Pie and Beer Day at the Old Smiths Ballpark

 Smith’s Ballpark is a neat ballpark in Salt Lake City. Since the Bee’s abandoned it in in 2024 it’s fate has been under a lot of debate. It’s not super historic, built in 1994, but it is iconic. There has been a baseball field here since at least 1928, hence the name of the Ballpark Neighborhood.

Last I saw, the current plan is to demolish the east side of the building and develop around it. I still wish they would keep the entire building and turn it into a community venue. It was great for an event like this. Lots of shade, and close to a Trax Station.

Pie and Beer Day, as you know is a play on words for Pioneer Day a unique Utah holiday. So enjoy a nice piece of pie with a beer. Pie and beer day has been around for as long as I can remember, the Official Pie and Beer Day event has been going on for a few years, but this is only the 2nd time it was held at the ballpark.

I wanted to take the opportunity to explore the stadium before whatever happens to it again. Plus, we had a good time last year so might as well come back. This time I decided to bring my camera.

Quick Details:

Length: We did about a 4 mile meander today.
Trail Type: Meander
Difficulty: DR2. It does have modern ADA accommodations.
Elevation Gain: about 4 stories.
Restroom: Of course.
Dogs? No.
Other Info: This event there is a fee. $15, or $10 if you buy tickets in advance. All proceeds go to the Ballpark Action Team a charity group for the Ballpark neighborhood.

To Get Here:

Take 115 to 13th South and head east. The Trax station (good place to park) will be on the left, and the Ballpark on the right a block further. I didn't know it at the time, but it looks like there is a large parking lot across the street from the ballpark as well haha. Not sure if it is free to use now or not.

Or, of course you can also take Trax to the Ballpark Station. That is what we opted to do today.

The South Salt Lake Water Tower from the train. It looks like they redid the logo.

First glimpse of the ballpark as we walk from the Ballpark Station.

Fun mural on the Urban Indian Center.

Getting closer.

From across the street.

Closer view of one of the columns.

The front.

The sign.

The Trail:

The entrance.

Inside.

OMG! We can go upstairs this time? We weren’t allowed to last time.

So, after grabbing a beer we decided to go up and explore the middle tier.

The field. They are letting the grass die.

The food trucks and the America 250 Longest Table serving 7,000 slices of pie - one for every ticket holder

Looking at the east side from the west.

This ballpark is unique in that it has a unorthodox southeast alignment, which allows you to be able to see the mountains.

Some stadiums trigger my fear of heights because they are way too steep, but I didn’t mind climbing to the top in this one today.

Mountains

The east side again.

The old Bees sign above what I think is the announcers box.

They didn’t have it closed off, so we were able to access the top tier. I wonder what this area was for? Aside from the bar towards the field its just wide open. Maybe they had more table out here? I suspect it was like, a sub VIP area? I can’t tell from any pictures I can find on google maps except one from 2017 that shows it looking pretty much as empty as it is now so...

The VIP boxes in the middle. Sadly, but not surprisingly, they were behind a locked door.

Mountains.

The field.

I found this on Google maps. I love the Utah shape in the field.

Scoreboard.

Kids Pie Eating Contest below.

Some of the neat etched windows.

View out west.

The top floor again.

East side of the stadium again.

Panoramic.

That looks like restrooms and a concession stand. Landis informed me this is one of the few ballparks that offered lawns seats at a very cheap rate.

Another panoramic.

Heading back down. See, it’s not so bad.

The field.

We decided to head on down and see what food truck options there were.

The stadium.

Heading across the field.

The scoreboard. It looks like it is displaying a test screen at the moment.

Looking back at the stadium, and the longest line of pie eaters.

Panoramic.

We picked up our pieces of pie (included with the cost of entry this year), but couldn’t find a seat that wasn’t in the sun, so we walked back towards the stadium.

The stadium.

Closer.

Another panoramic.

We found some seat in the shade and marveled at this ridiculous sign. Gotta love the results of such a sue happy society.

The pie line again.

