Phillies loading up trucks for spring training in Clearwater

Friday, February 8, 2019

Phillies getting ready for spring training

Katherine Scott gets Truck Day 411 from Phanatic during Action News at Noon on February 8, 2019.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Boys of Summer are ready to lace up their cleats for the start of the new season and that begins with Spring Training and Truck Day.

The Philadelphia Phillies loaded up the truck early Friday morning at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia.

The destination: Clearwater, Florida.

Old Dominion Freight Line moves lots of teams to their spring training homes and the Phillies are their newest partner.

Thousands of items were filling up two 28-foot trailers.

Those items include: 10,000 Powerade cups; 2,400 baseballs; 2,000 short and long sleeve shirts; 1,200 bats; 900 socks; 600 pairs of pants; 600 batting practice hats; 350 pairs of shorts; 300 batting gloves; 250 batting practice tops; 200 fleeces; 200 light jackets; 140 batting helmets; 125 leather and elastic belts; 75 pairs of assorted spike, plastic and turf shoes; 40 heavy jackets; 20 coolers and a half pallet of Powerade mix; 12 sets of golf clubs; six bikes and one Phanatic hot dog launcher.

"Besides baseball equipment, lots of bikes scooters, golf clubs, playpens, car seats," Dan O'Rourke, the equipment manager for the Phillies.

"We got plenty of room. And if we don't have room for that, we got 40,000 other trailers ready to go," said John Gennardo, with Old Dominion Freight Line.

The truck should be arriving in Clearwater late Saturday night and crews will start unloading on Sunday.

Our Katherine Scott also got to the tour the Phillies Clubhouse to see all the boxes that were packed for Clearwater.