Fans enjoy new park, miss Blatt

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We love our new ballpark.

Eating a hot dog and watching baseball while the sun shines on the wide-open concourse.

Relaxing in wider seats with cup holders and three to six inches of extra legroom.

“It's like a miniature professional league park now, which is good for the growth of the series, but it takes some getting used to,” said Tom Reynolds of Omaha, who has been going to the College World Series for the past few years.

Praise for Omaha's $131 million downtown ballpark has been common throughout this year's inaugural series at TD Ameritrade Park. But Reynolds' cautious reaction also was typical of the 20 CWS fans interviewed by The World-Herald in recent days.

The new park is great, they agreed, but there's a sterility and a corporate feel at the downtown stadium that doesn't feel quite right. As much as fans like the fancy TD Ameritrade Park, they also miss their old friend Rosenblatt.

“I like it — it just doesn't seem as homey,” said Jill Quinnette, 24.

Dave Huxhold, 67, grew up in South Omaha and has been going to the CWS since he was a kid.

“This is a beautiful stadium,” he said, “but it's never going to be Rosenblatt.”

Fans specifically mentioned the difference in atmosphere outside the stadiums.

At Rosenblatt, they could walk down South 13th Street, frequent the beer gardens and take in the smells of grills and burgers and brats. College kids turned the street into a row of parties.

At the downtown park, tailgaters spread out in concrete lots.

“It's just not the atmosphere it used to be,” said Sylvo Johnson, 42, who has been going to the series since the mid-1980s.

John Paladino is nostalgic for Rosenblatt, too, but he appreciates the perks of the new ballpark. “Rosenblatt was old,” he said.

Paladino, 42, likes how traffic moves better outside the downtown stadium and how the concession lines have shrunk inside.

Fans also complimented the clean bathrooms — the automatic water faucets, the large number of stalls and the lack of lines.

There have been a few complaints — the few seats with an obstructed view; the lack of a visible scoreboard if you're watching the game from the right field stands; and new seat assignments for long-time season-ticket holders who preferred their spots at Rosenblatt.

But the star attraction at TD Ameritrade Park has been the free-flowing concourse that wraps around the stadium and lets fans watch the game from anywhere.

“This is the best thing right here,” Huxhold said as he ate a hot dog in the concourse behind left-center field last week.

Speaking of food, the plethora of options — the gluten-free choices, the veggie wraps — also received good reviews. “Other than beer, you can get anything around here,” said Chris Christiansen, 44, of Springfield, Neb.

Said Ron Glatter, 59, of Shelby, Iowa: “How can you not be impressed?”

And once you gaze past the entrance, the concourse and the seats, it's still the same series and the same good-natured fans.

“People are always friendly. That hasn't changed,” said Mike Chudomelka, 41.

And it's still college baseball.

That's what brought Joe Mathes from Oak Grove, La., to Omaha again this year. Mathes roots for LSU but came to the series without his favorite team this year.

“I like to see kids run on and off the field for the love of the game,” said Mathes, 63. “This is baseball at its best.”

Contact the writer:

402-444-1074, jonathon.braden@owh.com

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