The scoreboard again.

Enjoying my pie and beer. They were smart enough to freeze the pies before bringing them out in the 100+ degree weather today. So they were nice and refreshing. The only option, for the free slice anyway, was apple. Not to complain, but I prefer my apple pie warm with a scoop of ice cream. But, again, 100+ degrees out. Warm pie and melted ice cream probably wouldn’t be good right now so, yea it was good pie!

Back inside on the main concourse. It is a lot busier this year than it was last year.

The scoreboard is now displaying relevant stuff. It took them a minute!

The field again.

Panoramic. Do you notice anything odd? Like maybe that there are wayyyy more people on the right side than the left? Yeah. This year they decided the east side of the stadium would be VIPP (Very Important Pie Pass). So only people who bought the more expensive tickets were allowed. I wouldn’t be upset by that except for the fact that the majority of the beer vendors were back there. Us pheasants were left with only 2 or 3 options. I did enjoy what we had today though.

The east end.

The field.

Closer look at the old logo.

Inside again.

Then there was a New Orleans style jazz band. Fun!

You can also see the VIPP area off to the left.

The band again.

Nearly directly behind home plate.

The scoreboard again.

We decided to wander up to the 2nd tier again while we waited for our friends.

The field.

The private boxes.

The old Bees sign.

The east end of the stadium.

Scoreboard again.

Random AstroTurf section. The ADA elevator was just beyond it, so I assume it is for ADA people.

The field.

Panoramic.

I guess this was some sort of dining/bar area? I donno. I wish we had managed to make it when it was still an active ballpark.

Looking towards the west section again.

We decided to climb up to the top tier on this side.

The field again.

The scoreboard again.

Northeast towards the University of Utah. With a gross giant power line.

The University Block U and the complex.

Naturally it pretty much mirrors the other side.

The other side again.

The field.

Panoramic.

The private boxes.

The scoreboard and the longest line of pie eaters.

Downtown.

Then… something unexpected. I tried the door to the private boxes, and it opened! I probably would not have opted to explore the area, if it weren’t for the probability that they will likely be torn down eventually. Plus I mean, there wasn’t a sign saying keep out.

One of the boxes was wide open. Oh, it is air conditioned. This is lovely.

View of the field.

The stadium.

They have a full kitchenette even! I didn’t open any cupboards so I don’t know what supplies there are. I can’t imagine much, if anything. But I also can’t see why guests would need much of anything for just the few hours a game would be.

The window again.

Fancy hallway.

We passed a room that was occupied by a large group.

Downtown again. We can see most of our tallest buildings, including the tallest, the Astra Tower towards center right.

Up towards the U again. It would be nice if they could get rid of the wires.

Panoramic.

Continuing around.

The firemen arriving. They have a kick-ball team that was playing today. No emergency, at least not that we noticed.

Downtown again.

Another box. This one had pizza boxes in in it, so somebody was/is using it. We opted to not intrude on it other than this picture I took.

Continuing along. At some point we passed by an open room labeled as security and they didn’t seem to care we were here so okay.

More etched windows.

Visiting Radio room. I am guessing this is the main audio/video announcer suite.

Continuing along.

More etched windows.

Bend in the hallway.

It is neat, but kind of creepy up here.

Just Ingredients Premium Level.

Apparently this business got at least 3 suites.

We found another open box that was vacant.

View of the field and mountains above.

Stadium.

Panoramic.

It looks like they are getting ready to start the kickball game.

Well, we reached the end of the line with a locked door. We could have taken the stairs down, but we decided to go back through the VIP area.

Back the other way.

Little lounge area.

Spooky hallway doot doot doo.

Security.

Less spooky hallway.

Downtown again.

Continuing along.

Another lounge area.

I don’t know what is happening at home plate… probably just people peopleing.

The scoreboard… announcing an activity that happened an hour and a half ago. LOL. I am thinking they may have had some technical difficulty today.

The stadium.

And the almost empty east end.

Baseball section #114.

Announcer box.

