Truckers deliver upwards of 72 percent of all goods and materials, shepherded the country through the pandemic, and one receives a hero’s sendoff in Beantown every February. That’s when a tractor-trailer is loaded up with Red Sox gear, and a CDL professional hauls equipment down I-95 to sunny Florida for spring training.
Given this time-honored tradition has only been a thing since 2003, other Major League Baseball teams have yet to call their shot with such fanfare. But Bostonians realized that one hard-working trucker had been hauling the entire team’s gear year after year, without fail. Milford, Massachusetts, native Al Hartz got behind the wheel for the 27th consecutive year on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024.
That’s when Red Sox players, personnel, and everything needed for a pro baseball team to shake the off-season rust and bitter New England cold travels south. Crews reportedly began loading the big rig at 7 am that morning, when the temperature had dipped as low as 28 degrees. It was expected to be a balmy 65 degrees, with highs of 80 degrees by week’s end in Fort Myers. That may prompt more than a few New Englanders to pack up their minivans and follow Hartz, even though the Red Sox finished last in the American League East last season. If there’s any consultation to Sox fans, the rival Yankees didn’t earn a playoff spot either. That being said, this is a reported list of the cargo being transported on Truck Day.
- 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
Diehard Red Sox fans were also expected to show their support in Worcester, Massachusetts, where Hartz was scheduled to make a pit stop at Polar Park. So-called “WooSox” mascots and fans, likely wearing parkas, typically gather to provide a hero’s sendoff.
“The colder the days and the grayer the skies, the more we look forward to symbols of spring,” WooSox President Dr. Charles A. Steinberg reportedly said. “We will soon see images of ‘The Boys of Summer,’ including our ‘Boys of Worcester,’ tossing these very baseballs and swinging these very bats as they prepare to provide us with 75 days and nights of joy in the Canal District.”
Spring Training workouts are scheduled to begin on Feb. 14, with the entire team participating on Feb. 19.
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