Clearwater update 2020

[Les229]

HOTELS
I think this is about the right time to start the 17th year of the Clearwater Update. Fortunately the weather is cooperating right now as we are supposed to have about a week and a half of high 70’s and mid 80’s temperature It seems a good time because the weather has broken and it is in the mid 70’s to low 80’s most of the recent days. It helps to get me in the mood. Those who are thinking about coming to spring training, it’s past time to look into booking a hotel room. If you have been here before I think you should understand that this beach has grown enormously in popularity the past 5, or 6 years. Unfortunately (for me), Clearwater Beach has been discovered by the rest of the country. Several travel magazines and websites have been calling us the best beach in the United States and the tourist trade has picked up enormously. This has led to a marked increase in traffic, difficulty getting tables at the better restaurants and more significantly difficulty getting rooms. However, the past few years there has been several new huge, high rise hotels built on Clearwater Beach.

Invariably someone asks about hotels and I usually make some version of this report each spring. This way, anyone that wants the information can get it before they make their plans. If this is your first trip, there are two ways to look at lodging in Clearwater. There are a ton of places to stay, but during certain seasons and times, they do fill up. Unfortunately, for our purposes, Spring Training happens at the same time as Spring Break. If you are planning to come down, you really need to get started on it.

At this point, I have to throw in a disclaimer. I have only stayed in one hotel in the Tampa Bay area and am far from an expert on the subject. Most of what I know has come from word of mouth. A full range of hotels are available at whatever price you choose to pay. You will get pretty much what you pay for. There are some high dollar places that can rent for about $600 a night and some mom and pop establishments that can go for a lot less, but keep in mind this is the busiest time of the year and the prices will reflect that. They change depending on the season. Unfortunately, Spring Training and Spring Break are the busiest times.
I think you have to decide whether you want the beach experience along with the baseball, or don’t need the beach every day and can live on the main land where there are many other great attractions. The hotels on the beach will, on the whole, be more expensive and harder to book. The traffic to and from the beach should be a consideration. On the other hand, if the beach isn’t necessary every day, you can stay in town and be closer to the ball park much more reasonably.

If I were doing it and could afford it, I would stay on the beach because you can catch a shuttle called the Jolly Trolly to the ball park. It won’t be any quicker, but you won’t be driving and won’t have to pay for parking. Some of the hotels provide transportation. Ask them about it. The causeway from Downtown Clearwater to the beach can get backed up and be bumper to bumper the whole 3-4 miles and parking is always difficult on the beach. Although recently they added a new parking garage that has helped some, but parking is not cheap. The city charges $3.00 an hour in their meters. One guy said it could take him as long as 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to his place back on the beach. That is normally about a 20 minute drive.

If you want to stay within walking distance of the ball park (and save the hassle and cost of parking), there are several along route 19. The three nearest to the park and easiest to get to the ballpark, are on the even (west) side of 19. They are LaQuinta, Magnuson, and the Hampton Inn. They are within 3 blocks of the park in the 21000 block of US19. A word of caution, walking across 19 can be very dangerous, especially with children. It has one of the highest accident rates in Florida. If you are walking to the ball park from one of the hotels, it is best to cross Drew Street at the corner of Drew and Coachman Road. There will be cops there directing traffic.

If you want high end, the beach offers the Sand Pearl and its new sister hotel the Opal Pearl. There is a relatively new Hyatt, Pier 60 and Hilton along with a host of others. The Hilton has recently been remodeled. There are many Mom and Pop smaller places and most of them are pretty good and on lower end of the cost scale. In these cases, you pays your money and takes your chances. If you want to stay on the beach, get an early start on the reservations. I suggest you google up a map on Clearwater Beach and look for hotels. They will all be listed(Does anybody use a phonebook anymore?). Good luck with it.

If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to try and answer them.

[donaldorc]

So glad to see this thread! Means baseball can’t be far away! Thank you Les229!

[miker]

Thanks Les. Great information.

[Philsmania]

I was just thinking yesterday that nobody started the Countdown to Spring thread. I did it the last couple of years but it slipped my mind this year.

[Les229]

JANUARY 13, 2020

Here I am sitting in my favorite spot on the patio of Clear Sky Restaurant, looking out at the Gulf of Mexico. It’s sunny and the app on my phone says it’s 76. It also says the temperature will get up into the low 80’s. It is supposed to stay that way for another week.

