Salt Lake Bees - Team History

Team History

The current franchise dates from 1994, when Joe Buzas, a former major league player and the owner of the PCL Portland Beavers, moved the team to Salt Lake City. Known as the Salt Lake Buzz from 1994 to 2000, the team changed its name to the Salt Lake Stingers in 2001. The change was forced by a trademark dilution lawsuit filed by Georgia Tech, whose yellowjacket mascot is named Buzz. The name change coincided with a change of major league clubs, from the Twins to the Angels.

The following year, the Angels won the 2002 World Series and made history in Game 7 when rookie pitcher John Lackey was the game's winning pitcher. Called up from the Stingers earlier in the year, he became the first rookie to win a World Series game in nearly a century.

Buzas owned the team until his death in 2003. The team was purchased by the late Larry H. Miller, who also owned the NBA's Utah Jazz. Miller died in February 2009 and the team is currently owned by his widow, Gail Miller.

On October 27, 2005, the team announced the Stingers would henceforth be known as the Salt Lake Bees, the name of the original PCL franchise which played in Salt Lake City from 1915 to 1926. The official press release read, in part: "Owner, Larry H. Miller, announced today that the Salt Lake Stingers have officially changed the teams name to the Salt Lake Bees. The new logo, colors and uniforms were also unveiled. The change brings Salt Lake baseball back to its original franchise name and look when the state's first Pacific Coast League team was named the Bees in 1915."

Bees have long been a symbol of Utah. The original name of the Mormon settlement, Deseret, is said to be the word for "honeybee" in the Book of Mormon; a beehive appears on the Utah state flag; the state motto is "Industry" (for which bees are known); and Utah is widely known as the "Beehive State."