Red Sox: Truck Day signals baseball season is almost here

The annual tradition of the Boston Red Sox equipment truck making the journey to Fort Myers is a reminder that baseball season is on the horizon.

While fans all over New England were sleeping off their Super Bowl hangovers, the Boston Red Sox equipment truck was loading up for its trip to Fort Myers.

It’s Truck Day, the annual event where fans gather outside Fenway Park to watch as all the necessities for spring training are loaded into a truck to be taken to Jet Blue Park.

The truck began to load at 7 a.m. on Monday, approximately eight hours after the Patriots capped a historic comeback that kept the city of Boston buzzing late into the night. The truck departed from Fenway outside of Gate D around noon to begin the 1,480-mile trip to Florida.

Milford native Al Hartz is driving the 53-foot truck for the 19th-consecutive year.

The truck carries an assortment of baseball equipment, including:

• 20,400 baseballs
• 1,100 bats
• 200 batting gloves
• 200 batting helmets
• 320 Batting Practice tops
• 160 white game jerseys
• 300 pairs of pants
• 400 t-shirts
• 400 pairs of socks
• 20 cases of bubble gum
• 60 cases of sunflower seeds

While pitchers and catchers aren’t officially expected to arrive for spring training until February 13, a number of players have already gathered at “Fenway South” to begin working out. Those players clearly brought their own gear with them considering they showed up before the truck did, but at least they will have plenty of spare equipment.

Truck Day has become an exciting event in Boston because it signifies that spring training is about to begin. Not only does that mean that warmer weather is on its way, but it also means that baseball season is on the horizon.

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We an all take a moment to soak in the euphoria of last night’s Super Bowl win, but after that it’s time to move on to another highly anticipated season of Red Sox baseball.