Continuing the saga of the Money Pit and its repairs (catch up by reading the two previous posts), I took the MP to Sullivan's Tire Plus in Danville, Indiana, after work today. When I spoke with them earlier this week, they said to bring it in Saturday morning around 8:00am, but the Mrs. has a hair appointment that morning, and we were going to have transportation issues. As it was, I was going to need Chuck and his wife to help me with childcare and a ride to Sullivan's tomorrow afternoon when the van was done. So to solve the morning problem, I was just going to drop the van off tonight and leave it there.
When I arrived, the man I spoke with earlier this week wasn't there, so I had to repeat my story to someone else. The man took my key and then asked if I had a minute. I said, "Sure." But in my mind, I was cringing, thinking that maybe they were overbooked tomorrow, and I'd have to tolerate the rattling tailpipe for longer than I anticipated. He said he was going to talk to one of the mechanics, and he'd be right back.
He came back a couple minutes later and announced that they can fix it today! Sweet! That solves all my transportation and childcare issues tomorrow! I told him where the Money Pit was parked, and he said, "Actually, it's already in the service bay." Wow!! They don't mess around!
So I sat and watched a little TV, and I chatted with another customer who was sitting there. During our conversation, he asked me if these folks here at Sullivan's treat me okay. This was his first time here. I told him how we have brought at least three different vehicles to Sullivan's multiple times for repairs over the years, and they've always treated us courteously and fairly. They even quickly diagnosed and solved a problem in one vehicle that had previously baffled two other mechanics. The other customer was happy to hear it.
Fifteen minutes later, the mechanic came in. He told me how the impact of whatever hit the van had torqued and bent the tailpipe a little bit. He explained how he heated it up a bit, readjusted things, and he thinks the problem is solved. FIFTEEN MINUTES!! And it's done!! No more rattling tailpipe!
I was already happy as a clam as I walked over to the check-out counter to settle my tab. That's when Sullivan's REALLY blew me away.
The man who helped me when I arrived today entered all of the repair information in the computer and then just handed me my key. He told me that he's not charging me anything today. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. He only asks that if I wind up needing a muffler and tailpipe for the Money Pit at a later time, that I come back to Sullivan's.
I'm sure I looked like a total moron, standing there with my mouth hanging open. I was stunned. I couldn't shake his hand hard enough or thank him near enough. I absolutely will come back to Sullivan's for any automotive issues I might encounter on either of our vehicles in the future!!
Two hours later, I'm still in shock.
On Monday, Andy Mohr Toyota in Avon was telling me that I needed an entirely new exhaust system, that it would take 3-5 days for the parts to arrive, and it would set me back $500.00.
On Friday, Sullivan's Tire Plus in Danville countered with this: When I thought I was just dropping the van off so that they'd have it first thing in the morning, they got me right in, instead. The Money Pit was up on a rack before I knew it. Literally. Fifteen minutes later, with a little heat and some brute force, it was fixed. No new exhaust system necessary. I had the Money Pit back, and all of my logistical problems for tomorrow became moot points. Oh, and no more irritating vibration. And then the mother of all surprises: they did it for free. FREE!!
On Monday, by treating me like I have SUCKER tattooed on my forehead, Andy Mohr Toyota lost a customer forever. I will never buy a vehicle from them (I didn't buy the Money Pit from them, anyway), nor will I ever again take a vehicle there to be serviced or repaired. I will also tell everyone I know about my bad experience with them.
On Friday, by treating me better than I could ever have possibly imagined, Sullivan's Tire Plus ensured my business for a very, very, very, very long time. I will also tell everyone I know about my OUTSTANDING experience with them.
If you're in the Indianapolis metropolitan area and need work done on your vehicle, make the drive out to Danville (actually, they have a location in Avon, too, for those coming in from the city) and see the good people at Sullivan's Tire Plus. I can't recommend them highly enough.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Money Pit Update
Just got the Money Pit back from the dealership. Andy Mohr Toyota was "gracious" enough not to charge me for fixing the heat problem--you know, the problem they didn't fix right the first time in November--so I got out of there without throwing any more money into the pit. I asked them if they are serious that it's going to require an entirely new exhaust system and $500.00 to fix the tailpipe vibration issue, and the person I spoke with could barely maintain eye contact while telling me that the tailpipe is bent and won't fit right, so it needs to be replaced.
