 Clearwater city officials first approached the Philadelphia Phillies as early as 1981 about placing a full season Phillies minor league affiliate at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater.In a visit to Philadelphia in July 1982, Clearwater city officials and the president of the Florida State League invited the Philadelphia Phillies to affiliate with an FSL franchise in Clearwater.While the Phillies played their spring training schedule at the stadium every March, the Amateur Softball Association Clearwater Bombers had used Jack Russell Stadium during the summer months when the field would be reconfigured for softball since the stadium's opening in 1955.