I Love Spring Training

Feburary 12th. Does this date have a significant meaning, other than it was one of your last chances to buy your sweetie a gift for Valentine’s Day? No? WELL IT SHOULD. 

Sunday was Phillies Truck Day, when the team packs up and escapes the frigid North East winter to sunny Florida for the duration of Spring Training. Not often do images of cranes and taped up cardboard boxes excite me to any extent, but Truck Day is special.

To make it easier to understand for any non-baseball fans (which would confuse me as to why you are reading this), Truck Day is like the Thanksgiving of baseball. Besides Turkey Day, when we eat more food than anyone ever should, Thanksgiving and Truck Day are similar in that they both kick off a season that for the most part involves much joy, however someone always ends up crying because things didn’t go go their way.

I digress.

For the record, baseball season > holiday season. Yup. I said it.

Let’s take a look at SOME of what the team brought to training in their 53 foot truck to Bright House Field in Clearwater, shall we?

15,000 baseballs

2,000 T-shirts

1,500 bats

600 pairs of pants 

600 hats

350 pairs of shorts

300 helmets

150 pairs of batting gloves 

15 cases of gum

12 cases of sunflower seeds

1 kick ass team (I had to)

Keep in mind this is sans any personal items from the players. And I thought I packed a lot… 

By the way, is it any coincidence that Valentine’s Day is the same week that pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training?

Answer: NO.

I’ll tell you why I love Spring Training so much, and why you should too. Loving baseball is about more than just loving the sport. It’s a symbol of summer, of longer days and warmer nights. No school, no jackets, no worries, no problems. It’s about being happy, being free. And Spring Training is where it all starts.

Kinda poetic, isn’t it?

So on this Valentine’s Day, if the most exciting thing you have planned is buying discounted candy on the 15th, remember that you’re not alone.  

Baseball is back.