Apparently, my facial expression was enough to prevent the person from asking if I want to get that repair done.
On the way home, I stopped at our usual mechanic, Sullivan's Tire Plus. I explained what had happened to cause the damage, what the problem was, and that Toyota wants $500.00 to fix it. He walked outside with me, looked at the tailpipe, and said, "Heat the sumbitch up and bend it back!"
At last! Someone who speaks my language!
So I'm taking it back to him on Saturday morning. He'll put it up on the rack and see if there is any other damage--in his words, "We'll see if Toyota is right, or if they're full of shit." I LOVE this guy!--but he said that even if a bracket is bent or broken, that'll come in at way under $500.00. And he implied that I'll have it back by Saturday afternoon.
I like that solution a whole lot better than the alternative.
Apparently, my facial expression was enough to prevent the person from asking if I want to get that repair done.
On the way home, I stopped at our usual mechanic, Sullivan's Tire Plus. I explained what had happened to cause the damage, what the problem was, and that Toyota wants $500.00 to fix it. He walked outside with me, looked at the tailpipe, and said, "Heat the sumbitch up and bend it back!"
At last! Someone who speaks my language!
So I'm taking it back to him on Saturday morning. He'll put it up on the rack and see if there is any other damage--in his words, "We'll see if Toyota is right, or if they're full of shit." I LOVE this guy!--but he said that even if a bracket is bent or broken, that'll come in at way under $500.00. And he implied that I'll have it back by Saturday afternoon.
I like that solution a whole lot better than the alternative.
Seriously?!
I took the Money Pit--my new nickname for our 2009 Toyota Sienna--to Andy Mohr Toyota in Avon last night and left it for them to repair a couple of problems. Recall, something hit the back of the van a couple of months ago, and Andy Mohr Toyota "fixed" the damage for $440.00.
Turns out, though, that they didn't fix it right.
The tailpipe rattles against the bumper sometimes when the van idles, or when I'm decelerating to stop at a traffic signal or something. Simply looking at the tailpipe, I can tell that it's not centered in the cut-out of the back bumper where it's supposed to be. I told them about this problem in November, but they apparently forgot about it or something because it didn't get fixed.
Andy Mohr Toyota also claimed to have fixed a heater line that, for unknown reasons, runs through the back wheel well / bumper area and was leaking fluid after the November damage. No one I've described it to has any guess as to why there is a heater line back there, but Andy Mohr Toyota claims there is. At any rate, we thought that problem had been repaired in November, but we discovered a few weeks ago--the first time we had an adult, and not just Olivia and June, sitting back there--that while the vents blew air out, it was cold air. No heat in the back of the van.
So Andy Mohr Toyota just called and left me a voice mail message. There was an air bubble in the heating line that had to be burped out. I guess that was a real tough task, but much to their relief, they finally got that air bubble burped out, and there's heat in the back of the van again. That part of the message made me chuckle. Are we driving a van or a newborn baby? I had visions of the mechanic, with a burp rag on his shoulder, holding the van in his arms, rocking back and forth, patting and rubbing the roof, until the van burped and spit up a little bit. I was still giggling at that part of the message when I got to the part that REALLY made me laugh out loud.
They claim that the entire exhaust assembly needs to be replaced to solve the rattling problem. It'll take three to five days for the parts to come in, and then it will cost.........this is the best part..........wait for it...........wait for it............ready?............FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS to fix!!
I'm still laughing!!
Seriously?! To move the tailpipe over about a half-inch, so that it doesn't vibrate against the bumper, it's going to require an entirely new exhaust assembly?!
I don't know much about cars, but I do know that with very minimal effort, I can move the tailpipe a half-inch by hand. I bet Olivia could move it with her hand, too. That's how easy it is to move. I'm thinking that the installation of a simple bracket to hold it in place after moving the tailpipe to where it should be would solve the problem. And for substantially less than $500.00.
