Rosenblatt’s son says it’ll be hard to say goodbye to CWS stadium, but new ballpark needed

Rosenblatt son says new CWS ballpark needed

OMAHA, Neb. — For the son of the man whose name is on Rosenblatt Stadium, it’ll be hard saying goodbye to the venerable ballpark on the hill in south Omaha.

The stadium that has been home to the CWS since 1950 was named after former Omaha mayor Johnny Rosenblatt in 1964.

Rosenblatt will host its final CWS next year and then be razed to make room for expansion of the Omaha zoo. The 2011 CWS will be the first held at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, which is under construction.

When Steve Rosenblatt makes the annual trip to Omaha from his Phoenix home next year, it’ll be a bittersweet final visit to the stadium.

“I’m obviously sorry to see it go, as are many thousands of Omaha people,” Rosenblatt said. “That being said, I’m aware of the problems.

“I’ve been aware for eight years that this was probably going to happen and probably wasn’t going to be able to be stopped.”

In his younger days, Rosenblatt played at the stadium bearing his dad’s name and was a bat boy for one of the early professional teams that played there.

Steve Rosenblatt, a former Omaha city councilman, said he took a realistic approach to the stadium issue when it came up a few years ago. It still looks good on television, he said, and it’s fine for the players.

“But, unfortunately,” he said, “if you’re not watching the game or not playing in it, when you get into the concourse, you see the inadequacies. This facility was built in 1947.”

Rosenblatt has spent much of his time the past 10 days sharing thoughts about the stadium.

“We’ve got some great tradition here,” he said. “We’ve got the Wrigley Field-Fenway Park feeling. Frankly, there aren’t many ballparks left in the country that do, because the life span of most ballparks is 40 to 50 years.”

Asked what his dad might think about the new park, Rosenblatt said Johnny Rosenblatt likely would have agreed that fixing the aging facility wasn’t a viable option.

“We’d be happier the other way,” he said, “but we’ll live with it.”

TEXAS’ POWER SURGE: Texas came into the CWS having hit 39 homers in 61 games. After Tuesday’s 5-1 win over LSU in Game 2 of the finals, the Longhorns have racked up 13 homers in five games here.

UT designated hitter Russell Moldenhauer entered the series without a home run, but he has hit four in Omaha. How does he explain his and the rest of the team’s power surge?

Playing away from home, Moldenhauer said, has helped. Texas hit just 12 homers in the regular season at home and five more while hosting a regional and a super regional. That’s 17 total for 40 home games.

“That (home) field swallows balls,” he said. “We’ve hit the ball well all year. That’s pretty much the way we’ve been hitting in smaller ballparks.”

Rosenblatt Stadium and UT’s Disch-Falk Field have similar dimensions. Rosenblatt’s foul lines are 335 feet each, center field is 408 and the power alleys are 375. Disch-Falk is 340 down left, 325 to right, 400 to center and 405 and 375 in the power alleys.

MILES BACKING TIGERS: LSU football coach Les Miles and basketball coach Trent Johnson were on hand to cheer the Tigers on Tuesday night.

“I’m a fan of this team,” Miles said.

Miles, Johnson and baseball coach Paul Mainieri walked out to left field as the stands began filling with fans dressed in purple and gold. The LSU faithful chanted Mainieri’s name and cheered loudly as the three coaches posed for a picture.

Miles has two of his players on the baseball team: junior outfielder Jared Mitchell and sophomore pitcher Chad Jones. Mitchell was drafted in the first round by the Chicago White Sox two weeks ago.

SHORT HOPS: LSU’s Mitchell has 70 career stolen bases. He trails Rob Hartwig’s 73 from 1986-87 on the school’s all-time chart. … LSU freshman third baseman Tyler Hanover went 0 for 2 in his first CWS game after sitting out the first two contests with a sprained ankle. He pinch-hit in the ninth Monday and struck out. He stayed in the game and struck out again in the 10th. He didn’t play Tuesday. … Monday’s game was the fourth contest to go longer than 4 hours. It was also the second extra-inning game of the series.