1 week Ago By Dana Greene
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (ABC4 Sports) - Welcome to The Ballpark. The state of Utah has not had a brand new stadium since 2008 when Real Salt Lake opened Rio Tinto Stadium. The Salt Lake Bees had played downtown for the last 30 years, but it was time for a change, and the Bees players and fans alike love their new 8,000-seat state of the art new home called The Ballpark at America First Square.
"It's insanely beautiful," said long-term Bees fan Karl Barksdale. "The mountain view, the whole venue, it just makes me proud. This is just next level.
""Yeah, it definitely does look nice," said Bees fan Nathan Hansen. "I've been going with my dad to these games for years. We catch five, six, seven every year.
So, coming here, it's looking a little bit nicer."Some Bees fans were sad when they announced they were moving away from downtown Salt Lake City, where the organization had played since 1994."I was a little sad," said Bees fan Devin Hansen.
"I've been going there with my dad ever since I was little. But, this is state of the art.""It's a little closer for me," said Bees fan Brent Hill.
"I think this is a wonderful, looking ballpark. It's just incredible."The Bees celebrated their new home with a Grand Slam home run in the very first inning by J.
D. Davis against Reno. The Bees hit three homeruns in the first three innings, including one by shortstop Zach Neto.
"It's just a blessing," Neto said about the team's new home. "Just being able to come out here onto the field and be able to call this home. I think it's special and we're just thankful to the city and the state of Utah to help us out with this stadium.
""It's exciting when when you do something for the first time," said third baseman Yolmer Sanchez. "It's never going to be down again, so it's something special. So for us as players, it's special to being a part of the history here in Salt Lake.
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