Clearwater

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was 10:03 a.m. Wednesday when I carefully pushed through the glass doors that lead to the bullpen and infield diamond that sits below the main entrance to Bright House Field. A light rain fell as I turned right, walked about 30 yards, and headed toward the Carpenter Complex Fields, where I have watched men stretch, throw, hit, run, and play baseball since Mike Schmidt's final spring training as a player in 1989. I didn't know I was being watched. As I passed the closed weight room and neared the steps that lead up to Frenchy's Tiki Bar in left field at the Phillies' spring-training home, I could hear men talking on two-way radios.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Cody Asche was sure the transition from the University of Nebraska to professional baseball would be a smooth one. "I expected to just carry on," Asche said. "Williamsport would just be another part of what I did in college. I figured I'd go in and roll right along, and I did a complete opposite of what I thought. " Asche, a fourth-round draft choice last year, had hit .327 and led the Big 12 with 12 home runs during his junior season with the Cornhuskers.

Ryan Howard has gotten his wish. After Friday's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Howard said he hoped to convince the Phillies to allow him to head to Clearwater to resume baseball-related activities. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Saturday's game with the Cubs that Howard will depart Sunday and begin working out on Monday. Howard has been limited since Feb. 27, when he required a procedure to clean an infection from his original Achilles tendon surgery wound.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Anthony Hewitt has that special quality scouts love to talk about. When his bat meets ball, it makes a different sound: a sweet, explosive crash made possible only through the combination of superior quickness and strength. The problem for Hewitt since the Phillies made him their first-round draft choice in 2008 is that his at-bats have ended far too often with the quiet swoosh of a swinging third strike or the loud pop of a catcher's mitt on a called third strike.

The shake-up in the Phillies' minor-league organization resumed yesterday with the announcement that Reading manager Mike Hart and Clearwater manager Glenn Gulliver had not been re-hired. Clearwater coach Tim Corcoran also was dropped. No replacements were named by general manager Lee Thomas and player- development director Del Unser, who assumed that position earlier this week. However, it appears that former Phils manager Lee Elia, who was fired recently as a coach with the New York Yankees, will be hired as manager of the Clearwater club.

THE CITY OF Clearwater is expected to approve, at a City Council meeting tonight, a $2.9 million renovation to the Phillies' spring training complex. The upgrade would include a 20,000-square foot training center at the Carpenter Complex, with six air-conditioned batting cages, a weightroom, office space and a video room, and new batting cages at Bright House Field, according to the St. Petersburg Times. The plan calls for the Phillies to repay roughly $900,000 over the remaining 12 years of its contract with the city by giving 60 cents on each spring training ticket.

The last time Tommy Greene and Mitch Williams pitched together was in Game 4 of the 1993 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Greene started and Williams took the 15-14 loss. Three years later, Greene and Williams are reunited with another Phillies team that has clinched a pennant. Trouble is, they're in Clearwater, Fla., home of the Phillies' Class A affiliate in the Florida State League. Each is each trying to make a comeback to the parent club. Last night, Greene and Williams appeared together in a game again, helping Clearwater to a 3-2 victory over the Brevard County Manatees at Space Coast Stadium.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Sometimes you look at the big-league lineup for a Grapefruit League road trip and you wonder if there's a better story right here at home. Sometimes you get it all wrong and it still turns out all right. John Mayberry Jr. and Hunter Pence were the only two regulars in the lineup for the Phillies' exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at McKechnie Field in Bradenton on Friday, so I decided to stay behind and watch Jim Thome play first base for the second time in a minor-league game at the Carpenter Complex.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Gauntlett Eldemire III is the kind of name that grabs your attention, and the Phillies' sixth-round selection in the 2010 draft has the athletic ability needed to keep it. Only now, nearly two years after the Phillies picked him out of Ohio University, is the lightning-fast outfielder getting a chance to show off his skills. He is playing for the first time professionally at single-A Lakewood, and that alone is a relief for the soft-spoken 23-year-old. "Yeah, I am pretty happy because I haven't played in two years," Eldemire said before a recent game at the BlueClaws' First Energy Park.

