Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium

Infobox_Baseball_Stadium
stadium_name = Rosenblatt Stadium
nickname = The Blatt


location = 1202 Bert Murphy Ave
Omaha, Nebraska, USA
broke_ground = 1947
opened = 1948
closed =
demolished =
owner = City of Omaha
operator =
surface = Grass
construction_cost =
architect =
former_names = Omaha Municipal Stadium
tenants = Omaha Cardinals (WL/AA) (1949 - 1959)
Omaha Dodgers (AA) (1961 - 1962)
Omaha Royals (AA/PCL) (1969 - present)
"team known as Omaha Golden Spikes" (1999 - 2001)
seating_capacity = 25,500
dimensions = Left Field - 300 feet (102 m)
Left-Center - 350 feet (114 m)
Center Field - 400 feet (124 m)
Right-Center - 350 feet (114 m)
Right Field - 300 feet (102 m)


Fence height

Left and Right Fields - 8 feet (2.5 m)
Center Field - 10 feet (3 m)

Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is a baseball stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. It serves as the home of both the minor league Omaha Royals and the annual NCAA Division I College World Series.

Professional baseball history

Omaha Municipal Stadium was built in 1947, ready to host the single-A Omaha Cardinals for the 1948 season. The St. Louis Cardinals farm team was the first professional baseball team to call Omaha its home. During the next few years Rosenblatt would see several different teams play there. In 1969, the Kansas City Royals decided to move their triple-A franchise here, and it plays in Rosenblatt to the present day.

In 1964, the stadium was renamed to honor former Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt, who was instrumental in bringing professional baseball as well as the College World Series to Omaha.

Omaha teams

Seasons	Team	League	Class	MLB Affiliate
1949-1954	Omaha Cardinals	Western	A	St. Louis Cardinals
1955-1959	Omaha Cardinals	Amer. Assn.	AAA	St. Louis Cardinals
1961-1962	Omaha Dodgers	Amer. Assn.	AAA	Los Angeles Dodgers
1969-present	Omaha Royals	Amer. Assn. - PCL	AAA	Kansas City Royals

Team moved into PCL in 1998 after AA folded.

Team was named "Omaha Golden Spikes" during 1999-2001.

Rosenblatt and the College World Series

Since 1950, Omaha and Rosenblatt Stadium have become home to one of the unique championships in the US. No other town is as closely identified with one championship event as is Omaha with the College World Series. Every year, over 250 baseball teams around the country begin the season with the dream of playing in "The Blatt". 64 teams reach the NCAA Tournament, and the final eight left standing get to pack their bags for 10 days in Omaha. Rosenblatt Stadium, along with the entire city of Omaha, has become somewhat of a Mecca for college baseball.

After the initial contract between the NCAA and the City of Omaha, the parties quickly agreed to renew. Since then, the event has been held in Rosenblatt Stadium every year, and likely will remain there. Currently, the NCAA and the city of Omaha have agreed to continue hosting the Men's College World Series in Omaha through the 2035 season.

The City of Omaha has put tremendous resources into the stadium to accommodate teams and fans. In 2001 alone, more than $7 million was spent on the stadium. One of the main features was the addition of 10,000 new seats, bringing the total capacity to 23,145.

The series has grown so much over the last 20 years that this number is actually needed to fulfill the high demand for tickets. In 2004, 28,216 fans watched as Cal State Fullerton defeated South Carolina 5-3. In 2002 the mark of 5,000,000 spectators in the history of the CWS in Omaha was reached.

In 1999 one of its more renowned features was added to the stadium. In front of the main entrance, the local event organizers, College World Series of Omaha, Inc., placed the sculpture "Road to Omaha". Created by the local artist John Lajba, the sculpture shows three players celebrating by lifting one of their teammates in the air.

Rosenblatt and the Omaha Royals

The success of the CWS has been tremendous; however, the high capacity leaves the Royals struggling to fill it for its regular season games. There has been discussion since at least 2003 of building a separate venue for the Omaha Royals, which may also be shared by Creighton University and/or the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Alan Stein, the President and half owner of the Omaha Royals said he would put at least $10 million into a 7,500 seat new stadium for the Royals. He said a 30,000 seat CWS stadium downtown with removable seats down to 12,000 will still not be an intimate diamond. The Royals are willing to build this kind of stadium because they say a smaller stadium would double annual attendance up to 500,000 - 600,000. That increase is unlikely at either Rosenblatt or a large downtown stadium says Stein.

