Clearwater Threshers

Clearwater Threshers Founded in 1985 Clearwater, Florida
Team Logo Cap Insignia
Class-level
Class A (Advanced)
Minor league affiliations
Florida State League North Division
Major league affiliations
Philadelphia Phillies (1985–present)
Name
Clearwater Threshers (2004–present) Clearwater Phillies (1985–2003)
Ballpark
Bright House Field (2004–present) Jack Russell Memorial Stadium (1985–2003)
Minor league titles
League titles	2 (1993, 2007)
Division titles	1 (2007)
Owner(s)/Operated by: Philadelphia Phillies
Manager: Dusty Wathan
General Manager: John Timberlake

The Clearwater Threshers are a minor league baseball team that currently plays in the Florida State League. Since 2004, the team competes in the West Division.

The team plays its home games at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Florida which opened in 2004. Bright House Field seats more than 7,000 fans. A single-game attendance record of 9,090 was set on July 3, 2008.^[1]

The team is the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. The team has always been affiliated with the Phillies since 1985, the franchise's first season. From 1985 to 2003, the Clearwater Threshers were called the Clearwater Phillies. While as the Clearwater Phillies, the team played at Jack Russell Memorial Stadium from 1985 to 2003. When the team moved to the new Bright House Field, the team change their name from Phillies to Threshers.

History

Clearwater city officials approached the Philadelphia Phillies as early as 1981 about locating a Phillies minor league affiliate at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater. In July 1982, in a visit to Philadelphia, Clearwater city officials and the president of the Florida State League again asked the Philadelphia Phillies about affiliating with a team to be based in Clearwater. The Amateur Softball Association Clearwater Bombers had long used Jack Russell Stadium during the summer months when the field would be reconfigured for softball. The placement of a minor league baseball team would mean the relocation of the Bombers.^[2]

The Florida State League granted the city of Clearwater a franchise on September 26, 1984.^[3] The Clearwater Phillies began play in 1985 after the Philadelphia Phillies ended their affiliation with their High Class A minor league team, the Carolina League Peninsula Pilots, based in Hampton, Virginia, and placed their new team at Jack Russell Stadium. The Philadelphia Phillies owned the franchise and named the club the Clearwater Phillies. The Clearwater Phillies played their first game on April 12, 1985, at home, against the Tampa Tarpons.^[4]

The club played as the Clearwater Phillies through the 2003 season. The Phillies planned to leave Jack Russell Memorial Stadium after the 2003 season to move into a new ballpark, Bright House Networks Field, adjacent to the Carpenter Complex, the Phillies' minor league training facility. With the move to the new ballpark, the Clearwater Phillies were renamed the "Threshers" and adopted a new team logo and colors.

In 2004, the Clearwater Threshers were managed by former Phillies player and Hall of Famer, Mike Schmidt. Greg Legg managed the team in 2005 and 2006. Dave Huppert was the manager in 2007, and Razor Shines in 2008. Ernie Whitt was named the manager for the 2009 season after Shines was promoted to base coach for the New York Mets.

In 2007, the Threshers won the second half in the FSL West Division. They defeated the Sarasota Reds (2–1) in the FSL West Division Playoffs, then defeated the Brevard County Manatees 3 games to 1 in the FSL Championship Series (best-of-five) to win the FSL title. The Threshers were named MiLB.com's Class A Advanced Team of the Year.^[5]

On July 26, 2009, Pedro Martínez made a rehab start for the Threshers against the St. Lucie Mets at Bright House Field. Martinez pitched 1 1/3-innings before rain caused the game to be canceled, wiping out the official record of his start.^[6] Martinez subsequently moved to the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for his next start.

