San Diego Padres

Padres start trek to spring training in Arizona

Moving trucks were packed and driven from San Diego to Peoria on Thursday

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Moving trucks were packed and driven from San Diego to Peoria on Thursday, reports NBC 7’s Derek Togerson

Baseball teams need a lotta stuff.

The Padres keep that stuff at Petco Park, so, when it’s time for the six-week extravaganza that is spring training, that stuff is needed at the Peoria Sports Complex.

For the past 20 years, the endeavor of moving said stuff has been championed by one man, who loves his daunting job.

“I’m the biggest fan of us and the Padres,“ said T.J. Laidlaw, the Padres clubhouse and equipment manager.

Every December, Laidlaw starts putting together a plan to move an entire baseball operation to Arizona, packing more than two dozen pallets with gear. That’s a bunch of pitching machines, 300 batting helmets, even more bats, hats and uniforms.

And socks.

“Tons of socks," Laidlaw said. "I mean, guys go through so many socks."

Packing has been underway for several weeks now, but, still, inevitably, when you’re moving the equivalent of a baseball city, something is going to be overlooked.

“Always — we always forget something, or something will come up,” Laidlaw said. “That’s what FedEx is for. Some of the people here who stay back will help send it there.”

It’s all loaded onto a pair of 53-foot moving trucks, and there is no room to spare.

“Usually not," Laidlaw said. "No, usually it’s pretty packed.”

They pack up the players' lockers as well, making sure their time in spring training resembles the regular season as closely as possible, no matter what that might entail.

“Just asking them, 'Hey, is there something special that you need or whatever?' " Laidlaw said. "I remember when we got Bogaerts. He's a big Animal Cracker guy. We've got him jugs of Animal Crackers in his locker. So, some of those kinds of little things, but, you know, overall, everyone's pretty accommodating.”

A substantial amount of space on the truck goes to the shoe collection of one Manny Machado.

“He does take up a lot of space," Laidlaw said. "A lot of space. He gets boxes and boxes of Jordans every year, so that's always on my puzzle to fix in our equipment room back there."

There’s only one thing that really stays behind, and even that’s just on a partial basis.

“We don't use our City Connects,” Laidlaw said, referring to the special uniforms the Padres wear during Friday home games. "There are some photoshoots that we have to accommodate for, so we will bring some of that. Other than that, yeah, we're taking everything.”

Padres pitchers and catchers will reunite with their stuff when they report to the Peoria Sports Complex on Feb. 12.

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