Lindquist Field

Entrance to Lindquist Field, Aug-2002.

The seating bowl, from the end of the narrow right-field berm.

The spires are the local LDS temple and tabernacle; Lewis Peak is in the background.

Chronological Tour: Stop 235

• Location: Lincoln Avenue at 23rd Street, Ogden, Utah (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1997 (renovated 2007)
• Home team: Ogden Raptors, Pioneer League (1997-present)
• Capacity: 5,001

Rating: 4 baseballs

Built only in 1997 to replace a temporary facility nearby, the developers of Lindquist Field in downtown Ogden kept in mind the best interests of the fannies in the seats. Every seat in the park is a stadium seat, and the seating area continues down the left-field line as a berm shaped like an Indian mound – or at least it did on my first visit in 2002. By 2007, the mound had been excavated and replaced by more stadium seating, most of which was reserved, and a left-field pavilion had also been erected just in front of the scoreboard. The right-field line has extremely limited grass seating available.

The field faces northeast, which is conventional, and there are movable screens to shade the spectators on the first-base side from the setting sun. While the concession lines can get long on the main concourse, there are beer and pop vendors on the concourse above the third-base stands.

There is a short porch (350 feet) not far to the right of center field, as one property owner refused to sell out and the fence was built around his land. Otherwise, the park has fairly standard dimensions. Beyond the fence, you see the Ogden temple and tabernacle of the Latter-day Saints; beyond them, Lewis Peak towers more than 3700 feet above the city.

One irksome thing about the park in its early days was that, just at the Raptors’ parent in Los Angeles, access to seating areas for which one does not have a ticket was strictly enforced, at least until the late innings. This no longer appears to be so much in evidence in recent years.

Lindquist Field is named for a local undertaker who serves on the team’s board of directors. This seems rather appropriate, as fans are just dying to get into this ballpark.