OMAHA, Neb. – The College World Series was a highlight of every summer I had growing up.
Omaha, Neb., was – and still is – a mecca for college baseball fans.
LSU made Omaha a home away from home in the 90s, earning trips eight times between 1990 and 2000.
But it took a 23-game winning streak for the Tigers to make a return trip this season after a four-year hiatus.
And the road to Omaha isn’t an easy one for fans and media either.
I woke up at 3 a.m. on June 14 on two hours of sleep to make the 16-hour, seven-state, 1,085-mile trek to my first College World Series.
It was well worth it. The College World Series does not disappoint.
LSU coach Paul Mainieri, who had attended the College World Series as both a spectator and coach, said before leaving Baton Rouge that the experience would exceed any expectations 100 fold.
It did. I was told Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is huge. It’s bigger.
The outfield walls are only a few feet deeper than those in Alex Box Stadium, but Rosenblatt can hold more than three times as many fans.
When the College World Series isn’t in town, the double-A Omaha Royals play their home games at Rosenblatt.
For those familiar with New Orleans’ minor league team, the Zephyrs, Rosenblatt holds more than twice as many fans as Zephyr Field in Metairie.
The stadium and its seats are sturdy, clean and comfortable. Even the outfield bleachers have backrests.
A 1,550-square foot video screen towers behind the left-field seats. The screen is split during games between the offense’s lineup, the current hitter’s picture and statistics and the game’s box score, and helps keep fans more involved in the game.
While the stadium has obviously been kept quite modern and polished with several renovations over the past 16 years, it also maintains its classic feel.
The stadium has housed the College World Series since 1950 – 14 years before the stadium took its current name. Sitting in the stands, you can feel the history.
Rosenblatt is also one of few stadiums in the country that continues to use live music instead of pre-recorded.
Lambert Bartak plays the organ during the College World Series, a position he has held full-time for 20 years.
And accompanying the aura and sounds of the ballpark for most of my stay in Omaha was perfect weather – the only kind of weather you can imagine for the event.
Obviously, LSU saw its share of inclement weather during delays Thursday and Friday. Miami and Stanford saw slight rain Wednesday night but not enough to stop play.
Other than that, I was hard-pressed to find a dark cloud.
Day games were hot – as can be expected in June – but a breeze helped ensure they were nothing like the sweltering day games in Baton Rouge the two weekends leading up to the Tigers’ trip to Omaha.
Evenings were as comfortable as could be imagined.
At night, the stadium stands out from the neighboring interstates and trees, lit up like an amusement park.
During the day, it maintains a festive atmosphere.
Mainieri called the series a “college baseball love-fest.”
Again, the Tigers’ coach was dead-on.
Fans of all ages, ethnicities and sexes bustle around the stadium before games, sporting shirts and hats of several dozen different collegiate and major league teams.
The College World Series is Omaha’s Mardi Gras.
Patrons from all over the country walk the downtown streets near the stadium at night, shuffling around between the bars, restaurants and memorabilia tents looking for souvenirs and a good time.
And while, as a New Orleanian, I can’t say I’d take the College World Series nightlife over Mardi Gras, it has its advantages.
The people are better mannered. Don’t expect to see College World Series editions of COPS or Girls Gone Wild
anytime soon.
More importantly in my mind, the streets are not covered with a layer of wet trash, and the air does not choke passers-by with the smell of beer and urine.
Overall, the College World Series is a baseball heaven on Earth.
No matter how much you expect when you reach Omaha, you’d have a hard time being disappointed.
Rosenblatt Stadium and downtown Omaha blend a perfect mixture of modernity and yester-year, competition and friendliness, and fun and respectability.
If you ever have the chance to attend the College World Series, I’d greatly suggest it.
My only complaint or regret is having not gone sooner myself.
—-Contact Jerit Roser at [email protected]