My installments on the “Update” will come slowly and probably not as lengthy until the team gets here next month. Pitchers and catchers are due in February 11. I thought it best to get the hotel info in earlier. I really don’t know how tight the room situation will be. They keep building new high rises. Two new ones are going up as we speak. It seems logical that they would reach a saturation point, but I know of another one that is being planned. It ain’t easy being named the number one beach in the U.S.

The Phillies are currently negotiating with the City and County to make a 28 million dollar upgrade on the Spectrum complex. The Blue Jay stadium in Dunedin has be remodeled and a new Braves stadium has been built down by Sarasota. It seems that they have some newer and fancier bells and whistles and the Phillies can’t let that happen. The Phillies also want to build a dormitory down in the minor league complex. They are continuing to sign 14 year old latin players and have learned that they can’t just bring them to town and leave them on their own. Most of these kids can’t speak English. They probably are going to need a house mother.

[Ryles]

Les, I fortunately booked the Palm Pavilion a few months back for St. Pat's weekend. Looking forward to the beach & was wondering if one discretely brings a can of an adult beverage or 2 to the beach could a fine or hassle ensue? I know it's prohibited but how strictly is it enforced? I usually imbibe on the S. Jersey beaches with a coozy & never had any issues & always act responsible. Can I expect the same on Clearwater Beach?

[Les229]

Ryles

I don't really think there is one answer to that question. It probably depends on behavior and it becoming an issue. It is illegal with a healthy fine, but is done all the time. In this day and age where everyone has a cell phone and it makes it easy to complain. The cozy sounds like a good idea. By the way, the Palm is one of the big hangouts on the beach with great sunsets and decent music. St. Paddy's day at the ballpark is the biggest day of the spring. If the weather is decent, they usually get 11,000 fans in a stadium that seats 7,500. You definitely will need to wear green.

[Les229]

Yeah, I am not thorough enough to keep up on all of the stories in the media. Actually, I depend on you guys for that. I'll say one thing, this has been a boring off season for Phillies fans.

[Les229]

JANUARY 15, 2020

I stopped out at the Carpenter Complex today. Eventually, about 10 am about 15 players came out and began to exercise and then long toss. I didn’t recognize any of them and they had no numbers, or names on their backs. Someone said they were all minor leaguers. There are always players at the complex. This is where they rehab, or in some cases come to work on something. I would feel better if Segura were here sharpening up his second base skills. There were only 5 spectators watching and two of them wrote blogs.

I watched them for a while and talked to the two bloggers. The hottest story is that the Braves conned North Port, Florida into building them a new stadium for Spring Training and their Florida State League team. While they will be playing their spring training there, it turns out that the Tampa Bay Rays have territorial rights for the Florida State League for their Port Charlotte team.
The Rays will not allow the Braves High A team to play there. The Braves will have to continue to play at Disney World in Orlando. The reason the Braves wanted to move in the first place was that Disney was taking too much of both Spring Training and minor league money. It seems to me that if I were in the Braves front office, I would have gotten all of those ducks in a row before I built the stadium. I wonder how the city of North Port feels after the expense of building the park.

By the way, how dumb are the Astros? Didn’t they realize that the first pitcher that left the team was going to tell his new team about the cheating? Daah. 

I left the park and headed for the beach and lunch. The quickest way to the beach from the ball park is to go straight west (towards the gulf) on Drew Street. Turn left at Osceola and go to its end. You will be looking straight at the county court house. Turn right there and you are on the causeway. This will avoid all that traffic on 60. However, once you are on the causeway, there is no other way than to inch along.

[Les229]

OTHER ACTIVITIES
Some of the posters over the years who read my “Update” have asked about activities for the young kids and adults other than baseball. First off, there is the beach itself. Mobs of people come to “the best beach in the United States” that have no interest in baseball. The bigger part of the crowds that come down for spring break have no interest in baseball. They come from all over the world.

One thing that is very popular for kids in Clearwater is the aquarium located on Island Estates. It is the home of the dolphin, Winter. Winter is the star of the two Dolphin Tale movies with Morgan Freeman. Those films were filmed on site there and on Clearwater Beach. People come from all over to see that dolphin. The facility is more a hospital and rehab center than an aquarium. They nurse all kinds of injured sea animals back to health and release them back into the Gulf. Tampa has an aquarium that is bigger and more complete, but not as well known.
There are several famous amusement parks within reach. To start with, Busch Gardens is in Tampa. It is a Fairly popular amusement park. Of course, Orlando is not that far away and has several Amusement parks. Disney World, Leggo Land and Universal amusement parks are in the Orlando area. They have made the state world famous for that sort of thing.

