Red Sox Truck Day makes stop at McCoy Stadium
By Bianca Buono
@BBuonoABC6
Even though it’ll be another week before pitchers and catchers report to spring training, spring is in the air for Red Sox fans Wednesday. It’s Truck Day and for the first time ever, the truck made a pit stop at McCoy Stadium.
"I like Truck Day because it reminds me that spring is coming and baseball season is almost here and I can’t wait,” said Terrie Ramos, a Sox fan from Providence.
"It’s a right of passage you know it means spring is on the way and now that the truck is coming to Pawtucket it saves me the drive to Boston,” said Tom McDonough of Cranston.
"Going to truck day in Boston was always on our bucket list but this was so much better,” said Heather MacDonald of West Greenwich.
Driver Al Hartz has been doing this 1,480 mile drive since 1998 and to him, it’s just another day on the job.
"I go up and down the east coast an awful lot this is just another run down there. It’s a special run but it’s what I do for a living you know,” said truck driver Al Hartz.
Inside the truck there are more than 20,000 baseballs, 1,100 bats, 400 pairs of socks, plus all the warm weather essentials.
"I’ve got bicycles and tricycles, porter cribs, lots of luggage, golf equipment,” Hartz explained.
And Rhody’s Red Sox nation showed up big to send it all off. PawSox general manager Dan Rea admits he wasn’t expecting the turnout.
"My expectations were very modest I felt if we get a handful of people, more than maybe ten that would be great but we’ve quadrupled that, probably 50 times that,” said Dan Rea, Pawtucket Red Sox General Manager.
And with the PawSox recently announcing that they’re here to stay, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien said this is the start to an exciting season.
"This is what’s traditional about this historic place and really what the new ownership is recognizing is we’re here. We’re a part of their future and it’s exciting. So this here was a great day,” said Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien.
Rea says if today’s attendance is any indication, the truck stopping in Pawtucket could become a tradition for years to come.
