Phillies enter year No. 77 in Clearwater
Philadelphia is about to enter its 141st National League season. For over half that time, the Phillies have held Spring Training in Clearwater, Fla. This is year No. 77. Only the Tigers have a longer continuous streak -- 78 years in Lakeland, Fla.
The Phillies trained in 21 different communities from 1901-46. Their longest stay was 10 years in Winter Haven, Fla, 1928-37. Other multi-year stays included four years each in Savannah, Ga. (1904, 1906-08), St. Petersburg, Fla. (1915-18) and Miami Beach, Fla. (1940-42, 1946).
When Cleveland decided to move to Tucson, Ariz., after the 1946 camp, four teams approached Clearwater city officials: the Phillies, St. Louis Browns and two Minor League teams, Newark Bears and Kansas City Blues. Clearwater and the Phillies agreed to a one-year contract and followed with a 10-year agreement starting in 1948.
This spring is also a special one, the 20th in their current Clearwater ballpark. As Richie Ashburn often said to his broadcast partner, Harry Kalas, “Hard to believe, Harry.” Yes, this ballpark and Citizens Bank Park both opened in 2004.
Phillies-Clearwater Timeline
Feb. 24, 1947
The Phillies held their first Clearwater Spring Training workout at Athletic Field, located at Pennsylvania Avenue and Seminole Street.
March 11, 1947
The Phillies lost, 13-1, to the Tigers in their first game. Angry manager Ben Chapman said, “I don't intend to take any more 13-1 lickings. … This is not a tryout camp and it's not a resting place for worn out ball players. I've already separated the sheep from the goats, and the goats are on the way out."
March 10, 1955
The Phillies defeated the Tigers in the first game played at Jack Russell Stadium, 4-2, before 4,209 fans, a Clearwater record.
April 12, 1956
The wooden grandstand at Clearwater Athletic Field was destroyed by fire. The playing field is used as a parking lot for Jack Russell Stadium games.
March 5, 1967
During dedication ceremonies of a new training complex on Old Coachman Road, Clearwater Mayor Joe Turner, announces it will be known as Carpenter Field in honor of the family that has owned the Phillies since 1943. As director of Minor Leagues and scouting in 1965, Paul Owens had a vision of a Minor League training complex in Clearwater. His vision became a reality.
March 14, 1967
Carpenter Field, the new four-field, state-of-the art training complex, officially opened. All Minor League players are now in Clearwater. A year earlier, Class A teams trained in Leesburg, Fla.; Double-A and Triple-A teams, Dade City, Fla. Over time, the Carpenter Field name changed to Carpenter Complex.
March 28, 2003
The Yankees won the last Spring Training game at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, 2-0, before 7,224 fans. Pat Burrell gets the last hit.
March 4, 2004
The Phillies defeated the Yankees, 5-1, in the first game at Bright House Network Field before 8,205 fans, a Clearwater record. Center fielder Marlon Byrd gets first hit; shortstop Jimmy Rollins smacks the first home run.
Feb. 23, 2012
The Carpenter Complex clubhouse is named the Paul Owens Training Facility in honor of Owens’ legacy of service to the Phillies organization. His bronze bust is unveiled by the building’s entrance.
Jan. 2013
A new 20,700-square foot structure located east of the Carpenter Field clubhouse officially opened. A weight room, batting cages and pitching mounds are located inside the facility.
March 19, 2016
Clearwater Athletic Field becomes an official Florida Heritage Site when a historical marker is unveiled where the ballpark once stood. It is the first such marker in Clearwater city limits.
March 22, 2018
The indoor training facility at Carpenter Complex is dedicated as "David P. Montgomery Baseball Performance Center” in honor of the longtime Phillies executive and president.
March 23, 2018
The City of Clearwater and the Phillies dedicate Monument Park at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium, a series of bronze plaques honoring Mr. Russell, Phillies legends and Hall of Famers who played there.
Feb. 16, 2023
A newly constructed hitting and pitching lab opens at Carpenter Complex. Located adjacent to the Montgomery Center, the lab is equipped to capture biomechanical data through motion capture and force plate systems.
The Ballparks
Clearwater Athletic Field
First occupied by the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) in 1923 (the Phillies trained in Leesburg, Fla., that spring).
Dimensions: 340 feet to left field and only 290 feet to right. A wooden grandstand seats 3,000. The field is surrounded by a wooden fence with a wire netting on top of the outfield wall. The Clearwater population in 1923 was about 3,000.
The players dressed in a small clubhouse on the third-base side in 1947.
"It was more like a wooden shack," recalled catcher Andy Seminick, who was in that first camp. "It looked like it might fall down any minute. It was so cold the city finally agreed to install a potbelly stove. The shower area was small, and the water was mostly cold. The field was nothing but sand and seashells and it was brutal.”
The North Greenwood Recreation and Aquatic Complex currently occupies the site.
Jack Russell Stadium
Jack Russell, a former Major League pitcher for 15 seasons (1926-40), was a City Commissioner, former president of the Clearwater Chamber of Commerce and proponent for a new ballpark. The stadium, with a capacity of 4,744, is one block east of Athletic Field. Dimensions: 340 feet down both lines and 400 feet to center field. Following Russell’s death in 1990, the stadium was rededicated as Jack Russell Memorial Stadium.
In addition to the Phillies in Spring Training, the Clearwater Bombers, a softball team that won 10 National Amateur Softball Association titles between 1950 and 1973, played their home games there from 1955-84.
The Clearwater Phillies of the Florida State League also called the stadium home beginning in 1995. The stadium’s very last game was Aug. 23, 2003, Sarasota Red Sox 6, Clearwater Phillies 3. Ryan Howard gets the final hit and makes the last out.
Because of deteriorating concrete, the main concourse is demolished on July 21, 2007. Bleachers are placed behind home plate as the park is used by Clearwater High School and St. Petersburg Junior College teams as well as for amateur tournaments.
New ballpark
The Phillies moved into a new home in 2004 (Bright House Networks Field), four miles east of Jack Russell Stadium and adjacent to Carpenter Complex. The outfield dimensions and configuration, plus the 360-degree main concourse open to the playing field, are modeled after Citizens Bank Park.
Naming rights have included Bright House Networks Field (2004-13), Bright House Field (2013-17), Spectrum Field (2017-20) and BayCare Ballpark (2021-present).