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Q&A with Josh Towers: On his 'old grandma car' and a crashed Civic

Nick Laham / Getty Images Sport / Getty

theScore is releasing a three-part series with former and current Blue Jays about their first car, current cars, and dream car. The third and final installment comes with Josh Towers, who pitched for Toronto from 2003-07 and retired from baseball in 2009 after eight seasons.

Going back in time, do you remember your first car?

JT: My grandma gave me her 1984 Buick Regal. It was pretty reliable, but you have the old grandma car driving around and the boys are laughing at you - they weren't laughing when they needed rides, though. I had it for about two years. It didn't last very long. It was on its way out, but it was a good car.

After you were drafted and received your signing bonus, did you go out and get a new car?

JT: My dad had this blue truck that was lifted that he got from his buddy, and I drove that for a bit. I'd take that thing to the beach and go climb rocks, get in a bit of trouble. I couldn't take that back east though. When that signing bonus finally kicked in, I went and bought a 1996 Honda Civic two-door coupe, which was the greatest thing in the world. It's actually still running today, my uncle owns it and drives it every day.

They gave me $42,000. It didn't come all at once, but it was the most money that I've ever heard of in my life. It didn't last very long. We thought we were rich and spending money hand over fist in instructional league, so that went pretty fast. The best purchase I ever made in my life might be that Civic. Gas mileage was fantastic. It got me across the country. (Former teammate) John Parrish crashed it one time. He took it home to Pennsylvania when we were in A-Ball and didn't want to tell me that he crashed it. It took some time (before he told me). He's like, 'Hey I gotta stay a couple days' and I'm like, 'Alright man.' He comes back like two weeks later and he's nervous the whole time and I'm like, 'What's wrong with you man?' and he tells me he crashed my car when he was at home. But (he fixed it and) it looked good so I told him not to worry about it.

After signing a two-year, $5.2-million deal with the Blue Jays in 2005, was it time to get rid of the Civic?

JT: I've always wanted a Ferrari or a Lamborghini. I'm not even picky with those two cars, but I could never validate it. After that contract, if I would have solidified myself as a major leaguer, I'd be driving those around town with the windows down waving at people. The Cadillac Escalade is my favorite car ever made and the best SUV on the road, and I've always had those. When I got that contract, I went out and got the new 2007 Escalade and loved that car.

Are there any cars that teammates owned that you envied?

JT: B.J. Ryan's always had some pretty cool cars. He had a white Ferrari when I went to see him last time. I was too afraid to drive it, but I had no problem riding shotgun. I remember with the Nationals - and I thought this was a little weird - Juan Uribe was driving a Rolls Royce Phantom. It's a pretty nice car but to me, if you have a Phantom, then somebody should be driving you, you shouldn't be driving it.

All the teams I was on, no one was really huge car guys and if they were, they never brought them. I remember Roy Halladay wanted to buy some cars but he didn't want to be the guy seen driving really cool cars. He didn't want that additional pressure.

You're living in Las Vegas now, how is the car scene there?

JT: Everywhere you look (there's something cool). We like to show off in Vegas.

Is there a city where you played that was awful to drive in?

JT: New York was terrible (to drive in), but New York is so cool because you go two blocks and you're in a different part. It's just a different world and I loved it. You always see something new, but you certainly had to take some back roads traffic wise. When you hit traffic in Seattle, that was a joke, I didn't like that. The one city I wasn't a fan of was Boston. I never wanted to go there, I didn't like anything about it. Driving in New Jersey is the worst because you can't make a left-hand turn anywhere.

With your son nearing legal driving age, what's he going to be driving?

JT: I'm close to buying some beat-up car because he's 15. He's getting something that he can take out curbs with. I've taken him driving like three or four times and I was pretty nervous. He did OK. Last time I let him drive in the streets, he took out one curb. He hit the gas when he should have hit the brake once and that made me nervous. But he doesn't hound me to drive. I thought he would ask every day to drive, but he never asks me, which is surprising. Can you imagine what it's going to cost to insure a kid to drive an Escalade? I'm going to go broke.

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