Smith's Ballpark

Salt Lake Bees, Pacific Coast League

8/10

 The crowed queues outside for a Monday night game versus El Paso.

Pre-game festivities well underway for the Bees/Chihuahuas

 The scenery of this ballpark is tough to beat.

After we left our seats to wander. About 60% of the crowd stayed until the end.

We rolled through here in the summer of 2014, having seen a game in Great Falls the previous afternoon and headed for a baseball-free evening in Las Vegas the next night. I had Salt Lake in mind for awhile, I'd heard nothing bad about it and the scenery was supposed to be amongst the best anywhere.

It was a Monday night match up seeing the hometown Bees lined up against the El Paso Chihuahuas. Monday is without question, the hardest sell for attendance, and like a lot of other clubs, Salt Lake go for the family crowd, which they got plenty of. We sat upper deck, first base side and the adult to child ratio was pretty low. I remember the concessions as nothing spectacular, but on second thought, there were a lot of unique choices. Atmosphere was alright, I vaguely remember some on field promotions/contests and the fans weren't terribly into the game, but did recognize good plays. We ended up sitting next to a guy in a Nashville Sounds jersey, who as it turned out, was on a similar trip, only with no Major League games....since 1994's strike. Some people have even better memories than me I suppose.

The best thing about Smith's Ballpark is actually the park itself, which is rare. The location is one plus. While there isn't anything too memorable right next to the park, there is a lot between the park and downtown. Light rail stops right next the ballpark and parking appeared to be easy enough. We walked about half an hour from downtown to the game after driving a good distance that day and besides the fact that it's around 35 Celsius in Utah in the summer, it wasn't bad at all.  I would gladly go to another game here and would recommend it.

Update 2017: We went back here again in 2015 for what ended up being a 7 inning game as part of a single admission doubleheader against Las Vegas. The ballpark is great, but this time, the atmosphere began to drag things down a little. It's par for the course that most people are quite casual about going to a game in this day and age, but the crowd at this game bordered on oblivious. A woman walked into our row and proceeded to stand there for about 40 minutes, talking to a friend she had run into. It had been kind of an inkling before but it seemed to cement that this is clearly a place to hang around first for some.

I really like this park, the food is average, but the atmosphere is non-existent, people don't care about the game at all. It's not bad enough to take off a point, but I did consider it. Salt Lake is an area I swing through usually at least once a year, but I'd prefer giving Ogden another look before coming back here.

Linescores
2014-08-11
                                           123  456  789  R H E
El Paso Chihuahuas (SD)       002   010  202  7 9 1
Salt Lake Bees (LAA)            322   001  00X   8 10 1
Temp: 94F  Time: 3:02  Att: 10,817  


2015-08-08
                                           123  456  7  RHE
Las Vegas 51s (NYM)           112   000  0  490
Salt Lake Bees (LAA)            001  000 0  140
Temp: 77F  Time: 2:32  Att: 11,176