This Week In Phillies History

With Spring Training in full swing, it is only fitting that we take a look back at this week in Phillies Spring Training history. On March 3^rd, 1915, the Phillies opened their spring camp in St. Petersburg, FL. This was the first ever spring camp where the Phillies called Florida home. Sunshine Park, the former spring home of the St. Louis Browns, was a state-of-the-art, 5,000-seat facility that boasted a grandstand, batting cages, sliding pits, and sprinting lanes. Shortly after the Phillies moved in, the Grapefruit League started to take form. The Phillies remained in St. Petersburg through 1918, before moving on to Clearwater, FL, their Spring Training home still today.

In addition, March 2^nd is not only a notable date in Phillies history this week, but also baseball history. In 2007, the Phillies renewed the contract of First Baseman Ryan Howard in a one-year deal worth $900,000. It was the highest salary ever offered to a player not eligible for salary arbitration. The deal came following Howard’s 2006 National League MVP campaign in which he batted a career best .313 while leading the league in home runs (58) and RBI (149).

The contract matched Albert Pujols’ pre-arbitration contract that he had signed in 2003. This record stood until this year when the Angels signed outfielder Mike Trout to a one-year pre-arbitration contract worth $1 Million