College World Series Statue

As the season gets ready to kick off in ballparks large and small around the country, we begin the final curtain call for one of baseball’s most influential stadiums, Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska. Rosenblatt Stadium has been the home of the College World Series for 61 years, as well as being the home of the AAA Omaha Royals / Golden Spikes / Royals again.  Starting in 2011, the College World Series will have its own brand new home in downtown Omaha, and the O-Royals move to suburban Papillon, Nebraska in a new $25 million facility.

Baseball America had a nice cover story recently called Rosenblatt Remembered, telling the story of the park from those who are a part of its lore. Ballpark Digest is chronicling nicely how the Royals will say goodbye, with special uniform patches, and a last-game event sponsored by AT&T.

I’ve only made one trip to Omaha, and I have to tell you, it’s a bit of a blur.  I was on assignment in Des Moines, IA, and I found myself with a free afternoon.  I had a rental car, and Omaha was only2 1/2 hours away, so off I went – due West to Omaha, with no real sense of how to get to the ballpark once I reached Nebraska.  Fortunately, once you cross the border into Nebraska, it’s pretty much on the left.. hard to miss.

2010 Rosenblatt Sleeve Patch

For a minor league game, it’s not a great park… with the expansion, it’s too big for the small gathering of baseball faithful I found there on a random Tuesday. You just always have a sense it’s meant for something more.  The energy and the crowds of the CWS almost haunt the space.  But it has a nice open feel, there’s plenty of parking, and lots of good seats generally available with room to relax.

It’s a closed concourse, meaning you generally cannot see the field from the walking areas behind the plate and down the baselines. I specifically remember two things about the food choices. First, there was an old Asian woman manning a cart selling mini egg rolls that were surprisingly good, considering my expectations for chinese ballpark food in Omaha.  Secondly, there was an “International” stand along the 3rd base line, generally offering Mexican fare. I ordered a taco, but received the equivalent of Hormel chili on pita bread. Not a classic combination.

There’s so much history here – the walls are teeming with it. If you’re local, I would recommend going back one last time to say goodbye. Not many ballparks last 60+ years anymore, and this one has served us well.

While it seemed that many people were able to find a little something, like a bobblehead or a promotional bat, many of the special and unique items were apparently “held back” for a memorabilia dealer with a friend in the organization. According to the comments on the mlb.com article, there was a large box containing a number of championship flags and stadium banners, that were not “first come, first served” as advertised.

So, that particular failure comes from the fact that the deal wasn’t completed before the garage sale, but during… of course some premium items are going to a dealer to get them a better price, but you don’t have to be so public about it.  There were other mistakes though, that could have been avoided.

1. Once you realized there would be a line around the stadium waiting to get in, maybe you could have called in some extra cashiers… only 4 were on hand.
2. The sale was confined to a small corner of the Metrodome, as a college football game was also taking place there that day. If the sale were held on the Metrodome floor on a non-game day, they could have been much more accomodating to the folks waiting outside, and given more people an opportunity to preview the items before they were gone.
3. Anything you were going to hold back should never have seen the light of day on the public sale.  Just incredibly bad form.

So, what’s the right way to do this kind of a sale? You want to open it up to the public, and you know that these garage sale prices aere cheaper than the items will be when they resurface on eBay, but do you just put them up for auction in the first place, and reduce the secondary market? When the Yankees and Mets have done this, prices have been so sky high that the “average joe fan” is shut out.  Do you put limits on how much someone can buy?

I’m not sure, but I commend the Twins for trying to do the right thing, but just failing a bit on the execution.