CLEVELAND — The 2020 baseball season is almost here and the unofficial start to the preparations happened at Progressive Field in Cleveland Thursday morning.
The Cleveland Indians’ equipment staff loaded up three trailer trucks with gear and everything the team will need to go through six weeks of spring training at their winter home, Goodyear Ballpark, in Goodyear, Arizona.
The Indians partnered with Andrews Trucking to move the biggest trailer, an impressive 18-wheeler wrapped in graphics featuring Cleveland’s baseball team, as well as Old Dominion Freight Lines, who are responsible for getting two smaller trailers to Goodyear.
The Indians expect to get all of their gear to Arizona by Tuesday.
“Today’s the truck day, the big, exciting start to spring training for any Cleveland Indians fan,” said Brandon Biller, the Indians’ assistant clubhouse manager.
“We start in December, and it’s a good two-month process. Stuff comes in from vendors. We go through it here in Cleveland, so that way, it lets us stay in Cleveland as long as we can. Then, we get there and we’re set up and ready to go.”
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During that two-month preparation process, the staff is packing to make sure the Indians’ coaches, executives and players have everything necessary to maximize their spring training experience and get back into contention for the American League Central Division after missing the postseason last year for the first time since 2015.
“It takes about three hours to load, a little longer on the other end in Arizona because we don’t have a dock,” Biller said. “It’s easier to pack it up and put it away. We’ve got to be more careful. Some of it goes to the stadium, some goes to the actual player development complex.
“It’s about a full day to unload, but by the time it’s all unloaded, a player can come in the next day and it’d look just like it did in Cleveland.”
So what makes the trip to Goodyear?
Well, along with “a lot of office stuff” and the player equipment bags, the Indians are taking close to 2,500 dozen baseballs and 110 gallons of laundry detergent.
“Pretty much everything we need,” Biller said. “We take our operations down there, so laundry detergent, baseballs, all the necessities that these guys need for the next couple months.”
While there was no shortage of things loaded onto the trucks for spring training, there was one notable absence, as the scooter Indians manager Terry Francona uses to get around the facility and to and from Progressive Field will remain behind.
“It’s staying here in Cleveland this year,” Biller said with a laugh. “He’ll be scooter-less out in Arizona this year.”
Pitchers and catchers report to Goodyear, Arizona on Tuesday, February 11, while the full squad is set to start their preparations on Saturday, February 15. The Indians open the 2020 spring training schedule against the Cincinnati Reds at Goodyear Ballpark on Saturday, February 22.
This spring, the Indians will play 15 games as the home team, plus another 18 on the road. Along with eight weekend home games, the Indians will have four split-squad days (Feb. 29, March 1, March 9 and March 17).
The Indians will wrap up spring training with two exhibition games against the defending American League Champion Astros in Houston on March 23-24 before reporting to Progressive Field in Cleveland for the start of the 2020 regular season against the Detroit Tigers on March 26.
