Q&A with Curtis Granderson: On $600 New York parking and his '89 Ford Escort

theScore is releasing a three-part series with former and current Blue Jays about their first car, current cars, and dream car. The second installment comes with Curtis Granderson, who signed with Toronto in January after stints in Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles.

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

CG: It was a two-door 1989 Ford Escort hatchback. My parents got it for me. I don't remember how much they paid but it wasn't much. I got it when I was 16, but I didn't get a license and a car right on my birthday. I was taking driver's ed during my birthday so I had to wait until the school year finished.

The only bad thing was when I would take it in for its standard oil change, it would always get a bunch of checks like do this, do this, make sure you don't do that, don't do this. I wasn't supposed to take it over 55 mph, but I was on the highway multiple times. It did everything we needed it to, but then one day it was gone, (my parents) got rid of my car. I was like, 'What happened?' and they said somebody came by and offered us some money and they sold it. I was like, 'Oh man.'

(Photo courtesy: MovieMachines)

Can you take me through the cars that came after the Escort?

CG: So I was out a car for a couple weeks and then my parents got me a brand-new Cavalier. I was getting ready to go to college so I needed something to go back and forth. I had that from 1999-2003 and then I got my dad's Oldsmobile Bravada. It was an SUV four-door.

When you received your signing bonus after you were drafted, did you go out and buy a new car?

CG: It's interesting because I was drafted in '02 but I didn't buy a car until '04 - that was a Chevy Trailblazer with signing bonus money. (It was rewarding because) I got to pick what I wanted. Everything else prior to that was somewhat limited. I really wanted a two-door Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme (when I was younger) but my mom was like, 'No we can't do that,' cause it was too expensive.

I remember test-driving a Nissan Murano. I wanted something small because I lived in Chicago. A lot of guys at that time were getting Navigators, Escalades, and Suburbans and I thought that was too big. I didn't know how I would park those.

After establishing yourself in the league and having signed a five-year, $30.25-million extension in Detroit, did you reward yourself?

CG: I was fortunate, the first couple years in Detroit I had a car deal where they gave me a car every season, spring training, and the offseason. I ended up getting rid of my Trailblazer and used what they had. I had a Ford Edge, Lincoln MKZ, and Denali, but when I got traded to New York the deal obviously ended. Right before I got traded, I bought a Jaguar XF Supercharged. The most expensive car I had was that Jag, but I only had that for a few years because I sold it to a teammate.

I bought a Jeep right before I signed my contract with the Mets, and that's the car I still have today. The Jag, I had for three or four years and it had 11,000 miles when I sold it. My Jeep right now, I think I've just hit 20,000 miles and I've had it since '13.

You played with Yoenis Cespedes in New York, what was his car collection like?

CG: He had a bunch of different ones he'd bring in which was cool to see. I'd have a lot of people messaging me about them. For me, I always think, 'Where can I use this?' Chicago roads are bad and I'm home in the wintertime in Chicago. The cities I've played in had bad roads - Detroit, New York - so all the cars that would look good and benefit in these areas you can't have them there.

Cespedes doesn't have those cars in New York because the roads are so bad. I remember being with Gary Sheffield in Detroit and he'd have a lot of cars he'd bring up and he'd always be late. I'd ask, 'What happened?' And he'd say, 'Another flat tire, another pothole.'

How do you get around Toronto?

CG: I Uber a lot or walk. The big thing is parking is expensive. When I was in New York, I was paying $600, and that was a discount. They were like, 'We'll give you a deal,' and that was $50 off a month. New York parking, they're cramming it in there. It's tight on tight. My Jeep has a dent, scratches, which aren't from me, it's all from parking. Everything is all based on time, I just can't come down and get my car, I have to say, 'Hey I'm coming to get my car at 2,' and then they try and wiggle my car to the front by 2 o'clock and if I miss, it gets put in the back and I'd have to wait to go get it.

Is there a particular car you have your eye on?

CG: If I was in Florida, Texas, Arizona, or California year-round, I think I might be more inclined to get a car like that Jag. I like the new two-door Jaguar XF Supercharged. I can see it, even Chicago in the summertime, possibly, but there's so many potholes everywhere and I'm just going to be busting up tires. Now they say, that if you hit a pothole then the city is supposed to be responsible for it, but I don't know how that works.