Red Sox Truck Day Roundup: 'Sweet Caroline' Chorus Highlights 2015 Event

Get ready, Fort Myers. The Boston Red Sox equipment truck is en route.

Red Sox fans gathered outside of chilly Fenway Park on Thursday for the team’s annual Truck Day celebration. The enthusiastic crowd sang “Sweet Caroline” in what was a proper send-off for a club with World Series aspirations.

Truck Day is a highly anticipated event in Boston, as it proves spring training is right around the corner. Many players already have arrived in Fort Myers despite pitchers and catchers not scheduled to report until Feb. 20, but Thursday’s festivities were a welcome sight for Red Sox fans who have been pounded by New England’s weather in recent weeks.

Al Hartz, a native of Milford, Mass., is driving the 53-foot equipment truck to Red Sox spring training for the 17th consecutive year. It’s a 1,480-mile journey to JetBlue Park.

Below is a list of some of the equipment and supplies packed up Thursday morning.

-20,400 baseballs
-1,100 bats
-200 batting gloves
-200 batting helmets
-320 Batting Practice tops
-160 white game jerseys
-300 pairs of pants
-400 t-shirts
-400 pairs of socks
-20 cases of bubble gum
-60 cases of sunflower seeds

Truck Day has been an official Red Sox tradition since 2003, with JetBlue serving as the event’s primary sponsor since 2010. The Red Sox’s first full-team workout in Fort Myers is scheduled for Feb. 25.

Let’s relive Truck Day 2015 through some of the sights and sounds below.