Texas Rangers pack up for Surprise spring training move

The 18-wheeler was packed to the gills with enough baseballs to play a thousand games.

The Texas Rangers loaded up their truck Tuesday afternoon at Globe Life Park before it departed for the 17-hour, two-day trip to the Rangers’ spring training complex in Surprise, Ariz.

Rangers pitchers and catchers report Feb. 18, with position players arriving Feb. 23. The first full-team workout is scheduled for Feb. 24.

Loading the truck for spring training is a monthlong job for the clubhouse crew, a group of 12 headed by clubhouse manager Brandon Boyd and assistant manager Dave Bales.

Some players, including catcher Robinson Chirinos, throw in some of their extra luggage to lighten their load when they head to Surprise. More than 10 players had mountain bikes packed on the truck to take to the mountains surrounding the Phoenix area.

Other big pieces include an exercise bike, six pitching machines and close to 50 boxes of memorabilia the players will use to sign autographs during spring training, including pennants, bats, pictures and balls.

“It’s time-consuming,” said Boyd, who is in his first year as clubhouse manager after Hoggy Price was promoted to vice president of business operations. “We start in early January, so it’s a slow, steady process.”

The unpacking in Arizona is not steady. The trucks’ contents, along with many other items from bats to sunflower seeds, have been shipped to the complex waiting to be put in their proper place.

“When you get there, you have two or three days to unpack everything,” said Boyd, who along with Bales will fly out Thursday, a week earlier than usual to check the progress on the complex, which has undergone a massive renovation since last spring. The clubhouse has 70 lockers compared with 58 before. There will be two sections of furniture for the players’ lounge with two large television screens that protract from the ceiling. The upgrades also include more storage space, a larger team dining area and a kitchen.

The truck doesn’t get to carry some of the most important non-baseball essentials for some of the players. Elvis Andrus can’t be without his boombox, which often helps wake the clubhouse up at 8 a.m. with a variety of pop hits. He’s also got his Apple TV ready to go so he can keep up with his current favorite show, The Blacklist.

“I’m crazy for that show,” he said.

Rougned Odor, who along with Chirinos and Andrus helped send off the truck, must have his Sony PlayStation with him in Surprise.

Odor, Andrus, Chirinos and Martin Perez play some lively games of FIFA Soccer. Money may or may not change hands. A set of dominoes is also required. Odor and Hanser Alberto often square off against Andrus and Adrian Beltre at Beltre’s rented house in Surprise.

There are 80 cases of fresh baseballs on the truck. At six dozen per case, that comes to 5,760 baseballs.

And guess what? Bales projected the club would order 250 more cases by early to mid-March.

That’s a total of 18,000 baseballs.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 6:25 PM with the headline "Texas Rangers pack up for Surprise spring training move."