Salt Lake Bees
- Location: Salt Lake City, UT
- League: Pacific Coast League 2006-2019; Triple-A West 2021; Pacific Coast League 2022-
- Affiliation: Los Angeles Angels 2006-present
- Ballpark: Daybreak Field 2025-present; Smith's Ballpark 2006-2024
Team History[edit]
The Salt Lake Bees, of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League and briefly in Triple-A West, were known as the Salt Lake Buzz from 1994 to 2000 and Salt Lake Stingers from 2001 to 2005. The Los Angeles Angels farmhands played their home games at Smith's Ballpark in Salt Lake City, UT until 2025, when they moved into brand new Daybreak Field.
Owner Joe Buzas dropped "Buzz" for "Stingers" in 2001 to settle the Georgia Institute of Technology's lawsuit over its sports mascot's name. That same year, Buzas moved his ball club into the Angels' farm system. After his death, the NBA's Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller - who had helped Buzas bring Triple-A baseball back to SLC - bought the club from the Buzas estate in January 2005. Following that season, Miller resurrected a similar Salt Lake City baseball nickname with a longer history: Bees, which had been used from 1915 through 1965 and again from 1969 through 1970. The team has a bee mascot whose name is, appropriately, "Bumble".
Until they were contracted in MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization, SLC's Angels farm-mate in Burlington, IA, also went by Bees. Only one nickname is now shared by two minor league clubs not using that of their big-league parent - the Indianapolis and Spokane Indians.
The Bees play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Abejas de Salt Lake - a direct translation of Salt Lake Bees. With the new ballpark coming on line in 2025, there was speculation that the team would change its principal identity at the same time, but the Bees confirmed in November 2024 that they would only make small changes to their logos, but would keep playing under their well-established name.
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
Further Reading[edit]
- Benjamin Hill: "Triple-A Salt Lake Bees generate buzz with evolution of logos, uniforms for 2025", mlb.com, November 25, 2024. [1]
Related Sites[edit]
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