Kaden Carpenter crouched at home plate and peered out at the snow-covered peaks of the Wasatch Front and the gray rain clouds hovering overhead. Then the junior Ute outfielder moved his eyes from the sky to the dirt, where baseball legends like Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron trekked on this corner of Salt Lake City decades ago.
Smith’s Ballpark was empty, outside of a few stadium workers cleaning up the stale popcorn and trash left behind by Utah’s fans.
There will be no more strike calls. There will be no more moonshot homers cascading into the berm. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” will no longer play on the stadium’s speakers during seventh-inning stretches.
On Saturday, Carpenter and the Utes closed the final chapter of baseball at the beloved Salt Lake ballpark.
“It‘s brought a lot of joy to a lot of families and people’s lives, including mine,” Carpenter said following Utah’s season-ending loss to TCU on Saturday.
“I think it means a lot to the city, and I really hope they do something productive with this area and this space.”
Previously the home of the Triple-A Salt Lake Bees, Smith’s Ballpark has served as the city’s baseball tabernacle since 1994. But baseball, in one form or another, had been played on the corner of West Temple and 1300 South since the 1920s.
Not anymore.
The Bees now reside in The Ballpark at America First Square in South Jordan. The University of Utah’s baseball team, which has called the stadium home since 1996, will move into a new on-campus venue, Charlie Monfort Field at America First Ballpark, in 2026.
Saying goodbye to the ballpark that has been the heart, soul and home for Ute baseball for three decades was bittersweet.
“I thought it was a pretty special time because, I mean, as a little kid, you dream of playing in a park like that,” said former Utah pitcher Shawn Andreasen, who played in Utah’s first contest at Smith’s Ballpark.
‘So many memories’
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Salt Lake Bees play the Oklahoma City Dodgers, at Smith’s Ballpark on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024.
Perched in the stands, several rows behind third base, Chad Mortenson wore a gray Bees’ hoodie and a vintage Oakland A’s baseball cap on his head, while waiting for Saturday’s first pitch.
The Salt Lake native considers himself a “sentimental” baseball fan. He attended the minor league team’s final contest at Smith’s Ballpark in 2024. He was also in attendance for the opening Bees’ contest at the stadium in 1994.
On Saturday, he rummaged through his closet and old cardboard boxes in search of a T-shirt he bought 30 years prior. Sadly, he couldn’t find it, but nothing was going to stop him from missing the last game in the old Salt Lake ballpark.
(Anna Fuder | Utah Athletics) Smith’s Ballpark became the full-time home of Ute baseball in 1996. The program will play at a new 1,200-seat stadium on campus starting in 2026.
“If I had to estimate, I’ve been to a game at least every season since it started,” Mortenson said.
When Smith’s was first being built, Mortenson was taking driver’s ed classes. During test runs with an instructor, he’d purposely drive on 1300 South and West Temple to see how construction was coming along.
“There was lot of hype when it first opened,” Mortenson said. “I was really excited about it.”
Once it was finished, Mortenson regularly attended games with his family, friends and — admittedly — had several awkward dates.
“There was one date I had where we didn’t talk at all the whole time,” he said, laughing. ”I was way too shy back then. We sat in the upper deck and said two words to each other.”
Bridger Nesbit has been attending games for three years at Smith’s Ballpark. He sat alone in the right outfield on Saturday, cheering on several of his roommates, who are on the U.’s baseball team.
He’ll often switch seats between innings to take in different sight lines and sounds during matchups. The view of Mount Olympus is what he’ll miss most about the stadium.
“I’m probably more sad than anything,” Nesbit said. “The natural beauty, I think, is the big draw. The backdrop of the mountains, you can’t beat it. Plus, you’re only minutes away from downtown, which kind of makes it pretty special.”
Mortenson concurs.
In fact, he’d put the view up against any Major League Baseball park in the country.
“You can’t beat this view,” Mortenson said. “I’ve been to the new ballpark. The mountains are about three times as far away as the new one.”
