Truck Day might be a cliche, but excitement for these Red Sox is real
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Fans gathered outside Fenway Park as the Red Sox equipment truck left for Florida.
COMMENTARY
Wally pegged me.
No, not along Yawkey Way or any other adjacent street to Fenway Park. For if you you figured that Truck Day, that annual Red Sox ritual that we live to mock, was confined to only the Kenmore Square area, then you, my friend, are quite mistaken.
Truck Day, after all, can not be limited to only one block. This is the unofficial kickoff to baseball season, you see, a beacon of spring amidst a flurry-filled sky of a winter that never was.
“I think it’s the most fun silliest thing I’ve done in a long time,’’ fan Mary Allis-Green said.
There was once a time when Truck Day was but a front page photo on the weekend edition, today expanded into a marketing extravaganza that has become a cliche to mock. After all, what’s the harm in a few hundred baseball fans gathering at their summer church or worship in order to watch a truck depart with bats, ball, and dreams on the way to Fort Myers, Fla.?
“Well, this is my first truck day even though I’ve lived here all my life,’’ Green said. “And I am a massive Red Sox fan. It is a weird thing. The idea that you’re going to watch them load a truck and then cheer when they close the door, and then get a couple freebies fro the team. And that’s the whole thing. And then you go out to eat.’’
Oh, but the fun didn’t end there, as the Red Sox caravan escorted THE TRUCK out of the Fenway neighborhood, and kept on…ahem, trucking, through the area, tossing foam baseballs – sponsored by JetBlue — at cars along the route.
Oh boy. Baseball fever. Right?
“It’s a symbol of spring is just around the corner,’’ Red Sox fan Sharon Ostrowski said. “That’s what this is all about. This is being part of the experience. Baseball is starting. Warm weather is around the corner. Don’t you feel it?’’
Sure?
All cynicism aside regarding the excitement of packing up a truck for the long haul south, there is a lot more reason for Red Sox fans to be excited about the upcoming season than there has been over the last two years. David Price is on board. Dave Dombrowski is in town. Fourth place is in reach.
This is the year. The fans can feel it.
Red Sox poet laureate Dick Flavin belted out some rhymes as a light snow fell in the shadow of a Fenway Park preparing for a ski event rather than Opening Day. But still. Truck Day was a symbolic gesture that that moment isn’t too far off.
“I came out here for the experience,’’ John Gregory, originally from Indianapolis, said. “I’m new here so I heard about truck day, I said I’ve got to find out what it’s all about.’’
Yippee Ki-Yay.
Take it from Josh Deering, a producer at 98.5 The Sports Hub, who has a particular affinity for the Hub holiday. Deering is behind the Twitter handle@RedSoxTruckDay, which is a celebration of all things related to packing up equipment, and headed south.
“It’s a completely unique Boston event,’’ Deering said. “Other cities try to do it, but nobody does it like Boston does. It just shows the dedication of Red Sox fans.
“It’s about tradition. It’s absolutely about tradition. Part of being a Red Sox fan is coming out here and supporting the team from Day One.’’
Day One is in the books. Pitchers and catchers are around the bend.
Trucking awesome.
Reviewing the Red Sox’ 40-man roster
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