Eventually we found our friends and settled in to watch the kick-ball game for a bit. Man is it hot today! I am quite grateful for the shade the stadium offers.

Then we decided we needed to find some grub. So we decided to check out the food trucks again.

Woo, quite the line for this Pizza truck. Landis says they are good, but they are slow.

The long pie eating line again.

They had one of the beer companies down here.

Panoramic of the stadium again.

We settled on Lucky Slice. They had HUGE slices (seriously like a quarter pizza slice) for 5 bucks. We asked if they would cut one in half for us (cuz we’re little) and they very awesomely did so with a smile. Then we found they even provided us with an extra plate we didn’t ask for, they just picked up context clues. And Man, maybe I was just hungry, but dang that was good pizza! I think I would put it in my top 3!  (Utah) Yum!

The stadium again.

Panoramic.

The announcer box again.

The stadium. Again, note the difference in crowds on each side.

Panoramic.

The adult pie eating contest.

We re-joined our friends and watched the kick-ball game while we enjoyed our pizza. Nom.

So, according to the event page this is a local celebrity game between Nick Rimando's Mis-Kicks and The Salt Lake City Fire Department's Ash Kickers. I love the Ash Kickers for the fire department. Clever.

This guy in a tutu is awesome.

Mountains.

Goal.

I’m not normally a sportsball person, but meh. It’s fun occasionally.

The tutu again. I love it. I assumed he was on the Mis-Kickers team, but zooming in on his shirt, he is one of the firefighters. I don’t know why, but that makes me happy.

More sportsball.

They are actually using the scoreboard. Neat!

The the jazz band came on down.

Then proceeded to play on the field.

The drum and the tuba both said Full Blown Horns, so I am assuming that is the name of the band.

With the sportsball.

The scoreboard again. Offering to buy a pie before the Liberty Park Drone Show. Liberty Park is only about a mile away from here, totally walkable. But, we had other plans today.

The adult pie eating contest is still going on.

The jazz band again.

Sportsball.

This dude seriously just casually let his kid wander out into an active sports field.

Then he just preceded to stand there while it had a temper tantrum.

Yes I am judging. You suck as a parent. And I was really hoping you took a ball to the head (it’s kick ball, so it wouldn’t do any damage, but still).

The scoreboard again.

The jazz band again.

Sportsball.

The useless father finally got his crotchspring off the field. Darn, no ball to the head.

Back inside for another beer.

The scoreboard again.

The jazz band again.

Large trophy.

Scoreboard again. Squatters gave the best swag today, including a nice beer cozy so your hand didn't get cold.

Well, we had our fun, but also had another commitment to get to so we called it.

The exit.

The front of the building again.

From across the street.

The parking lot. This might change too.

The ballpark again.

We did a quick stop in the 7 Eleven across the street. Man, this doesn’t look like it has changed much since the 80’s.

I really like the clock.

Moody clouds.

Eventually our ride showed up and we were on our way to our next adventure for the day.

More moody clouds (PSP).

The SSL Water Tank (PSP).

Storms (PSP).

Where the old 49th Street Galleria was (PSP).

Well that was a whole lot of fun! I really enjoyed it, but hindsight I did not drink enough water and paid for it at my next event, and well the day after too. Drink water folks! But, I really enjoyed it otherwise. It was quite a bit busier than last year, but they had more things to do this time. They didn’t run out of pie like last year either. But I think the VIPP thing was not well thought out and I am a little miffed that we missed the other beer vendors because of that.

Final thought, I think this is a fantastic summer venue, and maybe with a few tweaks could be even better. I do not agree  that they need to tear down half of it. I would absolutely come here for summer concerts and what not. I really enjoyed it, and love that I can take Trax directly to it. Come on Utah, lets keep a neat thing and not fuck it up.

9 out of 10 squirrels, losing 1 for the weird VIPP thing they did this year.

As for difficulty, it is paved, and ADA compatible. DR2.

Dogs are not allowed. Be sure to leave Fido home.