Now, that may not be the "official" Toyota solution, but I don't care anymore. These people at Andy Mohr Toyota are crooks. The van will be going to the mechanic we use for our six-year-old Chevy Malibu. I'm VERY confident that they can find a fix for for the tailpipe issue for less than $500.00.
And Toyota can keep their stupid warranty. What a joke.
Turns out, though, that they didn't fix it right.
The tailpipe rattles against the bumper sometimes when the van idles, or when I'm decelerating to stop at a traffic signal or something. Simply looking at the tailpipe, I can tell that it's not centered in the cut-out of the back bumper where it's supposed to be. I told them about this problem in November, but they apparently forgot about it or something because it didn't get fixed.
Andy Mohr Toyota also claimed to have fixed a heater line that, for unknown reasons, runs through the back wheel well / bumper area and was leaking fluid after the November damage. No one I've described it to has any guess as to why there is a heater line back there, but Andy Mohr Toyota claims there is. At any rate, we thought that problem had been repaired in November, but we discovered a few weeks ago--the first time we had an adult, and not just Olivia and June, sitting back there--that while the vents blew air out, it was cold air. No heat in the back of the van.
So Andy Mohr Toyota just called and left me a voice mail message. There was an air bubble in the heating line that had to be burped out. I guess that was a real tough task, but much to their relief, they finally got that air bubble burped out, and there's heat in the back of the van again. That part of the message made me chuckle. Are we driving a van or a newborn baby? I had visions of the mechanic, with a burp rag on his shoulder, holding the van in his arms, rocking back and forth, patting and rubbing the roof, until the van burped and spit up a little bit. I was still giggling at that part of the message when I got to the part that REALLY made me laugh out loud.
They claim that the entire exhaust assembly needs to be replaced to solve the rattling problem. It'll take three to five days for the parts to come in, and then it will cost.........this is the best part..........wait for it...........wait for it............ready?............FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS to fix!!
I'm still laughing!!
Seriously?! To move the tailpipe over about a half-inch, so that it doesn't vibrate against the bumper, it's going to require an entirely new exhaust assembly?!
I don't know much about cars, but I do know that with very minimal effort, I can move the tailpipe a half-inch by hand. I bet Olivia could move it with her hand, too. That's how easy it is to move. I'm thinking that the installation of a simple bracket to hold it in place after moving the tailpipe to where it should be would solve the problem. And for substantially less than $500.00.
Now, that may not be the "official" Toyota solution, but I don't care anymore. These people at Andy Mohr Toyota are crooks. The van will be going to the mechanic we use for our six-year-old Chevy Malibu. I'm VERY confident that they can find a fix for for the tailpipe issue for less than $500.00.
And Toyota can keep their stupid warranty. What a joke.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
You Reap What You Sow
So the New York Jets are coming to town next weekend, huh? Interesting. I'll admit that I was one of millions who assumed that the AFC Championship Game would be a shoot-out between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Diego Chargers. But the Jets pulled off an upset on the road today, knocking the #2-seed Chargers out of the playoffs, 17-14.The Jets were so far left-for-dead after a Week 15 loss to Atlanta that their own coach stated in the post-game press conference that the Jets were out of the playoffs. But he was mistaken. The Jets needed a ridiculous number of teams to lose, AND they had to beat the undefeated Colts and the AFC North Champion Cincinnati Bengals in their last two games to sneak in as a wild card.
All of those teams lost, and the Colts and Bengals both rested their starters against New York, having nothing to play for. The Jets got two easy wins against two junior varsity squads. To the post-season they flew.
Well, I take that back about the Colts having nothing to play for. The Colts' decision to quit on their chance at an unbeaten season against the Jets--in front of the home crowd, no less--has been hotly debated ever since. Suffice it to say that I am one of the many fans who are (yes, present tense) absolutely livid about that decision. If the Colts do anything now but win the Super Bowl, this season will have been nothing more than an enormous slap to the fans' faces. And even if they do win the Super Bowl, the fans will still have a bad taste in their mouths over what could have been.
