| Bright House Field | |
|---|---|
| Former names | Bright House Networks Field |
| Location | 601 Old Coachman Road Clearwater, FL 33765 United States |
| Coordinates | 27°58'18"N 82°43'54"W |
| Broke ground | October 16, 2002 |
| Opened | February 27, 2004 |
| Owner | City of Clearwater, Florida[1] |
| Operator | Philadelphia Phillies[2] |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction cost | $28 million[1] ($32.6 million in 2012 dollars[3]) |
| Architect | Populous (formerly HOK Sport) Ewing Cole Cherry Brott |
| General Contractor | Hunt Construction Group |
| Capacity | 8,500 |
| Field dimensions | Left - 329 ft. Left Center - 389 ft. Center - 408 ft. Right - 330 ft. |
| Tenants | |
| Clearwater Threshers (FSL) (2004-present) Philadelphia Phillies (MLB) (spring training) (2004-present) |
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Bright House Field (formerly Bright House Networks Field) is a baseball stadium located in Clearwater, Florida, in the United States. The stadium was built in 2004 and has a maximum seating capacity of 8,500 people (7,000 fixed seats with additional grass berm seating for 1,500).
The ballpark is the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies, and their Class A affiliate, Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League. A sculpture titled The Ace by artist Kevin Brady stands at the ballpark's west entrance plaza.[4]
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The stadium is named after the local cable company, Bright House Networks, whose local head end center is located just to the south of the stadium.
It was announced on January 20, 2004, that Bright House Networks had secured the naming-rights for the new ballpark. Under the terms of the agreement, Bright House Networks would pay the Phillies $1.7 million over ten-years with an option for two five-year renewals. The City of Clearwater receives one-third of the payment.[5]
Bright House Field is the Phillies' third Clearwater spring-training home. The team moved to Clearwater in 1947. They trained and played home games at Clearwater Athletic Field from 1947 to 1954. The City of Clearwater opened a new ballpark for spring training in 1955 and named it Jack Russell Stadium. (The ballpark was renamed Jack Russell Memorial Stadium in 1990.) With the stadium aging, the Phillies and the city erected their new spring home adjacent to the Phillies' year-round training facility, the Carpenter Complex, four-miles east of Jack Russell Memorial Stadium.
Ground-breaking of the new stadium took place on October 16, 2002.[6] The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the ballpark took place on February 27, 2004 prior to the annual spring-training Phan Fest.[4]
The Phillies played their first spring-training game at the park on March 4, 2004. 8,205 fans watched the Phils beat the New York Yankees 5 to 1. Vincente Padilla started for the Phillies, Marlon Byrd had the park's first hit, and Jimmy Rollins hit the first home run.[7]
Bright House Field hosted the 44th Florida State League All-Star Game on June 18, 2005. A crowd of 5,547 saw the West defeat the East 6-4. The Sarasota Reds' Chris Dickerson hit a two-run home run, scored two runs, and earned the game's Star of Stars Award. Future major league players who appeared in the game included Dickeron, Reggie Abercrombie, Carlos Villanueva, and Sean Marshall.[8]
Threshers pitcher Julio De La Cruz pitched the first no-hitter at the ballpark on August 18, 2006. De La Cruz beat the Sarasota Reds 5-0 in front of 5,906 fans on "Pitch for Pink Night" in Clearwater. The Threshers wore special pink uniforms to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. It was the first no-hitter for Clearwater since 1992.[9]
The Big East Conference held its championship tournament at Bright House Field in 2006 and 2008. Notre Dame defeated Louisville 7-0 on May 27, 2006 to win the 2006 Championship.[10] Louisville defeated Cincinnati 6-3 to win the 2008 championship on May 24, 2008.[11] The 2009 Tournament will also be held at Bright House Field.
The single-game attendance record for the Threshers was set on July 3, 2008, when 9,090 saw Clearwater defeat the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 4 to 3.[12]
The all-time attendance record for the field is 10,724, set on March 22, 2010, for a spring-training game in which the Phillies hosted the New York Yankees.[13] The spring-training attendance mark for Bright House Field is 143,500, set in 2009.[14]
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