Back Up "The Truck"

Here's an optimistic note that the 2007 baseball season is right around the corner, especially for a cold winter's Friday night as this.

The Truck is leaving Fenway on Monday.

The annual ritual of the moving van that packs equipment at Fenway Park and travels to Ft. Myers is set to leave Boston on Monday, and that will be the same day that Daisuke Matsuzaka will report to camp, ahead of all other pitchers.

Here's the story from today's Boston Globe:

In what has become a sure sign that spring is just around the corner in Boston, "Truck Day" will finally arrive on Monday.

The Red Sox confirmed today that the team's equipment truck will leave Fenway Monday at approximately 1:00 p.m. to begin the 1,480-mile journey to the team's spring training facility in Fort Myers, Fla.

According to the Sox press release today, the truck will depart from Fenway Park at the players’ parking lot entrance on Van Ness St. The truck will be followed in procession by Fenway ambassadors, Red Sox staff, and Wally the Green Monster tossing gifts to fans from a flat-bed truck.

Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, currently in Orange County, Calif., is expected to report to Fort Myers on Monday as well, four days before the reporting date for pitchers and catchers. The first workout is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 18.