The Tigers (bats) are heading to Florida!

There are a few truly magical days that come only once a year. Christmas morning. Birthdays. The first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season [Ed.: Note how Ashley puts her Canadian citizenship in jeopardy by choosing Starbucks over Tim Horton’s]. But possibly one of the greatest for baseball fans toiling through a long winter, is Truck Day.

Truck Day is the first glorious sign of Spring Training’s arrival. The Detroit Tigers equipment manager — with a little help from Paws — loads up all the team’s gear in order to send it ahead to Lakeland, Florida, in preparation for the team’s arrival later this month.

The days have started to get longer, the workout videos more frequent, and now that TigerFest is over Spring Training is the next big milestone on our path to Opening Day. With the truck loaded, the team can’t be far behind (13 days until pitchers and catchers report, but who’s counting?)

Consider this a baseball fan’s version of the first leaf buds arriving ahead of spring.

Of course, Paws doesn’t want to be left at home.

Onward to Florida!