Salt Lake City leaders hope to turn the old stadium into a mixed-use development in the future with housing, entertainment, parks and other amenities. The current plan involves preserving a portion of the old stadium.
But to some fans, like Mortenson and Nesbit, nothing will ever beat a baseball game in Smith’s Ballpark.
“This ballpark, in particular, just has so many memories,” Mortenson said. “It‘s a shame to see it go.”
‘It was a special time’
(Sophia Kuder | Utah Athletics) Ute infielder Core Jackson, 10, plays during the team’s final game at Smith’s Ballpark on May 17, 2025.
The Utes played their first contest at the ballpark in 1994 in an extra-innings win over BYU. They played their in-state rival at Smith’s again in 1995 before moving into the stadium full-time a season later.
Before the 1996 season, the program had to spend its time at Ute Field, a baseball park located between the U.’s medical center and Fort Douglas.
Dan Poulton, a former Ute pitcher who played with the program during the ′90s, can remember how nice it was to play at Smith’s against BYU in 1994 and 1995. He also remembers some of the struggles the baseball team had in its previous home.
“It wasn’t great,” Poulton said. “I came from a college in southern Idaho, and their baseball field was immaculate. It was a nice location to play. How it was taken care of rivaled a lot of the big league parks and some of the Division I parks. Ours was a little bit of an afterthought.”
Beyond center field, Poulton recounts, there was a dump where the university would unload all of its grass clippings from days and weeks of mowing around the campus.
“It was a big pile of grass pile in the back, out past center field,“ Poulton said. ”It would pile up after time. It was interesting.”
The field’s conditions weren’t the greatest, either. Andreasen can remember being jealous of other programs’ neatly manicured fields in comparison to Utah’s home field that reminded him of unruly “cow pastures.”
“You go to Arizona State, you play on those fields, and then you have ours. It‘s like, it‘s like, ‘wow, we’re like the dumping grounds of everything,’” Poulton said.
“It was kind of embarrassing, in a way, but it was still our home field.”
Their experiences at Ute Field made playing at Smith’s Ballpark that much more special.
“It was surreal for me,” Andreasen said. “I always dreamed of doing as a little kid. To be playing in a big ballpark with a bunch of fans watching with the big scoreboard, it was a special time.”
It continued for nearly 30 years until last Saturday. Now, with the final game played in the historic stadium, Utah will soon begin its new journey at Charlie Monfort Field at American First Ballpark.
Fans, students and alumni will no longer have to travel off campus to catch a game. The field will be artificial turf, meaning the winter upkeep needed at Smith’s will be eliminated.
In the past, the baseball program would drive four hours to St. George for several days of the week to practice in warmer conditions while Salt Lake City was blanketed in snow.
“Having everything in one place changes your daily routine,” Utah head coach Gary Henderson said. “It‘s been great to be a part of Smith’s over the last three decades. But this is a game changer. This will help in preparation and help in recruiting.”
Last Friday, the baseball program hosted the topping out ceremony, a celebration of the final steel beam being placed for its new, 1,200-seat stadium.
Players, coaches, and members of Utah’s athletic administration were all able to sign the steel beam with red markers.
It was a reminder of what is to come, but also what the Utes are leaving behind.
“I know a lot of people will miss it,” Poulton said of Smith’s Ballpark. “I think it‘s great they’re expanding into their own stadium. But, it‘s also sad that they’re moving away.”
On Saturday, Carpenter continued to sit alone on the field of Smith’s Ballpark after the team’s final game. Rain drizzled on his grass-stained uniform, while he took in the view from home plate.
This was a second home for him, where he’s spent grueling hours swinging his bat and diving for fly balls in the outfield.
Carpenter ultimately decided it was time to head inside as the rain picked up. He took a few more moments to say his final goodbye to Smith’s Ballpark before heading into the clubhouse.
Behind him, he left behind decades of baseball memories, an empty grass field, green stands that once hosted thousands of fans and — most of all — the home of baseball in Salt Lake City.
