In commemoration of City Weekly's 40th anniversary, we are digging into our archives to celebrate. Each week, we FLASHBACK to a story or column from our past in honor of four decades of local alt-journalism. Whether the names and issues are familiar or new, we are grateful to have this unique newspaper to contain them all.
Title: Dan's Derks Field Memories
Author: Dan Pattison
Date: June, 1986
"The most beautiful thing there is in the world is to see a ball park filled with fans."—The late Bill Veeck, former Chicago White Sox Owner
Oh, my! Bill Veeck was sure telling the truth.
Veeck, of course, had a love affair with the Chicago fans. There is one Utahn, Sonny Robertson, having played for the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, who knew firsthand about that love affair.
In a love affair closer to home, this writer can remember many events that he has seen at the old ball park—Derks Field.
It all started when the Salt Lake Bees played in the Pioneer League with such names as Dud Rushing and Red Jessen in the early 1950s. Then, there was the time my mother, Anna (God bless her!), took me to see the New York Giants and the "Say Hey Kid" himself, Willie Mays, against the Cleveland Indians, 1957, in an exhibition contest.
Mays was not the only famous citizen on the field that day, either. The Indians had Rocky Colavito, and a guy named Roger Maris on their team. Maris was hardly noticed and by his number 54 on his back, you got the impression he wasn't going to stay around for any length of time, either. Mistake on my thinking, huh?
The next year, the PCL made its return to Derks Field with the Salt Lake Bees working agreement with the Pittsburgh Pirates. And with its return, a colorful guy both on and off the field, Dick Stuart, made an everlasting impression on the fans at Derks Field.
In just 79 games before the Pirates called him up, Stuart pulled a lot of fans into Derks Field to watch his mighty blasts, 31 round-trippers and 81 RBIs. And of course, who can forget that day, May 31, 1958, that the Bees' slugger supreme took Miss Lois Marano as his bride at the home of Nick Morgan, Jr., (actually Stuart wanted to get married at home plate, but the conservative G.M. Eddie Leishman put a damper on that idea.)
There was no doubt about it, Stuart's swat and color (he had more dexterity around a piano bar than with his glove on the field) returned the fans to Derks Field in droves. He was never known to fumble an olive where the implements were suitable and the wattage was just low enough to keep a bat from rubbing his eyes.
In 1962, the Salt Lake Bees' working arrangement changed hands to working with the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians. There was one bright spot, a former Utah Ute basketeer Billy Cowan had a year good enough to be named the Triple A Minor League Player of the Year. They hung in there with the Bees for several years, but Salt Lake City fans love and adore winners. They started to stay away from old Derks like it was quarantined.
Enter the San Francisco Giants. The Giants set up camp as the Salt Lake team became known as the Little Giants in the Pioneer League once again. Their biggest rivalry, like in the bigs, came from the Dodgers who had set up camp in Ogden with the likes of such players as Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Bill Buckner, Davey Lopes and a Manager named Tommy Lasorda.
The California Angels returned the PCL to Derks Field in 1969, and for a while, the Oakland A's attempted to make a go of it in Ogden. In 1972, another former local college cager, BYU's Doug Howard, proved to be very popular at the old ball park—Derks Field. His bat was explosive enough to earn him both a shot at the bigs and won the PCL's RBI crown.
Art Teece, the famed hotdog man, ran a stern ship and a solid relationship with the Angels until he sold the club to Joe Gagliardi. The club eventually ended up in the hands of a Nashville-based group who abandoned their working relationship with the Angels and took up with the Seattle Mariners. Later, the Nashville group sold their interest to Roger Russell, who took them down in a sea of red ink.
Last year, however, the Pioneer League returned to Derks with the tag of the Salt Lake Trappers. Believe it or not, these rookie league Trappers returned excitement back to the old ball park. Manager Jim Gattis had his Trappers even running to the dugout after strike outs. And with their hustling, they added yet another pennant (the Pioneer League championship).
Once again, the Pioneer League Trappers will return to the old ball park, June 20th. General Manager Steve Pearson has more faith in them than a gambler with his own deck. They returned his faith and the fans a year ago. Pearson is promising more of the same, too.
And for that matter, the hotdogs at the old park aren't bad, either.