The Salt Lake City Bees was a primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams, based in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

between 1911 and 1970 under various names. After minor league baseball first began in Salt Lake City in 1900, the Bees were long-time members of both the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

and Pioneer League. The Salt Lake Bees played their home games at

Derks Field Derks Field was a minor league baseball park in the western United States, located in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was the home field of the Salt Lake Bees, Angels, and Gulls of the Pacific Coast League, Bees, Giants, and Trappers of the Pioneer Base ...

History

Salt Lake hosted two teams in the 1900 Independent

Utah-Idaho Intermountain League The Utah–Idaho Intermountain League was an Independent baseball league, Independent baseball minor league baseball league that played in the 1900 season. As the name indicates, the four–team Utah–Idaho Intermountain League teams were based ...

, the Rio Grande Rios and Short Line Shorts. They were followed by the Salt Lake City White Wings in the 1901 Class D Inter-Mountain League, a team in the 1902 Utah State League and the Salt Lake City Elders (1903-1904)/Salt Lake Fruit Pickers (1905) of the

Pacific National League The Pacific National League was a minor league baseball league that played from 1903 to 1905. The league evolved from its predecessor, the Pacific Northwest League and was a competitor of the newly formed Pacific Coast League. The league began pl ...

. The 1909 Salt Lake City Mormons played in the Inter-Mountain League and the 1909 Salt Lake City Cubs played in the Montana State League The direct predecessor to the Bees were the Salt Lake City Skyscrapers that played in the class-D

Union Association The Union Association was a league in Major League Baseball which lasted for just the 1884 season. St. Louis won the pennant and joined the National League the following season. Seven of the twelve teams who were in the Association at some poi ...

from 1911–1914. The Association folded after the 1914 season. However, in 1915, the San Francisco Missions were sold to Utah businessman Bill "Hardpan" Lane who moved the team to Salt Lake City. The club was named the Bees from 1915–1925. Due to the high altitude and the dimensions of the club's Bonneville Park stadium, the Bees recorded some of the best batting records in the PCL during this period. The club was named the Bees name from 1915–1925. However Lane moved the team to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

for the 1926 season. Originally they were known as the Hollywood Bees, but soon changed their name to the

Hollywood Stars The Hollywood Stars were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Pacific Coast League during the early- and mid-20th century. They were the arch-rivals of the other Los Angeles-based PCL team, the Los Angeles Angels. Hollywood Stars (1 ...

. The Bees' baseball was still available though in the city with Salt Lake City's team in the Utah–Idaho League from 1926–1928. The team won its first title in their final 1928 season. In 1939 the third incarnation of the Bees was formed and played in the Pioneer League, winning titles in 1946 and 1953. The city returned to the Pacific Coast league from 1958–1965, winning the league title in 1959. From 1967–1968, the city was represented by the Salt Lake City Giants, who again played in the Pioneer League, now a rookie-level class league. The team was affiliated with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

The team played the 1969 and 1970 seasons renamed as the Bees. After their 1969, the club returned to Triple-A status and the Pacific Coast League. In 1971 the club was renamed the Salt Lake City Angels, when they became the affiliate of the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

through the 1974 season. In their first season as the Angels, the club won the southern division of the Pacific Coast League with a 78-68 record. The team would then go on to defeat the Tacoma Twins 3 games to 1 to claim the league pennant. The team was renamed the Salt Lake City Gulls in 1975 but remained as the Angels' top affiliate through the 1981 season. In 1979, the team were able to sweep the

Hawaii Islanders The Hawaii Islanders were a minor league baseball team based in Honolulu, Hawaii, that played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League for 27 seasons from 1961 through 1987. Originally an affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, the Islanders played ...

and capture their final league title. In 1982, The Gulls switched to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

organization. Following the 1984 season, the team was relocated to

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population ...

, and became the

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the Triple-A (baseball), AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons d ...

in 1985. The current minor league team in the city, the Salt Lake Buzz chose their name in part to pay homage to the Bees heritage. In November 2005, the Buzz, now the Salt Lake Stingers, changed their name to the

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark op ...

, reviving the name once again.

Notable players

Lefty Gomez Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez (November 26, 1908 – February 17, 1989) was an American professional baseball player. A left-handed pitcher, Gomez played in Major League Baseball (MLB) between 1930 and 1943 for the New York Yankees and the Washingt ...

(1928) Inducted,

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball ...

Jeff Newman Jeff Newman may refer to: * Jeff Newman (baseball), American baseball player *Jeff Newman (musician), pedal steel guitar player and Nashville session musician *Jeff Newman (TV personality) Jeffrey William Newman OAM (born 4 February 1944) is a ...

, MLB All-Star catcher and manager

Year-by-year record

References

{{reflist

External links

Historic Baseball

History

Notable players

Year-by-year record

References

External links

See also