s locker for him as a tasty pre-game treat. For those wondering, the number of pizzas ordered matches the jersey number of the suspected Marlins donut sender.

So how much does this sort of prank cost a pro baseball star? A tweet surfaced from a CPK employee indicating it cost $640 for the order. Votto also picked up the $200 tab for an Uber driver to deliver the order to the stadium.

In the aftermath, both players enjoyed a good laugh over their respective food pranks. However, Joey Votto may have had the last laugh as his “cheesy” mind game may have also helped his team capture a 5-4 win Thursday.

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