READING - This season the No. 1 story line from the Phillies minor-league system will be the continued development of the Baby Aces. They are three righthanders who have moved up together and are now making the leap from high single-A Clearwater to double-A Reading, which will begin its season Thursday. All three are ranked among the top 10 Phillies prospects in the rankings compiled by The Inquirer's Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover and the Daily News' David Murphy. No. 1 is 6-foot-5, 250-pound Trevor May, who will be 23 in September.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - It was 10:03 a.m. Wednesday when I carefully pushed through the glass doors that lead to the bullpen and infield diamond that sits below the main entrance to Bright House Field. A light rain fell as I turned right, walked about 30 yards, and headed toward the Carpenter Complex Fields, where I have watched men stretch, throw, hit, run, and play baseball since Mike Schmidt's final spring training as a player in 1989. I didn't know I was being watched. As I passed the closed weight room and neared the steps that lead up to Frenchy's Tiki Bar in left field at the Phillies' spring-training home, I could hear men talking on two-way radios.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Cody Asche was sure the transition from the University of Nebraska to professional baseball would be a smooth one. "I expected to just carry on," Asche said. "Williamsport would just be another part of what I did in college. I figured I'd go in and roll right along, and I did a complete opposite of what I thought. " Asche, a fourth-round draft choice last year, had hit .327 and led the Big 12 with 12 home runs during his junior season with the Cornhuskers.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Anthony Hewitt has that special quality scouts love to talk about. When his bat meets ball, it makes a different sound: a sweet, explosive crash made possible only through the combination of superior quickness and strength. The problem for Hewitt since the Phillies made him their first-round draft choice in 2008 is that his at-bats have ended far too often with the quiet swoosh of a swinging third strike or the loud pop of a catcher's mitt on a called third strike.

Ryan Howard has gotten his wish. After Friday's 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs, Howard said he hoped to convince the Phillies to allow him to head to Clearwater to resume baseball-related activities. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said before Saturday's game with the Cubs that Howard will depart Sunday and begin working out on Monday. Howard has been limited since Feb. 27, when he required a procedure to clean an infection from his original Achilles tendon surgery wound.

David Buchanan made only six starts at single-A Clearwater last season after being promoted from Lakewood on Aug. 1. His performance with the Threshers and during spring training last month convinced the Phillies' player development department that the 22-year-old righthander was ready to pitch at double-A Reading. "We wanted to push him and we felt he had the pitches to be able to handle that level," said Benny Looper, the Phillies' assistant general manager in charge of player personnel.

LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Gauntlett Eldemire III is the kind of name that grabs your attention, and the Phillies' sixth-round selection in the 2010 draft has the athletic ability needed to keep it. Only now, nearly two years after the Phillies picked him out of Ohio University, is the lightning-fast outfielder getting a chance to show off his skills. He is playing for the first time professionally at single-A Lakewood, and that alone is a relief for the soft-spoken 23-year-old. "Yeah, I am pretty happy because I haven't played in two years," Eldemire said before a recent game at the BlueClaws' First Energy Park.

READING - Jiwan James had a short-lived career as a pitcher and is attempting to make it as an outfielder as he begins the season at Class AA Reading. Previously a centerfielder, James will also play the corner outfield spots at Reading after batting .268 with four home runs and 38 RBIs for Clearwater last season. Ranked No. 22 among the Phillies' top 25 prospects by The Inquirer/Daily News, James turns 23 on April 11. James doesn't anticipate too much of a problem developing into a corner outfielder.

READING - This season the No. 1 story line from the Phillies minor-league system will be the continued development of the Baby Aces. They are three righthanders who have moved up together and are now making the leap from high single-A Clearwater to double-A Reading, which will begin its season Thursday. All three are ranked among the top 10 Phillies prospects in the rankings compiled by The Inquirer's Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover and the Daily News' David Murphy. No. 1 is 6-foot-5, 250-pound Trevor May, who will be 23 in September.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The red No. 26 bag was still hanging to the left of the locker, right where Chase Utley left it last weekend. The two dangling hats and stacks of black bats were untouched, too. There was no sign of any activity, and Phillies officials were reluctant to even confirm Utley's presence at camp following a visit to an unknown specialist in an unidentified location. "I haven't seen him," Charlie Manuel said, "but someone said he came here. " Secrecy shrouds the status of Utley's chronically injured knees and what consequences it could have on the Phillies' roster in the short and long term.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Sometimes you look at the big-league lineup for a Grapefruit League road trip and you wonder if there's a better story right here at home. Sometimes you get it all wrong and it still turns out all right. John Mayberry Jr. and Hunter Pence were the only two regulars in the lineup for the Phillies' exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at McKechnie Field in Bradenton on Friday, so I decided to stay behind and watch Jim Thome play first base for the second time in a minor-league game at the Carpenter Complex.