Shout! Omaha

Thanks for the Memories

CWS fans talk about their love connection to Rosenblatt Stadium

Bonnie Anderson, like many veteran College World Series fans, takes a melancholy approach to the last CWS to be played at Rosenblatt Stadium.

“We’re not very happy about it,” the lifelong Omahan told Shout!. “It’s sad, because I’m not even looking forward to it.”

Bonnie and Larry Anderson have held season tickets for about 20 years in Section D, then picked up four more that they’ve coveted for more than 10 years. Bonnie enjoyed not just the games but making and keeping new friends while hanging out in Row J of Rosenblatt’s parking lot.

This will be a most nostalgic CWS starting Saturday. Tickets likely will be a tad bit hard to come by. And it’ll be a final walk down memory lane. Bonnie Anderson has racked up tons of memories.

She’s not alone. Since Rosenblatt Stadium first hosted the CWS in 1950 – when the total attendance was 17,805 – more than 7 million fans have watched the greatest show on dirt. It’s hard to believe all this has happened so fast and that the end is near – at least to us old-timers.

A documentary titled “The Long Home Run” made its debut on ESPN a couple weeks ago. It’s a must-see video narrated by Kevin Costner. It’s somewhat ironic that he did that, because he was enlisted to help the group that wanted to save Rosenblatt Stadium from its pending demise.

The documentary was extremely well done. It chronicles the history of the city, the stadium and, of course, the CWS.

“To me,” World-Herald columnist Tom Shatel said, “it’s the greatest secret in sport.”

Area ex-high school stars Kyle Peterson and Brian O’Connor got to play at Rosenblatt with Stanford and Creighton, respectively, and shared their memories.

O’Connor was the losing pitcher in 1991 when the Bluejays lost a heartbreaker 3-2 to Wichita State.

Bonnie Anderson was there for that game and had more of a vested interest in Wichita State than Creighton. Her brother John lives in Wichita and watched most of the Shockers’ home games. And, of course, he regularly made the drive to Omaha regardless of whether Wichita State qualified for the CWS.

Bonnie Anderson became a fan of Wichita State and coach Gene Stephenson. She and husband Larry got to know him and cheered for the Shockers over the years.

“We used to go and greet the boys when they came in,” Bonnie said.

The Andersons were in the stands when Wichita State won its only CWS title in 1989, a 5-3 squeaker over Texas. They watched the Shockers’ last appearance in 1996, when they went 0-2.

The games are a big part of the CWS experience for all fans, but equally large for the Andersons is the socializing that happens in Row J. And it’s not just the locals they party with but others from all over the country.

Even when LSU and Wichita State don’t qualify for Omaha, their fans come in droves. Over the years, many have become regular visitors to Row J. This year, Anderson said, should be no exception.

“I still look for a lot of LSU fans to come up,” she said, “and I look for a lot of Wichita State fans to come up, too, because this is the last year (for Rosenblatt). An awful lot of them still come up. They always stop by and say hi.”

Of course, food is at the top of the menu of things going on in the parking lot before, during and after CWS games.

Billy McKenna – yes, of McKenna’s Blues Booze & BBQ fame – has supplied Row J with smoked turkey or pork roast on the day of the championship, and LSU fans always bring up good stuff from the gulf for grilling.

One of the Row J regulars, Barb Peters, compiles a photo album each year after the series ends and shares the albums the following summer. Anderson said they’ve watched families’ children grow up at Rosenblatt.

While preparing for the final go-around, fans like Anderson wonder how things will change next year when the CWS moves downtown to TD Ameritrade Park. Anderson isn’t sure where they’ll be sitting in the new stadium, but she grudgingly will renew the family’s season tickets.

“We’re thinking we’ll keep our tickets for at least one year,” she said. “But it depends on what tickets they offer us and at what price. They say they’re going to stay at the same price.”

One thing that won’t stay the same, Anderson believes, is the tailgating experience.

“Part of the hospitality of Omaha is the tailgating,” she said. “People talk about coming down and getting fed and getting to know families and talking about their teams. We’ve exchanged wedding invitations and sympathy cards.

“Those community ties may be severed a little bit because of the end of tailgating.”

Goodbye, Old Friend

Once this year’s College World Series wraps up its Rosenblatt Stadium run, it’ll be a sad time for many who didn’t want to see the old girl’s demise. While I’m excited about the new ballpark downtown, I’ll savor the memories from five decades of watching as a fan and covering the CWS as a sportswriter.

Not long after our family moved to Papillion from Minnesota in 1963, my dad started taking us to the CWS. Rosenblatt was much smaller in the ’60s, but the event was quite popular even back then. I remember the crowds were so large for some games that fans were allowed to actually stand on the field down each baseline – yes, during the game. Talk about being close to the action.

As I recall, we most often sat in the grandstand. The outfield bleachers were wooden, and there wasn’t nearly as much seating as today. Splinters were a real possibility.

Over the years I saw such stars as Nomar Garciaparra, Will Clark, Deion Sanders and Joba Chamberlain who went on to Major League Baseball. I was in the stands in 1987 when Oklahoma State standout Robin Ventura’s 57-game hitting streak ended.

The fun part for me – and something I tried to instill in my three sons – was watching how hard CWS players hustled on and off the field.

The College World Series was a special time for me to teach the intricacies of baseball to my sons. The college game to me will always be the purest form of baseball.

As I had mentioned in an earlier piece for Shout!, I had the honor of serving as official scorer for the entire 1980 CWS and a couple of games in 1984. Years later, I was able to cover the event for both the World-Herald and as a freelance writer.

I’ve been able to ask players and coaches things I used to wonder about as a fan. I’ve interviewed fans who come from all over the country. I still marvel at the hospitality Omahans show to their guests and what a great event the CWS has been.

One of my fondest memories came in 2002, when I was covering the CWS for USA Today’s Sports Weekly. Moments after Texas closer Houston Street wrapped up the title for the Longhorns with a record fourth save, I found myself standing right next to Street. I watched in amazement as his father, James, bolted from the grandstand to hug his son.

I was glad to hear last week that the Henry Doorly Zoo will be preserving part of Rosenblatt Stadium as a place for kids to romp around. That also will help maintain some of the fondness for parents who took their kids and grandkids to CWS games.

So let’s savor the final year of the CWS and look forward to new memories that will be built at TD Ameritrade Park starting next summer.