Truck Day

Forget the equinox, the first buds on the trees, and even the groundhog. It turns out that TRUCK DAY is the only answer a Red Sox fan needs to the question "when will it be spring?"

How did I miss this holiday? Fans gathered this morning on Van Ness Street near Gate D to watch as trucks were loaded with the players' equipment and other necessities for Spring Training in Fort Meyers, Florida. As the truck pulled away at 12:04 p.m. (according to MLB.com) to begin its 1,480 mile trek (NESN.com), it was escorted by a flatbed truck carrying Wally and Red Sox ambassadors tossing out baseballs

Al Hartz of Atlas Van Lines has driven the truck for the last 13 years. Apparently when he first started in 1998 there was little fanfare. But the celebration keeps growing, and this year marks the first time that the truck will bear Red Sox decorations for the entire trip and that Truck Day received corporate sponsorship (JetBlue Airlines) . Fans in attendance even had a chance to win round trip airfare and Spring Training tickets- sweet!

When I googled "Truck Day" a few minutes ago, I was actually a little sad to have missed it. But could this be just another sign of my pink hattedness?

According to Christopher L. Gasper of The Boston Globe, Truck Day is lame. Perhaps he just wanted to be cute and use phrases like "nothing moving", "what's the big riggin' deal?" and "not to be all truculent". Or maybe Truck Day really is the silly (evil?) product of the Red Sox promotional team and the media.

Either way, I wouldn't have minded winning that trip. If Truck Day didn't make it feel like spring for me, maybe the Florida sun would have.