By: Eric Czerwonka, Follow South Jersey Community Journalist
The Philadelphia Phillies have unpacked their three 28-foot-trailers, containing any and all equipment you can imagine, in Clearwater, Florida, for another year of spring training.
All of the players, spanning from rookies, such as outfielder Justin Crawford to veterans, like outfielder Kyle Schwarber, have reported. Managers, such as Rob Thomson and his staff are in place.
But while the focus is often on the players and coaches, little to no one stops to think about the person who is responsible for making sure every locker room is stocked, every jersey is hung and cleaned, and all of the equipment is where it needs to be for each player.
The real work of spring training starts long before the first pitch.
Phillies Equipment Manager, Dan O’Rourke, has had the title of “equipment manager” since 2001.
But O’Rourke didn’t always hold the title, and in fact, he used to catch shoplifters at John Wanamaker’s at the Roosevelt Mall. O’Rourke would eventually befriend someone who worked in the Phillies clubhouse, and they needed help.
O’Rourke was left with tickets to the game, which was a game against the Dodgers in May of 1985, which was the first time he was in their clubhouse.
“It was unbelievable,” said O’Rourke. “You see Steve Carlton’s locker, Mike Schmidt’s locker, it was really cool.”
O’Rourke would start the job the very next day, and the rest is history.
“Minimum wage back then was $3.35,” said O’Rourke. “I made three dollars an hour.”
That three-dollar-an-hour job turned into a career that has spanned for more than 40 years. Even though the names in the locker room change a lot, the responsibilities of his job haven’t.
On a typical gameday, O’Rourke starts long before the players even arrive. The first thing to do, make sure everything is in order.
Starting with the estimated 500 towels that have to be cleaned and are ready.
“We would have four to five loads of towels,” said O’Rourke. “We would have another two loads of the players and coaches stuff.”
Eventually, all the clothes and towels were done, and it was time to go through the player’s Amazon packages.
“You can imagine how many Amazon packages these guys get,” said O’Rourke.
They get all sorts of packages, ranging from baseball items, such as cleats, to personal items that come from their wife or a family member.
Usually, when the season ends, the players will donate their equipment to players in the minor leagues, or colleges and high schools.
“We like to get rid of it and find a good home for it before we just throw it away,” said O’Rourke.
But while gameday is a challenge itself, it does not compare to the weight of “Truck Day” for spring training.
Truck Day usually gets started around eight sharp and leaves at noon. From then on, it’s loading absolutely everything on the truck and triple-checking. Even the Phanatic’s hot dog launcher.
“It’s the coolest gig I could ever imagine,” said O’Rourke.
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