At any rate, the Bengals suffered immediate karmic payback for rolling over and allowing the Jets into the playoffs. In a rematch the very next week after Cincinnati played their back-ups, the Jets knocked the Bengals starters out, 24-14. The Bengals reaped what they sowed.
Now the Colts are facing the team that they allowed into the post-season while, at the same time, breaking their own fans' hearts by quitting on a perfect season. Do you think Colts fans will be satisfied with anything short of a 300-point win?
If the Jets beat the Colts on Sunday--and I'm certainly not doubting them anymore!--I can't even begin to imagine the level of outrage that will be felt by Colts Nation. Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell will be pariahs. When they leave Lucas Oil Stadium, they'll likely be greeted in the parking lot by a scene similar to this:
Don't lose this game, Colts. Or the one after it.
Friday, January 15, 2010
I Hate Paying Bills
I sat down to pay bills last week, and I discovered that the Mrs.'s paycheck was $5.00 less than normal. Turns out, county and local taxes have increased.
This week, my paycheck was $5.00 less than normal. Same reason as why the Mrs. is $5.00 short each paycheck. So there's $20.00 less per month in our checks.
Our water bill is $10.00 more than normal this month. I admit it. I like long hot showers in the winter.
We got a notice in the mail this week that our monthly mortgage payment is going up $30.00 per month. Looks like property taxes and insurance rates have increased, so our escrow will fall short without the increase.
I just paid the post-Christmas electric bill. That was $35.00 more than normal. Maybe I won't put up Christmas lights next year.
I haven't gotten the natural gas bill yet, but we've had a long stretch of bitterly cold weather lately, so our furnace has pretty much been running non-stop since December. If we come in under $250.00, I'll be surprised.
I have an $18.00 bill to pay to our local dentist for when the Mrs. had to have some work done on a tooth in November.
I have a $132.00 bill to pay to our local hospital for my broken ankle in September. That brings the total out-of-pocket expense for that ill-advised decision to slide into second base to right around $400.00. So far. And that was after having to fight with my insurance company to get them to pay anything.
Speaking of my insurance, my co-pays and maximum out-of-pocket expenses are doubling in 2010. That's awesome.
I just wrote a check for daycare. We pay $48.00 per week more now than we used to, having started the girls in pre-school, rather than in an in-home daycare. I will be the first to stand up and say that the pre-school they attend is absolutely fantastic, and it was one of the best decisions we've made lately, but still...it's $48.00 per week less that we have in our pockets. $192.00 per month.
The dog is due for his annual trip to the vet this month. That generally runs in the neighborhood of $200.00 or so, by the time we get all of his vaccinations, testing, and medications for all of his various ailments. Our reward for spending that kind of cash on him is that he CONSTANTLY steals food from the girls off their plates and out of their hands, he gets into the kitchen trash and spreads it all over the house every time we turn our backs, we've had to put June's diaper pail in the garage because the dog will fish wet diapers out of there and eat them and spread them all over the house, and he has peed on the carpet right in the middle of the living room on each of the past two days. Oh, and I'll have about 90 lbs. of dog crap to pick up if the snow ever melts out of our backyard. So I have that to look forward to. He also barks at me every time I come home. Burglars could break in, and he'd either sleep through it or piss himself (on our carpet, of course) while running through the kitchen trash and/or shredded wet diapers and hiding in a closet. But I come home from work at the same time and walk through the same door every day, and he barks at me. Idiot.
Our stupid Toyota van needs more repairs done. Correction: it needs the repairs done CORRECTLY that Andy Mohr Toyota in Avon didn't do right the first time in November. The tailpipe still rattles against the bumper, and there's no heat in the back of the van. It blows air, but it's cold air. I can only imagine how many hundreds of dollars that's going to cost me. I've tried to keep a positive attitude about it since we bought the damn thing last April, but that piece of shit van is a money pit. Then, of course, there's the enormous pain in the ass of driving it to the incompetent dealership and leaving it there for days while they "fix" what they should have fixed right the first time.