One thing that ought to be tried are the charter boats. There are several different kinds of activities that are offered in the Clearwater Marina. First off, family fishing trips are available. You can fish out in the Gulf, or in the bay. Another thing that the kids up north may not have experienced are the boat rides out in the Gulf. Several boats in Clearwater Marina offer cruises of a couple of hours. One is a speed boat called Screamer. It is a racing boat. There is another that promises to site dolphins. Probably the most popular for kids is one shaped like a tall sailing ship of the colonial era and actually throws a children's party on the cruise. They even shoot off a cannon. There is also one for the whole family that goes out in the Gulf and serves a buffet lunch for the whole family. In the evening, there are sunset cruises that provide dinner and are actually floating cocktail parties.
There is a water slide and other such things on the beach next to pier 60.
This is about as much as I know, hope it helps. I have to admit that since I retired, I have lost touch with kids’ activities. I have been retired now for nearly 18 years. Ask for a map of the coast activities from your hotel. If they don’t have one, the Clearwater Beach Chamber of Commerce has an office in the park at Pier 60.

Any of you who have been down here before, feel free to jump in and offer up suggestions of activities that you know.

Questions? Comments? Snide remarks?

[Les229]

MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2020

I won’t be going out to the field today. It is currently 50 degrees here and the wind is blowing. This is not a day to be sitting outside on a patio eating either. The weather man says it is not going to get much better this week. This looks like a good day to stay inside and maybe catch up on some of the Phillies scouting reports. It struck me that there are a few things that a new visitor needs to be aware of and this is a good day to pass it on.

STING RAYS: If you are walking in the water and can’t see the bottom, shuffle your feet rather than step. Sting rays are not aggressive animals, but they are bottom feeders. They eat small animals that live on the bottom of the gulf. If you step on one of them, they will defend themselves. The sting is not supposed to be lethal to humans, but it can mess up your day. Flukes do happen, one of them did kill that TV guy from Australia.

THUNDER AND LIGHTENING: More people are hit by lightning on Florida beaches than anywhere else in the United States. Walking on that beach in thunder and lightning makes an individual a lightning rod. We have had 8 people killed on Clearwater Beach within the passed year.

SUN SCREEN: The sun rays are more direct down here than they are up north. Everyone should use sunscreen. I go to the beach at least 5 days a week, every week and I still get burned sitting at the ball games. A word of advice on that, the Phillies sell sunscreen in their stadium store, but they will charge 3 prices. You can save some money by getting it at a supermarket, or drug store before going to the stadium.

HEAVY WHEELED ITEMS: The sand on Clearwater Beach is very soft and fine. People love walking on it. I think it is one of the primary reasons that the travel websites have called us the number one beach.The one problem is that heavy wheeled objects (ie…coolers, baby carriages, wagons) sink to the bottom and become near impossible to pull across the beach. People wind up carrying the stuff and making more than one trip and that is a wide beach. Wagons with very wide wheels are the only thing that works.

DRIVING: A good part of the traffic you will meet on the roads that time of the year will be tourists. Mostly they don’t know where they are going, but are in a hurry to get there. They will do a lot of creative things, most of them dumb. Defensive driving is not a sissy thing down here.

Sorry, I have another no no warning. Florida has just passed a law against using your telephone while driving. The cops are very intent on enforcing it. I am sure it carries a heavy fine.

Well, enough of the gloom and doom. Have a great trip .

[miker]

Great info. Thanks.

[Les229]

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2020

I stopped out at the Carpenter Complex today just to see what was shaking. It was a decent day. I got there about 10:00 am and the app on my phone said it was 61 degrees and there was a cool breeze blowing from the east across Tampa Bay. Things are getting serious. The team wasn’t really here yet and they had metal detectors and a guard at the front gate. There were only about 10 spectators standing around the Schmidt field watching the drill.

They must have started earlier because they were done with warmup exercises and were doing drills. All I saw were pitchers and catchers and coaches. There were about 25 pitchers and catchers out on the field. They were working on pitchers’ fielding. The pitchers were fielding comebackers and throwing to first base and then the coaches hit the ball to the first baseman and the pitcher covered first for the toss. After that they hit a comebacker to the pitcher and he threw to second. These are very simple drills that all players practice in Little League, but we all have seen games decided by a failure to execute them. It’s good to see them working on it.

