Baseball will stick around in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark neighborhood for just a little while longer.
After the Salt Lake Bees say goodbye to Smith’s Ballpark this summer, the stadium will host two more games in October featuring teams from a winter league in Mexico.
Los Charros de Jalisco and Los Venados de Mazatlán will visit Salt Lake City for a two-game series on Oct. 5 and 6. Both teams play in Liga Mexicana del Pacífico. It is a professional winter league that is stationed in northwest Mexico.
“We were chatting about just how excited it would be [to have a MLB team] coming to Utah. I told [them] that Latino communities were going to be extra excited. It’s just who we are,” State Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, said. “We are going to come behind the teams. But wouldn’t it be cool if you actually bring some of their teams and actually showcase them here. Their own community, players and actually make them integrate with our own community here. That is how this conversation started.”
There is hope this will not be a one-time showcase, but rather an annual event in Salt Lake.
Over the two-day series, there will be a drone show and a concert. The first game will get an evening start at 6:35 p.m. and the second will be a day game at 1:05 p.m.
Both teams visiting Salt Lake are some of the best in the league. Between them, they have won 11 titles. The league started in 1945.
