Phils' spring tickets not sold out yet

IF THE disappointment from the Phillies' first-round playoff exit has tempered the excitement of fans heading into 2012, it's not showing at the box office in Clearwater, Fla.

Nearly 6 weeks away from the first spring-training game, the Phillies already have sold 100,000 tickets for games at Bright House Field, putting them on target to match last year's number of roughly 157,000.

John Weber, the team's vice president of ticket sales and operations, said that doesn't mean there aren't still tickets available.

"We have tickets for the majority of the games," Weber said. "Yes, there are four or five games that are very limited in availability, but there are tickets remaining."

The matchups with the Yankees (March 3 and 5), Blue Jays (St. Patrick's Day) and Red Sox (March 26) are selling fast, so fans interested should act quickly.

"What happens is people tend to gravitate to the big games, and because of it they think they're all sold out, but they're not," Weber said. "We have plenty of tickets for the majority of the games."

The Phillies also release 500 standing-room tickets at 9 a.m. the day of every home game.

Another option for fans is to head to nearby Dunedin, home of the Blue Jays, where the Phillies play on March 6, 18 and 22.

This year marks the ninth spring training for the Phillies at Bright House Field.

"In 2008, 2009 and 2010, we got additional fans down here because of the team's success," Weber said. "But now I just think that Clearwater stands on its own. Hopefully, in future years that excitement will remain, and I think it will."