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SOUTH JORDAN — Sausages scrap in Milwaukee, presidents duke it out in D.C. and pierogies partake in battle in Pittsburgh.
In Salt Lake City, the produce race at Smith's Ballpark had been the iconic between-inning entertainment during Salt Lake Bees games. Fans plucked from the crowd raced against each other in apple, banana, carrot, corn and eggplant every fourth inning.
The popular mid-game race was, however, left in question when the Bees moved out of Smith's Ballpark last season for The Ballpark at America First Square in South Jordan's Daybreak community.
But the race will go on in the new venue starting on Tuesday, as the grocery chain still has some presence in the new ballpark.
"We're going to do it," said Nate Thompson, the Bees' communications manager. "I know that was definitely something our (promotions) team understood the tradition of — and wants to keep that alive."
The new ballpark will soon feature a concession stand called "Smith's Ballpark Market," which will sell "packaged refreshments and treats." It's expected to open sometime after Tuesday's opener.
Meanwhile, the team is still plotting out the course the fruits and vegetables will race; however, it's safe to say the new stadium will remove one beloved element of previous race iterations.
At Smith's Ballpark, competitors were tasked with running the length of the warning track before racing down the third base line toward the opposing dugout. The course included the opposing team's bullpen, including the mounds that relief pitchers warm up on.
Hilarity often ensued, as some competitors fell on the mound in their quest for glory. It also wasn't uncommon for the opposing team's bullpen — having a front row seat to the action — to get involved, moving their chairs and other equipment to make a de facto obstacle course after seeing the race a few times in a long series.
It led to challenges, as well. An in-game incident last year led the team to change the race, keeping it on the warning track during the final months of its farewell season at Smith's Ballpark.
That's not an issue at The Ballpark at America First Square because the bullpens are located beyond the outfield walls, as is custom with nearly all modern stadiums. While that removes the one quirk in the produce race, the change also allows fans sitting along the baselines to be closer to the action and bullpens to be out of harm's way of the action.
And whatever the course looks like for the team's home-opening series may not be the final product by the time its final series happens in September. Bees staff are open to changing the course as the season goes on.
"I think (the promotions team) is going to get a feel for some stuff, especially on opening night and that first week of what they'll do with that," Thompson said. "It could definitely be adjusted."
