MESA, Arizona — There are two sure signs of baseball at this time of year.
First is the end of the Snoozer Super Bowl; that happened Sunday night.
Second is what many fans have begun to term “Truck Day.” That’s the day team equipment trucks load up at their home ballparks and have baseball (and other) gear sent to their spring training venue. The Cubs truck left Chicago Friday morning:
Cubs truck leaving for Mesa. Still room for stowaways if you hurry. pic.twitter.com/xQn7XHAShI
— Paul Sullivan (@PWSullivan) February 1, 2019
And on a much less cold and snowy day, it arrived in Mesa at the Sloan Park complex today, Monday, February 4. I had actually thought it might arrive earlier, as I checked my photos from last year and it had arrived a bit after noon. So I headed to Mesa around then and... nothing. So I went and ran an errand and came back. Still nothing, so I went and got a snack and came back. Still... nothing. At last, at 1:45 p.m. Arizona time, the truck pulled into the employee parking lot at the complex, where they had set out chairs to block off some parking spaces. After they moved the chairs and the truck backed into position, the unloading began.
I grant you that in general, watching people unload a moving truck isn’t all that interesting. But in this case, since it’s Chicago Cubs baseball equipment, perhaps you’ll enjoy this six and a half minutes of video I shot of Cubs personnel unloading the truck.
Cubs equipment arriving in Mesa
Posted by Bleed Cubbie Blue on Monday, February 4, 2019
In addition to baseball equipment, I saw them unload some bicycles as well as children’s play equipment, so it appears that some players had some of their own personal stuff as well as family stuff sent to Mesa on this truck. I didn’t see any players around; it’s likely there were no outdoor workouts Monday. You can see in the video that it was kind of cloudy, and there were some light off-and-on rainshowers most of the morning.
So now you know how I spent much of my afternoon.
Here are some more photos I took of the truck unloading. Nine days from now, Wednesday, February 13 will be the first pitcher/catcher workout. Five days after that, Monday, February 18 will be the first full-squad workout, and then the first spring training game follows Saturday, February 23 agains the Brewers at Sloan Park.
19 days away. Hang in there. Baseball is almost here! Here are some more photos I took of the truck arrival and unloading.