Phillies.com takes a look at OF prospects in the system

Check out their story at Phillies.com and read about former Threshers' Greg Golson and Chris Roberson.

The Kids Zone is looking for employees

This was just posted last night on the Official Site

WANTED! Kids Zone Employees
The Threshers are currently accepting applications for Kids Zone Game Day Employees for the upcoming Phillies Spring Training and Clearwater Threshers seasons.

Job Title: Kids Zone Game Day Staff (part-time with hours that vary)

Length of Assignment: Seasonal – March thru September

Job Description: Primary Duties include working with and supervising children in our Kids Zone located next to the playground. These duties include interacting with children, assisting with our many Kids Zone activities, and supervising our equipment.

Requirements: Employee must be Reliable, Responsible, and enjoy working with children.

If you are interesting in applying to be apart of our fun and fast paced atmosphere please contact Amanda Warner at (727) 712-4405

Have any Promo Ideas?

Your Clearwater Threshers staff has been tossing around some new ideas over the past few weeks. We're looking to make this summer even more entertaining than previous seasons.

If you have any ideas, please post them in a comment and I'll pitch them for you.

Working hard to get your Phillies Spring Training Tickets Mailed

We've been working for days printing, stuffing, and mailing the single-game ticket orders from our thousands of Phone and Internet Orders over the last week or so. If your last name starts with an A through M, your tickets are likely already on your way to you. Last names starting with N through R will likely all make it out today. We hope to get through the rest of the alphabet (S through Z) tomorrow.

We hope to start printing, packing, and mailing our Phillies Spring Training Season Tickets early next week.

Office Closed Monday, January 15 for MLK Holiday

Bright House Networks Field will be closed on Monday, January 15 due to Martin Luther King Day.

Tickets will still be available for purchase online at Phillies.com

Phillies Minor League Spring Training Games Start March 14

The 2007 Phillies Minor League Spring Training Schedule has been released. Each organization allocates it's minor league players between AAA, AA, and A squads. It is important to note, that being placed on a particular squad does not mean that the player would start the 2007 season at that level.

Phillies Minor League Spring Training Games start on Wednesday, March 14 and continue through Saturday, March 31. The Minor League Phillies break camp on Monday, April 2nd and that is when we should find out who made the Opening Day 2007 Clearwater Threshers roster.

Home games during Phillies Minor League Spring Training are played at the Carpenter Complex which is located just north of Bright House Networks Field. All home games are scheduled to start at 1pm, except Saturday, March 24th which is scheduled for a 10am start. Games are played against squads from the Blue Jays (Englebert Complex), Devil Rays (Naimoli Complex), and Yankees (Yankees Complex) and rotate around throughout each team's respective complex.

Home games for the A Phillies are scheduled for:

Thursday, March 15
Friday, March 16
Sunday, March 18
Tuesday, March 20
Thursday, March 22
Saturday, March 24 (10am)
Tuesday, March 27
Thursday, March 29
Friday, March 30

Sorry about the lack of posts!

I apologize for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. With the holiday and the opening of the Ticket Office here at the ballpark coming early tomorrow morning, I haven't had enough time to update the blog.

That said, 2007 Phillies Spring Training tickets go on-sale tomorrow (Tuesday, January 9th at 9am). Buy them online at Phillies.com or call 215.463.1000 (Philadelphia) / 727.467.4457 (Clearwater). We'll also be open in person at Bright House Networks Field and Citizens Bank Park.

I hope to have an on-sale date for the Threshers individual game tickets soon. Season Tickets for the Clearwater Threshers are on-sale now for only $210!

Diamond Outfitters Holiday Sale

Just got this in my email. Not part of the email club? Join now at the Official Site.

Be sure to visit the Diamond Outfitters Holiday Sale at Bright House Networks Field for amazing deals on Threshers and Phillies merchandise plus other great gift ideas.

Here are some of the great offers:

* Buy 1 get 1 FREE on Fitted Hats

* 60% off all adjustable twin hats

* 60% off women and children’s merchandise

* 60% off men’s polos

* 50% off fleece blankets

* $1 Stocking Stuffers

* $1 picture frames

Diamond Outfitters is open Monday to Thursday from 10 am- 3 pm. Hurry out because the store closes for the holidays on December 21.

Several Former Threshers Invited to 2007 Phillies Spring Training

The Phillies announced that they have invited 19 non-roster players to Spring Training.

Several former Threshers are on the list:

P Joe Bisenius

OF Greg Golson

C Tim Gradoville

P J.A. Happ

Some other notable names on the list are Andrew Beattie, Kane Davis, Kyle Drabek, Jason Jaramillo, Lou Marson, and Randall Simon.

For the rest of the list and more information about each of the players please visit Phillies.com.

Former Thresher Alfredo Simon selected in 2006 Rule 5 Draft

The 2006 Rule 5 Draft has been completed.

It doesn't appear that it will have much of an effect on the Clearwater Threshers at present. However, former Thresher Alfredo Simon was selected with the 5th pick by the Baltimore Orioles. Simon spent most of the 2004 season with the Threshers before he was traded by the Phillies to the San Francisco Giants organization.

Simon struck out 107 batters in 134.2 innings and had a 3.27 ERA in 22 games for the Threshers.

MLB.com has a .pdf of all the 2006 Rule 5 draft picks that can be found here.

