The Carpenter Complex is a complex of four baseball fields in Clearwater, Florida. It opened as 'Carpenter Field' in 1967. It is the Florida home of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball operations, spring training site for the Phillies’ minor league players, home to the Gulf Coast League Phillies, and adjacent to Bright House Field, spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies and regular season home of the Clearwater Threshers.

The Complex has four fields, each named for Phillies Hall of Fame players (all of whom trained with the Phillies in Clearwater and also were the first four Phillies to have their uniform numbers retired), the Rich Ashburn Field, Robin Roberts Field, Mike Schmidt Field, and Steve Carlton Field. Paul Owens was a long-time Phillies baseball operations director and general manager. The complex was officially renamed the 'Paul Owens Training Facility at Carpenter Complex' in Owens' honor.

The Carpenter Complex was dedicated on March 5, 1967 at which Clearwater Mayor Joe Turner surprised Phillies owner and president Bob Carpenter by naming the new field in his honor. The complex was financed by a no-interest $250,000 loan from the the Phillies to the City of Clearwater which was to be repaid over a ten-year period. ^[1] The complex was built on the site of a former city trash dump. Through the years, settling garbage has left dips and wholes in the field and has required repairs on the clubhouse buildings.^[2]

The GCL Phillies played some games at the Joe DiMaggio Complex in Clearwater in 2009 while the Carpenter Complex was renovated.^[3].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• BR Bullpen: Carpenter Complex

Coordinates: 27°58′18″N 82°43′54″W / 27.97167°N 82.73167°W / 27.97167; -82.73167