On May 23rd, 2011 The Threshers gained national attention after playing in a 23 inning game against the Jupiter Hammerheads.^[7]

Clearwater Phillies & Threshers in the Majors

• Pat Burrell
• Carlos Carrasco
• Cole Hamels
• J. A. Happ
• Ryan Howard
• Kyle Kendrick
• Lou Marson
• Scott Mathieson
• Elizardo Ramirez
• Chris Roberson
• Michael Schwimer
• Alfredo Simón
• Chase Utley
• Mike Zagurski

Coaching staff

• Manager: Ernie Whitt (Manager 2009)
• Coaches: *Ramon Henderson (Bench Coach 2009) & Kevin Jordan (Hitting Coach 2008–2009)
• Pitching Coach: *Dave Lundquist (Pitching Coach 2009)
• Trainer: Ichiro Kitano

Former coaches & trainers

• Mike Schmidt (Manager – 2004) W-L: 55–81
• Greg Legg (Manager 2005–2006) W-L: 108–167
• Dave Huppert (Manager 2007) W-L: 83–57 / League Champions
• Razor Shines (Manager 2008) W-L: 64–76
• Manny Amador (Bench Coach 2004)
• Ken Dominguez (Bench Coach 2005)
• Dan Roberts (Hitting Coach 2004–2005)
• Greg Gross (Hitting Coach 2006)
• Brad Komminsk (Hitting Coach 2007)
• Scott Lovekamp (Pitching Coach 2005–2006)
• Steve Schrenk (Pitching Coach 2004 & 2007–2008)

• Shawn Fcasni (Trainer)
• Jason Kirkman (Trainer)
• Ichiro Kitano (Trainer)
• Chris Mudd (Trainer)

Roster

Clearwater Threshers rosterview · talk · edit
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 21 Brody Colvin 31 Jarred Cosart 22 Andy Loomis 27 Ebelin Lugo 54 Trevor May 25 Mike McGuire -- Marek Minarik  5 Tommy Palica 34 Jonathan Pettibone 55 Eric Pettis 26 Julio Rodriguez 17 Jason Stephens -- Matthew Way 33 Jordan Whatcott		Catchers 30 Kyle Lafrenz 10 John Suomi  9 Sebastian Valle Infielders  6 Jeremy Barnes 15 Troy Hanzawa  7 César Hernandez *  4 Fidel Hernandez 35 Darin Ruf Outfielders 18 Leandro Castro  2 Michael Dabbs 19 Tyson Gillies 24 Brian Gump 23 Jiwan James 13 D'Arby Myers  3 Johnathan Singleton -- Luis Unda		Manager 62 Dusty Wathan Coaches 57 David Lundquist (pitching)  8 John Mizerock (hitting) 7-day disabled list * On Philadelphia Phillies 40-man roster ∞ Reserve list § Suspended list ‡ Restricted list # Rehab assignment Roster updated July 8, 2011 Transactions → More rosters

References

1. ^ Clearwater Threshers (2008-07-03). "Phantastic! Threshers walk off in front of record crowd". Clearwater Threshers. http://www.threshersbaseball.com/cgi-bin/dist/news.cgi?id=110. Retrieved 2009-03-02. 
2. ^ Brew, Tom (1982-09-03). "Minor league team sought for Clearwater". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Yh8MAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0l0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5917,2633910&dq=jack-russell+clearwater+phillies. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
3. ^ Brew, Tom (1984-09-26). "It's time for Bombers to move on". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jwgOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qnwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6699,1979333&dq=jack-russell+clearwater+phillies. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
4. ^ Henderson, Robert (1985-04-09). "Clearwater Phillies' debut is right around the corner". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=V7sMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e2YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3746,419028&dq=jack-russell+clearwater+phillies. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
5. ^ Hill, Benjamin (2007-10-08). "Threshers came together at right time: Team of the Year award follows end of championship drought". MLB.com. http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071006&content_id=309248&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 
6. ^ Hagan, Paul (2009-07-27). "Pedro Martínez has rain-shortened start with Phillies' minor leaguers". Philadelphia Daily News. http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/sports/20090727_Pedro_Martinez_has_rain-shortened_start_with_Phillies__minor_leaguers.html. Retrieved 2009-07-31. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Minor League game goes 23 innings". Espn.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=6582900. 

Further reading

• Barnicle, Frank (1986-04-04). "A diamond junkie salutes magic of Clearwater Phillies". St. Petersburg Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TLwMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VWYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6622,3006777&dq=jack-russell+clearwater+phillies. Retrieved 2009-03-22. 

External links

• Official website
• Clearwater Threshers News Site – Threshers Nation
• Inside the Clearwater Threshers Blog
• Join Opie's Grassy Gang
• BR Bullpen: Clearwater Threshers
• BR Bullpen: Clearwater Phillies