I have not enjoyed my Toyota experience at all.
I filled out Andy Mohr's customer service satisfaction survey after the last trip there, and I bashed them for not fixing our van right. Naturally, I heard nothing in response. I see now how valuable my input and satisfaction is to Andy Mohr, as well as what quality of work they do there. Then I e-mailed the dealership a couple weeks ago to see about scheduling a time to bring it in so that they can fix it right. This will shock you, I'm sure, but I'm still waiting for a response. Any repair work that we have done anywhere but at the dealership voids our warranty, so we're being held hostage by our local Toyota dealership for two more years.
And they wonder why I didn't buy their extended warranty.
The house needs a new roof. I see water spots in the ceiling where water is obviously getting under some shingles. I guess the cheapest shingles they could find to slap up there 14 years ago when they built this house are finally starting to fail. Once the roof is fixed, of course, we'll have to fix the water damage to the ceiling inside.
We likely won't be able to take a family vacation this year because we can't afford it.
Needless to say, the girls are on a hiatus from gymnastics for awhile. We just don't have the $235.00 every 8 weeks for that.
My chest actually starts to get a little tight if I think about it all for too long. I sure don't want to have a heart attack, though. I'd have to fight with the insurance company for six months to get them to pay anything, and then I'd be down at least another $5000.00.
Well, at least I'll have my cost-of-living pay raise to help us get through this.
Oh wait.
No I won't.
I don't get one this year.
I'd go sit in the car with the motor running and the garage door down to put myself out of my misery, but it costs too much to fill up the gas tank. And since I'd be using the van, I'd have to listen to that annoying rattle of the tailpipe against the bumper the whole time. Plus, it would be cold, since the heater doesn't work right.
* Sigh *
I guess it could be worse. I suppose I should be grateful that we're not worse off than we are. After all, I know several people who are losing their jobs entirely, or who have even worse health insurance than I do. If they have any at all.
Or I could be living in Haiti.
This week, my paycheck was $5.00 less than normal. Same reason as why the Mrs. is $5.00 short each paycheck. So there's $20.00 less per month in our checks.
Our water bill is $10.00 more than normal this month. I admit it. I like long hot showers in the winter.
We got a notice in the mail this week that our monthly mortgage payment is going up $30.00 per month. Looks like property taxes and insurance rates have increased, so our escrow will fall short without the increase.
I just paid the post-Christmas electric bill. That was $35.00 more than normal. Maybe I won't put up Christmas lights next year.
I haven't gotten the natural gas bill yet, but we've had a long stretch of bitterly cold weather lately, so our furnace has pretty much been running non-stop since December. If we come in under $250.00, I'll be surprised.
I have an $18.00 bill to pay to our local dentist for when the Mrs. had to have some work done on a tooth in November.
I have a $132.00 bill to pay to our local hospital for my broken ankle in September. That brings the total out-of-pocket expense for that ill-advised decision to slide into second base to right around $400.00. So far. And that was after having to fight with my insurance company to get them to pay anything.
Speaking of my insurance, my co-pays and maximum out-of-pocket expenses are doubling in 2010. That's awesome.
I just wrote a check for daycare. We pay $48.00 per week more now than we used to, having started the girls in pre-school, rather than in an in-home daycare. I will be the first to stand up and say that the pre-school they attend is absolutely fantastic, and it was one of the best decisions we've made lately, but still...it's $48.00 per week less that we have in our pockets. $192.00 per month.
The dog is due for his annual trip to the vet this month. That generally runs in the neighborhood of $200.00 or so, by the time we get all of his vaccinations, testing, and medications for all of his various ailments. Our reward for spending that kind of cash on him is that he CONSTANTLY steals food from the girls off their plates and out of their hands, he gets into the kitchen trash and spreads it all over the house every time we turn our backs, we've had to put June's diaper pail in the garage because the dog will fish wet diapers out of there and eat them and spread them all over the house, and he has peed on the carpet right in the middle of the living room on each of the past two days. Oh, and I'll have about 90 lbs. of dog crap to pick up if the snow ever melts out of our backyard. So I have that to look forward to. He also barks at me every time I come home. Burglars could break in, and he'd either sleep through it or piss himself (on our carpet, of course) while running through the kitchen trash and/or shredded wet diapers and hiding in a closet. But I come home from work at the same time and walk through the same door every day, and he barks at me. Idiot.
