back to the ballpark

Salt Lake City is a smaller market, pro sports-wise, with only Real Salt Lake and the Utah Jazz as the big league teams.  There is no NFL here - but that is more than made up for by the rabid college football fans - and hockey and baseball are minor league.  That doesn't mean that it isn't fun to go to the games, however!  H's work recently had an outing at the Salt Lake Bees home field, Smith's Ballpark at 77 West 1300 South, in Salt Lake City.  We hadn't gone to a game in years so we were glad of the opportunity.

First we went to Lucky 13: beers at the ballpark are exorbitantly priced and Lucky 13 is just across the street, so we went up early and had a couple of Uinta Cutthroats at the bar.  It was pretty busy, although certainly no busier than it has ever been when we've gone there, but then cleared out fifteen minutes before the game started.

Under the lights

The Bees are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.  Their opponent that night was the Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers).  Despite having Tim Linceum (two time Cy Young Award winner and three time World Series champion, knocked down to AAA after an injury) pitching for the home team, the Bees lost 5-4 in extra innings.  It was a gorgeous night for a game, with cooler temperatures and the setting sun reflecting off the Wasatch mountains.  To be honest, we didn't watch a whole lot of the game itself, instead spending most of our time chatting with folks and also standing in line for Chicago dogs for a ballpark dinner.  If you're a fan of baseball and find yourself in SLC in the summertime, watching the Bees is certainly a pleasant way to spend an evening.