I soon found out there were also quite a few position players there too. They were doing something in the big field house at the far end of the complex. Spectators can’t get near it, or see in there. After the pitchers’ drills were done several position players came out of the field house and the grounds crew set up for coaches’ thrown lob batting practice. I usually don’t stick around for lob batting practice. Any one of those hitters can hit a lob out of the park. I do think that the drill is important to get the hitters’ swing in rhythm, but tells you nothing about how a hitter will do against real pitching. I took off for the beach and lunch.

The starting of the workout early is encouraging. Prior to Kapler, the practices had always started at 10:00 am. Kapler moved it to 11:00 and that really bummed me out. The 10:00 start got the lob batting practice started at about 11:30. Prior to Spring Break, the traffic across the causeway to the beach is not that bad. But Kapler’s moving it forward an hour made it about 12:30 crossing to the beach and by that time it was backed up for 3 miles. He didn’t even check with me before he did it. The reason he gave for doing it, at the time, was to save the players’ stamina for the stretch drive in September. Both years that he managed the team, they collapsed in the stretch drive. So much for that theory
By the way EC, your boy Warren is here and was participating in the fielding drills.

[BostonRoss]

Les, I'm trying to work in a trip down there around the weekend of March 21. I'll let you know when I can confirm. It will be nice to see you.

[Les229]

It will be good to see you Ross.

[Les229]

THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 2020

Since there seemed to be a lot of activity out at the ball field yesterday, I decided to drop in on them today. This is really about the earliest in the spring that I have ever started to go out there. I decided to get there earlier since I seemed to have gotten there in the middle of their workout yesterday. I arrived at about 9:15 am. There were maybe about 20 athletes and coaches starting to do their loosening up exercises. Again, they all had jackets on because my phone said it was 51 degrees. It was overcast. There were maybe 10 spectators.

While were watching I did learn that the Florida State League had made a brief ruling about the Braves and Rays dustup about where the Braves’ Florida State League team would play this summer. The Braves could play this coming season only in their new stadium, but after that they had to find a new place. Last year the Blue Jays high A team played in Jack Russell while they were remodeling their Dunedin stadium, but I doubt that the Phillies and Blue Jays would allow the Braves to play there permanently.

While we watched the warmups some of us got to talking about the Phils centerfield situation. It looks as though Herrera is either going to be moved, or sent to Lehigh Valley. I hear he is really confused about how the Phillies are handling his situation. I wonder if they are not trying to drive the lesson home and maybe help Odubel grow up a little. While I was pleasantly surprised with Haseley, I have to wonder how he will handle the sophomore jinx. The best answer is obviously Quinn, but he has trouble staying on the field. It’s my recollection that he has been hurt every year he has played. Also his BA and OBP plummeted last season. It seemed like every time it looked like he was about to get it started, he got hurt. Of course sending Ender Inciarte back from his rule 5 stay was one of the front office’s dumber moves.

After the players finished their warmups, they did some long throwing and then they all went into big field house and we didn’t see them for a while, so I left about 10:00 am. During this time before the pitchers and catchers are due to report, things are really not on a schedule and the players may decide to wait and come out in the afternoon when it is warmer. The Phillies do provide coaches to give some semblance of order, but most of the players are here on their own and really can come and go as they please.

[Les229]

THE COMPLEX

For those fans who have not been down here before, something has to be said about the complex. First off, it is impossible to see everything that goes on during the workout sessions. There are 4 fields in the complex, and the minor league building sits between them so that you can only see 2 fields at a time. There is the stadium itself and a short field with no outfield. All together that is 6 fields. The entrance to the stadium is a fair hike from the Carpenter Complex. There are pitching mounds all over the place. In addition, they have all kinds of indoor facilities for pitching and bp under the stands and in a workout building The size of an aircraft hanger. You can’t see the inside of that at all. You will always miss some stuff and it is best to reconcile yourself to it and make some choices. With all of that, the complex part of it was never built to handle the crowds they sometimes get. The spectators for the February workouts have grown greatly since I first started to attend 17 years ago. Some of it might be the stabilization of the economy and more people able to take winter vacations. Before the position players are due to report, the hitters who have straggled in often take batting practice in the stadium. That means that you will either watch the pitchers, or hitters, not both.
They say that they actually run the minor leagues operations out of the offices on the second floor of the building in the middle of the Carpenter Complex. During spring training, they use the first floor to feed and have a club house for the minor leaguers both while the major leaguers are in camp and during the summer when the Threshers are in the stadium. They also run the rookie league that starts after the amateur draft in June on those fields. My sympathy goes out to those kids. The Florida sun is brutal in July and August and there is no shade down there. They did add a couple of electronic scoreboards on two of the complex fields. They don’t seem to have a kitchen. A catering truck arrives every day. Lenny’s is a favorite. For all of you guys who are always whining about where the money goes, there is some of it. It can’t be cheap. They also feed the major leaguers with catering up in the stadium.
The Phils are in a naming game down at the minor league complex. Everything that can be named, is named. The building in the complex is called, “Paul Owens Training Facility”, the four fields are named after Schmidt, Ashburn, Roberts and Carlton and the whole complex is the Carpenter Complex. They are running out of things to name.