Our stupid Toyota van needs more repairs done. Correction: it needs the repairs done CORRECTLY that Andy Mohr Toyota in Avon didn't do right the first time in November. The tailpipe still rattles against the bumper, and there's no heat in the back of the van. It blows air, but it's cold air. I can only imagine how many hundreds of dollars that's going to cost me. I've tried to keep a positive attitude about it since we bought the damn thing last April, but that piece of shit van is a money pit. Then, of course, there's the enormous pain in the ass of driving it to the incompetent dealership and leaving it there for days while they "fix" what they should have fixed right the first time.
I have not enjoyed my Toyota experience at all.
I filled out Andy Mohr's customer service satisfaction survey after the last trip there, and I bashed them for not fixing our van right. Naturally, I heard nothing in response. I see now how valuable my input and satisfaction is to Andy Mohr, as well as what quality of work they do there. Then I e-mailed the dealership a couple weeks ago to see about scheduling a time to bring it in so that they can fix it right. This will shock you, I'm sure, but I'm still waiting for a response. Any repair work that we have done anywhere but at the dealership voids our warranty, so we're being held hostage by our local Toyota dealership for two more years.
And they wonder why I didn't buy their extended warranty.
The house needs a new roof. I see water spots in the ceiling where water is obviously getting under some shingles. I guess the cheapest shingles they could find to slap up there 14 years ago when they built this house are finally starting to fail. Once the roof is fixed, of course, we'll have to fix the water damage to the ceiling inside.
We likely won't be able to take a family vacation this year because we can't afford it.
Needless to say, the girls are on a hiatus from gymnastics for awhile. We just don't have the $235.00 every 8 weeks for that.
My chest actually starts to get a little tight if I think about it all for too long. I sure don't want to have a heart attack, though. I'd have to fight with the insurance company for six months to get them to pay anything, and then I'd be down at least another $5000.00.
Well, at least I'll have my cost-of-living pay raise to help us get through this.
Oh wait.
No I won't.
I don't get one this year.
I'd go sit in the car with the motor running and the garage door down to put myself out of my misery, but it costs too much to fill up the gas tank. And since I'd be using the van, I'd have to listen to that annoying rattle of the tailpipe against the bumper the whole time. Plus, it would be cold, since the heater doesn't work right.
* Sigh *
I guess it could be worse. I suppose I should be grateful that we're not worse off than we are. After all, I know several people who are losing their jobs entirely, or who have even worse health insurance than I do. If they have any at all.
Or I could be living in Haiti.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Welcome Back, Mark McGwire
Mark McGwire came out of the closet today. No, he's not gay. He admitted to using steroids during the 1990's, including his record-breaking 1998 season.
Yes, I know this is as shocking as the news that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. But I give him credit for coming clean, even if it took him nearly five years from the time he looked like a total ass in front of Congress.
I'm a lifelong fan of the Oakland A's, and I had been a big fan of Mark McGwire since he began his career with the A's and was one of the Bash Brothers, along with Jose Canseco, in the late 1980's. His move to St. Louis in 1997--along with the prior and subsequent moves to Saint Louie by several other A's, including Dennis Eckersley and Tony LaRussa--made me into a Cardinals fan, too. The 1998 season was awesome, as McGwire dueled with Sammy Sosa for the home run title, with McGwire ultimately swatting a MLB-record 70 home runs to Sosa's 66.
McGwire retired in 2001, and shortly thereafter, the steroids hit the fan. At some point during the steroid stink, I forced myself to recognize that my favorite baseball player--one of my heroes--was a cheater. It was really a tough pill for me to swallow. In 2005, he faced Congress and refused to answer their questions about steroid use in baseball. His legacy was destroyed.
