Clearwater's minor league team wanted an identity of its own, separate from the parent Phillies.
By BOB PUTNAM
Published December 9, 2003
Formerly known as the Phillies, the Clearwater Threshers introduced their new logo.
CLEARWATER - With a state-of-the-art baseball complex and high-profile manager already in place, Clearwater's Class-A minor league baseball team completed its off season of sweeping changes Monday by unveiling a new nickname and logo.
As expected, the team the Clearwater Phillies is now the Clearwater Threshers. The announcement was made in right field of the $28-million, 7,000-seat stadium scheduled for completion Feb. 6. The first game there is scheduled for March 4.
Philadelphia Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt made his first public appearance as the manager of the minor league club and modeled a sand-colored home jersey that read THRESHERS in indigo, navy, peach and scarlet across the front.
"This is an exciting time to be part of the organization," Schmidt said. "As the saying goes, timing is everything."
Also attending were Phillies president and chief executive officer David Montgomery, general manager Ed Wade and assistant general manager for scouting and player development Mike Arbuckle.
For two years, the minor league team has considered shedding the Phillies moniker in favor of a nickname that would distinguish it from the parent club in Philadelphia, said John Timberlake, the Phillies Director of Florida Operations.
But the idea didn't come to fruition until the city of Clearwater agreed to build a new stadium to keep the Phillies in town for 21 more years.
"This will be our 20th year playing in the Florida State League, and everybody knows who the Phillies are," Timberlake said. "We get a lot of confusion, believe it or not, that the Clearwater Phillies name is really spring training. We wanted something of our own.
"We're moving into this beautiful facility with 9,000 cars passing by every day and wanted a name where people in the community could say, "This is my team.' "
In the summer, Timberlake met with Plan B, a branding company located in San Diego that was instrumental in designing other minor league logos. The name and logo were finalized in September and the team spent the past two months creating a buzz with newspaper advertisements and billboards with thresher sharks.
"First thing we wanted to do was start building a campaign that would have some general education and create some curiosity about what you're doing," Timberlake said. "I think it worked."
In addition to an increase in attendance, the name change could boost revenues, said Tina Gust, assistant director of licensing for Minor League Baseball. The latest trend with sports teams, particularly minor league baseball teams, is choosing a quirky name to cash in on the lucrative souvenir business. The merchandising boom has seen apparel sales grow from $2.5-million in 1992 to $38-million spent in the minor leagues last year.
Meanwhile, city officials confirmed Monday that the Phillies are negotiating with Bright House Networks for naming rights to the ballpark.
Under any corporate deal, Clearwater stands to earn a third of any cash payment to the Phillies, said Parks and Recreation Director Kevin Dunbar. The Phillies organization would keep two thirds of the payment as well as any in-kind contributions, he said.
Mayor Brian Aungst, who works for Bright House, said Monday he is not part of the negotiations on naming rights.
"I know that we're discussing it," he said. "But it's not done."
- Times staff writer Jennifer Farrell contributed to this report.