[schooldoc]

Great to see this thread back up and running. Thanks, Les229!

Clearwater is my favorite vacation spot on earth. Been going for more than 25 years and I'm a veteran of many (maybe 20?) spring training and summer trips. Actually, I more enjoy going down in the summer now than during spring training....it's much less crowded and as a result means less traffic, cheaper rooms/rental cars and such, tables available at restaurants, etc. Is it hot? Sure! But it's hot everywhere in August, so it's all good.

Anyway, here are a few restaurant ideas, mostly for adults but a few of these places are kid-friendly too.

Lenny's....best breakfast in Clearwater....on route 19 near the ballpark. Get there by 10:00 am for a 1:05 first pitch cause during spring training you'll wait a while for a table. Phillies-themed place with friendly staff and hearty portions.
Frenchy's....several locations around Clearwater/Clearwater Beach; my favorite location is one on the beach near the Sandpearl. Public beach parking is right there too, but get there early for that especially in March.
Good lunch spot. Get the grouper sandwich!!!
Hooters....the original is on Gulf to Bay Blvd. in Clearwater. I only go for the wings. Honest.
Island Way Grill....on Island Way (of course) off the causeway on the way to the beach. Nice setting & pretty good food. You'll often see Phillies personnel having dinner here. Partially owned, if I'm not mistaken, by former Bucs RB Mike Alstott
Guppy's....great little seafood place on Sand Key, across the bridge from the Beach. Another players' favorite.
Villa Gelace...Italian place in Indian Rocks Beach. Food's great, but service in my experience is hit-or-miss. Owner's a terrific guy though, very friendly!
Beachcomber....on Clearwater Beach....kinda old school & a little upscale with a piano man tickling the ivories during your meal
Bern's Steakhouse (Tampa)....never been there, but gotta mention it. Pricey, fancy steakhouse but nationally renowned and supposedly amazing wine cellar & desserts. $$$$

Couple other things to do for sports fans
Tampa Bay Lightning hockey...they play at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The Flyers are in town on March 12.
Tampa Bay Downs--thoroughbred racetrack in Oldsmar, Fla. The Tampa Bay Derby (a lesser-known Kentucky Derby prep race) will be run there this year on March 7.

[Les229]

Schooldoc

Thanks for the input. I don't disagree with any of what you have contributed. I plan to give my own list of restaurants and drinking places next week, but that is a good list. I feel as though I have to get the hotels in early for it to be of any use to those who are coming down. I don't want the thread to die, so feel as though I have to stretch it out one at a time until the players get here. I agree with you in that I do prefer the summer to the "season", for the very reasons you gave. Being named the number one beach in the U.S. has its drawbacks. Also, maybe I have been down here too long. Anything under 80 degrees and I have on a jacket. I love the heat.

As to restaurants, there are new places opening every week. One of the big pluses about living in a resort town, is that we have a lot of great restaurants. Most of the newer places are in located in these new high rise hotels. They tend to be expensive. One hotel charges $39.00 a head for a breakfast buffet.

I haven't been out to the park the last few days because it has been chilly(60 degrees) with a stiff wind and sometimes fog. I plan to see how they are doing next week.

[tom81]

It looks as though Herrera is either going to be moved, or sent to Lehigh Valley. I hear he is really confused about how the Phillies are handling his situation. I wonder if they are not trying to drive the lesson home and maybe help Odubel grow up a little.

He shouldn’t be confused, I think what the Phillies have been saying about him has been honest and consistent. He is currently 3rd on their CF depth chart, or 4th if they count Kingery. They only need two in the majors. He needs to play well going forward to make a MLB roster, either for the Phillies or elsewhere.