College World Series

For many years, I have wanted to attend one or more games of the College World Series (CWS) in Omaha. Now I can cross this off my bucket list. Travis met me in Omaha on June 18th, and we saw three games, including one that day and two the next. It was really a fun time and especially fun to have the chance to share this experience with Travis. It would have been a tiny bit more fun if Iowa had made it from the round of 64 teams entering the tournament to the final 8 appearing in Omaha, but at least they were in that round of 64 this year.

Since we had a bit of time prior to the game on Thursday night, we decided to visit the site of the old Rosenblatt stadium, which was where the CWS was played for several decades before being moved to the new Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha. The grounds for the old stadium are now part of an enhanced parking area for the Doorly Zoo in Omaha, but they preserved the significance of Rosenblatt by making parts of it an "island" where young folks can play if they want.

The original home plate is exactly where it always was at the park, and some seats, a sign, and the original foul line poles are still present. Johnny Rosenblatt was a baseball player who later became mayor of Omaha. His leadership convinced the NCAA to establish the CWS in Omaha, where it has stayed for more than 50 years.

It felt a little like we were paying homage to the tradition of the CWS by stopping at this site.

We also stopped to see the two historic Union Pacific engines on display at Kenefick Park. These engines are clearly visible on a slight hill near Interstate 80 just as you travel west entering Nebraska. The "Big Boy" steam engine is one of my favorite old machines, and Travis really enjoyed seeing it as well as an Electromotive Division diesel engine nearby.

We had built in time before the game to have dinner in the Old Market area of Omaha. There is a fun brew pub there called Upstream Brewery. They have good beers and excellent Omaha steaks and other goodies.

Then it was on to our first game featuring TCU versus LSU. The loser of this game, LSU, was knocked out of the tournament in this game. The tournament is a double elimination format, so all teams continue to play until they have two losses, with the remaining teams continuing to advance. Ameritrade Park is a very nice ball park. Didn't seem to be a bad seat in the place.

Travis and I saw two games from section 100 just down the first base line.

On Friday, we saw two more games. We stopped at the entrance to the park for a photograph near this famous bronze statue that originally stood outside Rosenblatt Stadium. It captures the excitement of the young ball players after winning a game. ESPN often shows the statue in its lead-in images when opening a broadcast of a game.

I took this panoramic photograph during the afternoon game between Virginia and Florida, which Florida won (although they lost on Saturday to Virginia in a second meeting, thus getting Virginia into the championship round).

The night game was between Vanderbilt and TCU. Vanderbilt won to advance to the championship round, which is a best two out of three series on July 22nd-24th.

I've watched lots of CWS and prior tournament games on TV each year, but being at the park in person made it possible to see more, including the beach ball frenzy that eventually erupts in the outfield seats at the end of an early inning. I didn't think to take a picture soon enough, and so this one doesn't quite do justice to the number of balls that end up on the field.

However, you can see here that after they are corralled by the staff into one or both bull pens, they do accumulate. Everyone seems to take this in stride and considers it part of the overall fun.

As I said earlier, I can now cross this off my bucket list, although attending games in future years would still be fun. Every time I have had a chance to do something fun and focused like this with one of my children, I have been richly rewarded by the experience and the time with them. Thanks to Travis for this one!