The Royals have named multiple other cities who have talked to them about going there. Stein says their goal is to stay in Omaha, but they have to make a business decision. So he has pushed for a two-stadium solution, a $60-$80 million Rosenblatt renovation for the CWS and an intimate $25 million downtown ballpark for the Royals and possibly Creighton. The total cost would be much less the one big proposed downtown stadium at a cost of at least $140 million. Everyone would get what they need and both venues would be attracting more fans as the CWS is already increasing every year.

If the Royals have a stadium downtown Mayor Fahey said Rosenblatt would continue with the CWS and host other special events (such as concerts, festivals, championship high school games, community events and much more, as it used to in the past. The Mayor Mike also said that the Royals are necessary to justify stadium costs. [Kotok, C.D. [http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10254334 "Rosenblatt work could force Royals out for 2 seasons"] "Omaha World-Herald". February 9, 2008. Retrieved 8/25/08.] [ [http://www.ketv.com/sports/6055802/detail.html "New Home For Royals? Mayor Backs North Downtown Development"] , KETV. Retrieved 8/25/08.]

Efforts to save Rosenblatt Stadium

In May of 2007 a grassroots organization called "Save Rosenblatt" tried to save Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series. The group aired a TV commercial with actor Kevin Costner, had architectural plans designed for a Rosenblatt renovation, and created an informational website [http://saverosenblatt.com/ http://saverosenblatt.com/] . The group was composed primarily of governmental spending critics and homeowners near Rosenblatt Stadium who stood to lose money from the loss of proximity of the College World Series.

The members of "Save Rosenblatt" believed that Rosenblatt Stadium should be retained and enhanced. They said that the CWS and the City of Omaha would have been better served by one of the current proposals for a remodeled Rosenblatt and modified area around the stadium. However, on February 27, 2008 after nearly five months of private meetings, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and the stadium committee made public a recommendation for a new downtown stadium. The proposal included the demolition of Rosenblatt Stadium. Many citizens of South Omaha responded with disappointment and frustration to the lack of public participation in the project planning and a lack of a public vote on a multimillion dollar project. Other concerns focus on the financing and certainty of the construction costs of the new stadium.

New agreement

On April 30, 2008, the city and the NCAA agreed on a memorandum of understanding, constituting a preliminary agreement to keep the CWS in Omaha for another 25 years through 2035, but with the stipulation that the series be moved to the new downtown stadium. [ [http://www.ncaa.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=221772 NCAA.com ] ] The new stadium would be expected to be ready by the 2011 College World Series. A formal contract must still be negotiated and the Omaha City Council must sign off on all parts of the proposal, but neither procedural step is expected to impede construction of the new stadium.

Future use

The plans call for the land that Rosenblatt Stadium currently sits on to be sold to pay off the debt remaining from its own multi-million dollar renovations. The adjacent Henry Doorly Zoo is set to take control of the land and demolish Rosenblatt once the new downtown stadium is completed in either 2010 or 2011. [ [http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10338231 Omaha.com Metro/Region Section ] ] While the stadium land itself will only be used for parking, it will be part of an overall expansion of the zoo elsewhere that will include a new visitor's center and a new Arctic exhibit on what is now the Zoo's primary parking area east of 10th Street.

Atmosphere

Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is one of the few stadiums that still uses live music instead of prerecorded music. [cite web |url=http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/content/shared/sports/stories/BBC_ORGANIST_0622_COX.html |title=This player at CWS knows all the scores |last=Bohls |first=Kirk |publisher=Cox News Service |date=2004-06-22 |accessdate=2006-06-19] Lambert Bartak, an organist for the Royals, is one of only two organists ever to be ejected during a game, the other being Wilbur Snapp. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D9173BF93AA15756C0A96E948260 |title= Organist Hits Wrong Note |author=Associated Press |date=1988-05-29 |accessdate=2006-06-19]

The playing field in Rosenblatt stadium has the ability to stay playable with even an 8.5 inch per hour rainfall. [cite web |url=http://www.cwsomaha.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=35 |title=NCAA Men's College World Series 2008|publisher=CWS Omaha, Inc |date=2008-06-24 |accessdate=2008-06-24]

Note on dimensions

Prior to remodeling for the 2002 season, the foul lines were 332 and the power alleys were 360. Centerfield was 408 as it is today.

Gallery

ee also

*Qwest Center Omaha

References

External Links

* [http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=1&S=11&Z=15&X=636&Y=11419&W=2&qs=%7cOmaha%7cNE%7c Terraserver-USA.com] - aerial photo & USGS topo map