Red Sox announce Truck Day festivities for Monday Feb. 3
By Alex Barth, 985TheSportsHub.com
If Sunday’s Super Bowl isn’t the kind of exhilarating sporting event you’re looking for, fear not! The Red Sox have announced their annual Truck Day celebration will be held on Monday, Feb. 3.
In case you’re new to Boston or have been living under a rock, Truck Day is the day where the Red Sox pack up their equipment truck for Spring Training in Fort Myers. It has been officially ‘celebrated’ by the team since 2003 as the unofficial start of Spring Training.
For those hoping to take full advantage of the festivities, the truck will begin loading around 7 a.m. and is scheduled to depart Fenway Park around noon, according to a statement from the team.
Upon its departure, the equipment truck will be escorted by “a flat-bed truck carrying Wally the Green Monster, his sister Tessie, and Fenway Ambassadors who will be tossing soft Red Sox baseballs to fans,” according to the team’s release. Just imagine the thrill of catching a soft Red Sox baseball from a ‘Fenway Ambassador’ on a Monday morning in February? That’s how you make a fan for life!
Still up in the air is an appearance by Red Sox poet laureate Dick Flavin. The team’s release made no mention as to whether or not he will grace fans with a verse or two at this year’s festivities.
As the truck makes its trip to Fort Myers, it will be carrying…
- 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
A few questions here. First, 200 batting gloves and 200 batting helmets? Shouldn’t the numbers of gloves double the number of helmets? Or will each player get just one batting glove. It’s hard to say the Red Sox meant ‘pairs’ of gloves because they specified that further down the list with socks.
Also, 300 pairs of pants for 400 t-shirts? Are there going to be 100 members of the organization walking around Fort Myers pantsless? You’d think after raising ticket prices for the fourth straight year, the team could afford a nice pair of slacks for everybody making their way to camp.
If you really want something to enjoy on Monday, the unofficial Twitter account of Truck Day gets pretty entertaining, like the time it may or may not have threatened to run over our own Matt McCarthy:
@MattMcCarthy985 Tell that to my grill.
— Truck Day!!!! (@RedSoxTruckDay) February 12, 2015
Honestly, the real charm of Truck Day isn’t the event itself, but the knowledge that baseball, and therefore summer is right around the corner. And that is always something to celebrate.
Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Hate mail? Let him hear it on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at Alexander.Barth@bbgi.com