Fast forward to 2010. The St. Louis Cardinals have hired McGwire to be their hitting coach. It's his first time back in baseball since his retirement, and his first time back in the public eye since that disastrous day on Capitol Hill five years ago. The media was going to swarm him starting in Spring Training and dissect him all season long over the steroid issue.
What he did today by finally admitting to using steroids, expressing regret, and clearing the air was the best thing he could possibly have done. He should have done it five years ago in front of Congress, but it's better late than never. It's probably a load off of his shoulders, and it should allow him to focus entirely on helping Cardinals hit a baseball now. Distractions from steroid talk should be minimal. Andy Pettitte admitted his steroid use, and the storm quickly passed. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still can't come to terms with the truth, and...well...
So I applaud Mark McGwire. It took courage to do what he did today. He screwed up in his playing days, and again in front of Congress. But we all screw up, don't we? It's human nature. All we can do when we make a mistake is admit it, apologize for it, learn from it, and move on.
After worshipping him as a hero for 15+ years, and loathing him as a pariah for five years, I'm finally realizing that Mark McGwire is, in reality, just like the rest of us: he's human. He always has been. I simply forgot that small detail as I watched him launch home runs in grand fashion, lead my favorite teams to victory time and time again, and then be exposed as a cheater and a liar under oath. Or, at best, an uncooperative witness under oath.
But today, he admitted his mistake and apologized for it. Now I'm ready to move on. I look forward to watching Coach McGwire helping the Cardinals get back to challenging for a pennant.
Yes, I know this is as shocking as the news that the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. But I give him credit for coming clean, even if it took him nearly five years from the time he looked like a total ass in front of Congress.
I'm a lifelong fan of the Oakland A's, and I had been a big fan of Mark McGwire since he began his career with the A's and was one of the Bash Brothers, along with Jose Canseco, in the late 1980's. His move to St. Louis in 1997--along with the prior and subsequent moves to Saint Louie by several other A's, including Dennis Eckersley and Tony LaRussa--made me into a Cardinals fan, too. The 1998 season was awesome, as McGwire dueled with Sammy Sosa for the home run title, with McGwire ultimately swatting a MLB-record 70 home runs to Sosa's 66.
McGwire retired in 2001, and shortly thereafter, the steroids hit the fan. At some point during the steroid stink, I forced myself to recognize that my favorite baseball player--one of my heroes--was a cheater. It was really a tough pill for me to swallow. In 2005, he faced Congress and refused to answer their questions about steroid use in baseball. His legacy was destroyed.
Fast forward to 2010. The St. Louis Cardinals have hired McGwire to be their hitting coach. It's his first time back in baseball since his retirement, and his first time back in the public eye since that disastrous day on Capitol Hill five years ago. The media was going to swarm him starting in Spring Training and dissect him all season long over the steroid issue.
What he did today by finally admitting to using steroids, expressing regret, and clearing the air was the best thing he could possibly have done. He should have done it five years ago in front of Congress, but it's better late than never. It's probably a load off of his shoulders, and it should allow him to focus entirely on helping Cardinals hit a baseball now. Distractions from steroid talk should be minimal. Andy Pettitte admitted his steroid use, and the storm quickly passed. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens still can't come to terms with the truth, and...well...
So I applaud Mark McGwire. It took courage to do what he did today. He screwed up in his playing days, and again in front of Congress. But we all screw up, don't we? It's human nature. All we can do when we make a mistake is admit it, apologize for it, learn from it, and move on.
After worshipping him as a hero for 15+ years, and loathing him as a pariah for five years, I'm finally realizing that Mark McGwire is, in reality, just like the rest of us: he's human. He always has been. I simply forgot that small detail as I watched him launch home runs in grand fashion, lead my favorite teams to victory time and time again, and then be exposed as a cheater and a liar under oath. Or, at best, an uncooperative witness under oath.
But today, he admitted his mistake and apologized for it. Now I'm ready to move on. I look forward to watching Coach McGwire helping the Cardinals get back to challenging for a pennant.
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