SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants' 2017 season symbolically drew closer Wednesday as the calendar turned to February and the team's equipment truck headed for Spring Training and Major League camp in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Moving men pushed, rolled and yanked exercise paraphernalia and bundles of baseball gear onto an 18-wheeler bound for Giants camp. Brad Grems, the Giants' home clubhouse coordinator, said the truck should arrive by Friday morning. This will afford him and his staff ample time to turn Scottsdale Stadium's main clubhouse into the Giants' home away from home through the end of March.
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Grems estimated that the truck is hauling 15,000 pounds of Giants goods to the Scottsdale complex. That includes:
• 1,100 dozen baseballs
• 16 cases of chewing gum
• 60-100 cases of sunflower seeds
That doesn't count the numerous items sent directly to Scottsdale, where pitchers and catchers are due to report Feb. 13. They'll have their first workout the next day. Reporting date for position players is Feb. 16, a day before the initial full-squad workout.

Asked to cite the top priority on his lengthy to-do list, Grems said: "The biggest thing is trying not to forget anything. I tend to overpack. I'll bring something just in case. I'd rather have it than not have it."
This philosophy has worked for Grems, who's in his 18th season as a Major League employee and third with San Francisco.
"I've never come across an instance where we've run out of something," he said. "You have to overprepare and make sure that you have enough of everything."