Yankees get trucking to Spring Training home
Club in process of shifting equipment, training supplies to Tampa, Fla.
NEW YORK -- The 53-foot tractor trailer will pull out of Yankee Stadium's loading dock on Tuesday afternoon and point south for its annual journey of more than 1,100 miles, stocked with everything the Yanks could possibly need to run a successful Spring Training camp.
Clubhouse manager Lou Cucuzza, Jr., and equipment manager Rob Cucuzza have been getting ready for Truck Day since the final down of the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 27, stockpiling deliveries of the equipment that will soon be on the diamond at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.
"Right after that game, we started packing up, getting deliveries for all our 2015 apparel, stuff like that," Cucuzza Jr. said. "Basically, we relocate the New York Yankees' clubhouse down to Tampa for the two months."
Usually, the Yankees can pack all of their necessities onto one truck, but Cucuzza Jr. said that another truck left the Bronx for Florida about three weeks ago. That one was loaded with weight equipment, as the Yanks are preparing to open a new training facility on the grounds of their Tampa complex.
In addition to clothing, bats and balls, Cucuzza Jr. said the truck is filled with the contents of head athletic trainer Steve Donohue's Yankee Stadium office, including all of the team's medical equipment and supplies.
The Cucuzzas also relocate their entire offices to Tampa for the duration of Spring Training, stashing their personal belongings alongside boxes that have been stocked with T-shirts, socks, players' duffel bags, towels, detergent, Gatorade, gum, seeds and more.
"You name it, it's on the truck," he said.
Cucuzza Jr. said that the truck is scheduled to roll through the gates of George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday morning. Now that the truck has been readied for transit, the Cucuzza brothers will fly to Tampa to supervise Part II of the process: making sure each item gets unpacked correctly in preparation for the official arrival of pitchers and catchers on Feb. 20.
"We'll get there tomorrow, and that gives us a day and a half to get prepared for the truck. That'll take us a good week -- eight, nine days," Cucuzza Jr. said. "My brother and I have a pretty good system, and we both think on the same wavelength, so it's easy."