I spent most of Sunday afternoon watching the St. Louis Cardinals.
And when I say “most of my Sunday afternoon” I mean all of my Sunday afternoon because the Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates decided it would be fun to play for 19 innings. When the game finally ended, and the Cards lost, I remember thinking, “This sucks. And the worst part is I have to get up and go to work tomorrow.”
But the thing is, all I had to do on Monday was get up and drive to Joplin and do what I normally do, which is pretend to work. And let’s be honest, the only energy I expended Sunday while watching the game was when I got off the couch to get a beer. Now granted, it was a 19-inning game, which meant I had to get up off the couch more than I normally do, but I didn’t exactly wear myself out.
Imagine if you were coaching in that 19-inning game, or managing the Cardinals, or if you were the general manager or owner, and not only did you have to work the next day but that work would involve getting on a plane and flying to Joplin to build houses.
It would be like being Todd Akin’s press secretary on Monday, is what I’m thinking.
Funny thing though, Mark McGwire didn’t think being in Joplin the day after coaching 19 innings was awful. Mark thought being in Joplin was great and he laughed off Sunday’s game.
“Hey, it was a day game,” Mark said with a grin. “And the first nine innings only took about two hours. We just decided to go another 10 or so.”
I told Mark that I wasn’t a sports writer and that I didn’t really come to chat with him about baseball. And then I proceeded to chat with him about baseball. I mean, how many chances do you get to talk baseball with Mark McGwire.
After I got the baseball talk out of my system, I asked Mark why in the world he gave up a precious day off to come to Joplin. Basically, Mark said he and the rest of the Cardinals who showed up to work on Habitat For Humanity homes did so because they thought it was the right thing to do.
“I was sitting in Mike’s (Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny) office when John (Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak) came in and said, ‘I’ve got something I would like you to do,’ and when he told us we both agreed right away,” he said.
The Cardinals have done a lot for Joplin since the May 22, 2011, tornado.
Reaching out to others has long been a club tradition. In advance of today’s trip the Cardinals announced they were donating $200,000 to four area charities and they also are supporting the construction of five Habitat for Humanity homes as part of the Governor’s Joplin Challenge.
McGwire said seeing the devastation after the storm from afar was bad enough but visiting Joplin, even more than a year after the tornado, and meeting people impacted by the storm was “eye popping”.
As we chatted several people stopped by to have him sign a photo or a jersey or to pose for a picture. Each person as they walked away thanked Mark for coming to Joplin and you could tell they really meant it.
“No,” Mark said each time. “Thank you.”
You could tell he really he meant it.
May 2011 Joplin tornado
Mike Pound: Mark McGwire and other St. Louis Cardinals help build homes in Joplin
- May 2011 Joplin tornado
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
It was a long drive in the middle of a severe thunderstorm that had earlier produced a massive tornado in Moore, Okla. With the two-year anniversary of Joplin’s deadly twister approaching on Wednesday, a team of 14 Joplin emergency workers was ready to risk the trip in order to get help to a hurting Moore.
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SLIDESHOW: One year later, One day of unity, updated
Photos from a day of events commemorating the May 22, 2011 tornado anniversary
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Federal, state leaders salute Joplin’s recovery
A deadly May twister may have punched a hole in Joplin and Duquesne two years ago, but the resolve to repair it will help other communities stand strong when they face similar disasters. That was the message of state and national diginitaries to a crowd of about 2,500 who observed the second anniversary of Joplin’s devastating May 22, 2011, storm during a ceremony Wednesday in Cunningham Park.
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Banner from Joplin to be sent to Moore residents
A giant vinyl banner adorned with heartfelt messages from Joplin tornado survivors to the residents of Moore, Okla., became a centerpiece of Wednesday’s observance of the two-year anniversary of the May 22, 2011, tornado.
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Rick Rescorla award named for hero of Vietnam War, 9-11 terror attacks
The Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience is named for a 62-year-old vice president of security for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. who directed an evacuation of the company’s 2,700-person workforce in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2011.
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Community gearing up for two-year anniversary ceremony this afternoon
With the playground full of children, it could be any other day at Joplin’s Cunningham Park, but the white tents popping up and neat rows of white chairs lined up nearby indicate something more is happening today.
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Farmers Insurance teams up with Rebuild Joplin
Farmers Insurance announced Tuesday that the company will team up with Rebuild Joplin for an initiative to help the community complete its recovery efforts. The company already has placed one of its executives in Joplin, and it is pledging additional funds and volunteer hours by company workers to go toward the city’s recovery.
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Joplin man continues struggle to recover two years after tornado
As the Joplin tornado passed overhead, sweeping the house at 2430 S. Pennsylvania Ave. away in its wake, there was a moment of calm. Delbert Mcguirk was on his back in the basement, where he had sought shelter along with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. In that moment of relative quiet, he stared up into the eye of the tornado.
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Storms cause damage throughout the Four States
Four-State Area residents hunkered down twice Monday to ride out tornadoes and powerful spring storms, then went to work cleaning up. The worst damage from Monday night’s storm was being reported in Ottawa County, Okla., near Wyandotte. That followed a report of an EF-1 tornado early Monday morning near Carthage.
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Two plead guilty to post-tornado wire theft
Two defendants pleaded guilty Monday to stealing copper wire from utility poles in the wake of the May 22, 2011, tornado that struck Joplin. Timothy M. Silveria, 45, of Joplin, and Nycoa K. Kracht, 32, of Laurel, Ind., entered open pleas of guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to felony counts of theft from a public utility.
- More May 2011 Joplin tornado Headlines
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Joplin team drove through storm to get to Moore
