Spring Training will soon start. Year No. 72 for the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., a beautiful city on the Gulf of Mexico.
No, they haven’t been there forever. Numerous other southern locations hosted Phillies Spring Training camps before Clearwater, including states such as North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. The Phillies even trained in Philadelphia (1883-1901), Hershey, Pa. (1943) and Wilmington, Del. (1944-45).
The Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) were the first Major League team in Clearwater, training and playing their games at Clearwater Athletic Field in 1923. (The Phillies were in Leesburg, Fla.