UPDATE 12/8/06 at 10:00am: Simon has been traded back from the Orioles to the Phillies.

Former Clearwater catcher Mike Lieberthal agrees to one-year deal with Dodgers

The Dodgers have signed Mike Lieberthal to a one-year deal.

Lieberthal had spent his entire career with the Phillies organization including a 16-game stint in 1991 with the playoff-bound Clearwater team. Lee Elia was his manager at the time.

Former Thresher Joe Bisenius may end up in Philly's bullpen in '07

Ken Mandel of MLB.com has a story up that talks about the Winter Meetings, the Rule 5 Draft, and Joe Bisenius.

"He's throws hard, touching 97," said Steve Noworyta, director of Minor Leagues. "Any time you have a guy throwing that kind of number, you have to give him a look."

Noworyta said Bisenius is generally in the 92-94 mph range, but brought the gas on a night when he was being watched. Bisenius is looked at as a long shot to make the bullpen, but Noworyta said he might be factor at some point in 2007.

Eventually, he might be a closer.

"Possibly," he said. "He's got the makeup. When he crosses the line, he turns into a different person. His fastball is dominant."

Check out the whole story here

Former Clearwater Top Pitching Prospect Gavin Floyd traded to White Sox

The Phillies and the White Sox completed a trade yesterday at the Winter Meetings at Lake Buena Vista which sends former Clearwater star Gavin Floyd (and a player to be named later who apparently is Double-A pitcher Gio Gonzalez) to the White Sox for Freddy Garcia.

Floyd was with the Clearwater team in 2003. He struck out 115 batters in 138 innings and had a 3.00 ERA in 24 games.

Here are some links from around the country about the trade:

MLB.com

Chicago Sun-Times

ESPN.com's Jayson Stark

Philly.com

Check out this blog from a new friend in Ottawa

Carl Kiiffner runs a blog covering the Ottawa Lynx. As some of you may recall, the Lynx will be the Triple-A affiliate for the Phillies for the '07 season as they wait for the stadium to be built for the Iron Pigs in the Lehigh Valley. I'd imagine we'll probably see some former Threshers wearing Lynx jerseys at some point this year.

Phillies sign Adam Eaton

The Phillies just announced the signing of Adam Eaton, a right-handed pitcher who last pitched for the Texas Rangers.

Eaton is a familiar name to the Phillies as he was their first round draft pick (11th overall) in the 1996 draft. He spent the 1998 season as well as part of the 1999 season here in Clearwater.

Know Someone Who Wants To Work In Baseball? (# 2)

Carrie requested that I add Retail Store Associate to the PT Job Opening list today so I edited my original story to now say:

KNOW SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO WORK IN BASEBALL?
We're now accepting resumes and applications for Ticket Office Representatives and Retail Store Associates for the upcoming Phillies Spring Training and Clearwater Threshers seasons.

Click here for more information about the Ticket Office Representative opening(s).

Most Spring Training Season Ticket Invoices Mailed Out

If you're a Phillies Spring Training Season Ticket Holder you are going to want to check your mail over the next few days. Most of our invoices (plus additional information) were mailed out of the office this morning.

I'm not sure yet when the same process will start for the upcoming Threshers season so check back for updates.

2007 Clearwater Threshers coaching staff has been announced

The Phillies have just released the new coaching arrangements for the 2007 Minor League Season. These are some new faces for us in Clearwater, but most of them will look familiar to the fans of the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Making the jump from Lakewood to Clearwater are Dave Huppert (manager), Steve Schrenk (pitching coach), and Chris Mudd (trainer).

One new face to the Phillies organization will be joining us in Clearwater as well. He is Brad Komminsk (coach). He comes to Clearwater after several years managing and coaching throughout the Cleveland Indians organization.

Some familiar names that have moved around the organization include former manager Greg Legg (now with single-A Williamsport). Joining Legg in Williamsport is former Threshers' coach Ken Dominguez, who spent last season in Lakewood.

Former trainer Shawn Fcasni is now with triple-A Ottawa while Jason Kirkman has moved to double-A Reading. Ichiro Kitano goes to single-A Lakewood.

Updated at 12:54pm: Former coach Greg Gross is now with Reading.

Ryan Howard named 2006 NL MVP....

Congrats to Ryan Howard on winning the 2006 National League Most Valuable Player Award!

Ryan missed out playing for the Threshers by just one season. He spent 2003 with the Clearwater Phillies at Jack Russell Stadium. While with Clearwater, Ryan hit .304 with 23 HRs and 82 RBIs.

Ryan was also the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year.

Some events and other promotions have been posted

Some highlights (subject to change):

*Fireworks post-game EVERY Saturday Home Game Again in '07 (except 8/4)
*Thirsty Thursdays are BACK!
*Bark at the Ballpark I is scheduled for Sunday, April 15 with Bark at the Ballpark II scheduled for Saturday, August 4.
*Our first Bobble Head Giveaway of the Year will be on Friday, April 20.
*Bright House Networks Customer Appreciation Night with Fireworks on Friday, May 18.
*Wet-N-Wacky Days start on Sunday, July 8.
*Pitch for Pink returns on Friday, August 10.

Remember, the links for the 2007 schedule have not been updated yet on the site, so at this time, the easiest way to view the schedule would be to visit this link. Use the Month links above Saturday and Sunday to move throughout 2007 calendar.

Keep checking back, as more events and promotions will continue to be added.