Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium
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| Rosenblatt Stadium | |
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| The Blatt | |
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| Location | 1202 Bert Murphy Ave Omaha, Nebraska 68107-2253 |
| Broke ground | 1947 |
| Opened | 1948 |
| Owner | City of Omaha |
| Surface | Grass |
| 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) |
| Capacity | 23,145 |
| Field dimensions | Left Field - 332 feet (102 m) Left-Center - 375 feet (114 m) Center Field - 408 feet (124 m) Right-Center - 375 feet (114 m) Right Field - 335 feet (102 m) 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. It serves as the home of both the minor league Omaha Royals and the annual NCAA Division I College World Series.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 | AA/PCL | AAA | Kansas City Royals |
Team moved into PCL in 1998 after AA folded.
Team was named "Omaha Golden Spikes" during 1999-2001.
[edit] 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.
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.
[edit] 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 than, 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.
(Sources: Omaha World Herald; KETV Ch. 7)
[edit] Efforts to Save Rosenblatt Stadium
From May 2007 to May 2008 a grassroots organization, called Save Rosenblatt began proactive efforts to save Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium for the College World Series, even though the NCAA had stated that they would prefer a new stadium to be built and would consider moving the CWS to Victory Field in Indianapolis if they did not get a new facility. In "opposing the demise of" Rosenblatt, the group gathered petition signatures, held rallies, placed billboards, shot & aired a TV commercial with legendary actor and baseball fan Kevin Costner [1], and had architectural plans designed for a Rosenblatt renovation. Also, the community leaders who helped guided this citizen’s initiative attempted communications with Omaha Mayor, Mike Fahey and NCAA Director of baseball and football, Dennis Poppe in hopes to express the desires of many Rosenblatt/CWS fans.
The guiding committee and the many petition signers (over 17,000 as of March 1, 2008) believed that Rosenblatt Stadium should be retained and enhanced. They said that the CWS event and the City of Omaha will be better served by one of the current proposals for a remodeled Rosenblatt and modified area around the stadium. Between June 2007 and February 2008, at least 12 public polls by different media outlets showed strong opposition to the idea of a new stadium – from a low of 71% to a high of 86%. In early March 2008, on a Pro-new stadium website, a 13th poll reached as high as 70%+ in opposition to the proposed new stadium (see image below).
On February 27, 2008, after nearly five months of private meetings, Omaha Mayor Mike Fahey and his stadium committee made public their much anticipated yet very controversial $140+ million recommendation for a new downtown stadium. The Mayor and this privately formed committee have used an undisclosed amount out of the nearly $1.0 million of public and private planning funds specifically for financing a strategic campaign to sell their desired concept to the public.
Their proposal includes the demolition of the publicly owned, nationally historic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, which has caused a great disturbance among the citizens of Omaha and CWS fans throughout the country. Most notably, yet not exclusively, this is true to the thousands who live in the southeastern part of the city. Many relate to the stadium as a rich source of generational pride, a major factor in the strength & unity of the surrounding neighborhoods, an unspoken cause for the area's sustained level of quality, and irreplaceably at the core of the community’s true identity. Many Omahans from throughout the city feel very strongly about this point and other issues as well. People have responded with disappointment and frustration to the complete lack of public participation allowed in the project planning and the fact that a public vote has not been included in the process of a multimillion dollar project. Another major point of concern is the high, continuously escalating stadium price tag & uncertain and/or unstated costs including:
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- A probable local property tax increase,
- Uncounted secondary construction costs,
- Unsecured public/private financing sources,
- A risk of future tax burden from unpaid revenue bonds,
- $2-3 Billion in city debt, including a current $1.5 Billion sewer project, and
- An unstable national economy.
[edit] Atmosphere
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium is one of the few stadiums that still uses live music instead of prerecorded music.[1] Lambert Bartak, an organist for the Royals, holds the distinction of being the only organist ever ejected during a game.[2]
[edit] 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.
[edit] Gallery
 1st baseline Rosenblatt Stadium |
 Rosenblatt Stadium |
 2006 College World Series |
[edit] References
- ^ Bohls, Kirk (2004-06-22). This player at CWS knows all the scores. Cox News Service. Retrieved on 2006-06-19.
- ^ Associated Press (1988-05-29). Organist Hits Wrong Note. Retrieved on 2006-06-19.
[edit] See also
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