Clearwater Threshers

Clearwater Threshers
Founded in 1985
Clearwater, Florida
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current A-Advanced (1990-Present)
Previous Class A (1985-1989)
Minor league affiliations
League Florida State League
Division North Division
Major league affiliations
Current Philadelphia Phillies (1985–present)
Minor league titles
League titles (2)
  • 1993
  • 2007
Division titles (1)
  • 2007
Team data
Nickname Clearwater Threshers (2004–present)
Previous names
 Clearwater Phillies (1985–2003)
Ballpark Bright House Field (2004–present)
Previous parks
 Jack Russell Memorial Stadium (1985–2003)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
 Philadelphia Phillies
Manager Chris Truby
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, it changed its 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 11⁄3 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 23, 2011 The Threshers gained national attention after playing in a 23 inning game against the Jupiter Hammerheads.[7]

Clearwater Phillies & Threshers in the Majors

Coaching staff

Former coaches & trainers

Roster

Clearwater Threshers roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • -- Victor Arano
  • -- Alejandro Arteaga
  • 31 Cody Forsythe
  • 48 Matt Imhof
  • -- Steven Inch
  • 45 Ulises Joaquin
  • 21 Colin Kleven
  •  7 Brandon Leibrandt
  • 35 Mark Leiter
  • 27 Lino Martinez
  • -- Yoel Mecias
  • 37 Miguel Nunez
  • 16 Edubray Ramos
  • 51 Lee Ridenhour
  • -- Yacksel Rios
  • -- Reinier Roibal
  • 56 Kevin Walter
  • 47 David Whitehead

Catchers

  •  4 Willians Astudillo
  •  5 Andrew Knapp
  • 13 Jose Mayorga
  • -- Chace Numata

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches


7-day disabled list
* On Philadelphia Phillies 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated December 26, 2015
Transactions
→ More MiLB rosters
→ Philadelphia Phillies minor league players

References

  1. ↑ Clearwater Threshers (2008-07-03). "Phantastic! Threshers walk off in front of record crowd". Clearwater Threshers. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
  2. ↑ Brew, Tom (1982-09-03). "Minor league team sought for Clearwater". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  3. ↑ Brew, Tom (1984-09-26). "It's time for Bombers to move on". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  4. ↑ Henderson, Robert (1985-04-09). "Clearwater Phillies' debut is right around the corner". St. Petersburg Times. 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. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  6. ↑ Hagan, Paul (2009-07-27). "Pedro Martínez has rain-shortened start with Phillies' minor leaguers". Philadelphia Daily News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-31.
  7. ↑ "Minor League game goes 23 innings". Espn.com.

Further reading

External links

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