In the end, Rosenblatt Stadium just didn’t want to let go.  Not just yet.  The College World Series had been played at “The ‘Blatt” for sixty years.  A couple of more innings wasn’t going to hurt anything.  So, they played on.  Just a little bit longer.  On Tuesday night, June 29th, South Carolina defeated UCLA 2-1 in eleven innings, after a Whit Merrifield liner into right field scored Scott Wingo from third base.  South Carolina players and family rushed the field…the last to be able to do so on this field.  Ceremonies were held, awards were given out.  Speeches were made.  And then, the lights went out.  For the last time.

The win gave South Carolina their first College World Series title.  In fact, it is the first NCAA Team Championship for South Carolina’s men’s athletics.  And what a way to win it.  South Carolina showed the excitement and enthusiasm that made you want to see them win.  Many people talked about the “perfect way” to send Rosenblatt out.  The wish list ranged from walk-off homers to LSU comebacks.  No one could have predicted this, but this is exactly what Rosenblatt needed…and deserved.

And now, Rosenblatt sits quiet.  Sure, there will be minor league professional baseball and exhibition games played throughout the summer there.  But, for all practical purposes, Rosenblatt is retired.  Soon, it will host minivans full of zoo patrons, yellow painted lines, and a small park for off of us to remember what once was the site of some of the greatest college baseball games the world has ever seen.  Will it be enough?

Next year, the CWS moves to the yet-to-be-completed TD Ameritrade Park, just north of downtown Omaha.  It will be a fine stadium.  Modern look, fan-friendly, all of that.  But, it will be different.  It will still be the College World Series.  It will still be in Omaha.  But, it will be different.  Do you know what I mean?  Maybe it will be better than it was.  Who knows?  Maybe we will say ten years from now that we can’t believe the games were ever played in such a dump.  But, in that “dump” was where college baseball evolved into what it is today.

Goodnight, Rosenblatt.  You’ve earned your rest.  Hello, TD Ameritrade.  You’ve got quite a legacy to live up to.  Make us proud.

Kyle Parker, Clemson’s star right fielder, First Round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies, and (most importantly) a Ping!Baseball First Team All-American, had a goal at the beginning of the year: to join the 20-20 club.  Not an outrageous goal for a baseball player, except Parker was talking about home runs…and touchdowns. 

Parker, the starting quarterback for the Clemson Tigers football team, threw for over 2,500 yards and 20 touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a 9-5 record.  In the spring, he went from the gridiron to the park (George Carlin reference there), and proceeded to hit dingers.  On June 7th, he hit his 20th home run of the season against Auburn.  Big deal?  Well, yes it is, because it has never been done before in Division I.  The closest to 20-20 before Parkerwas from Rodney Peete, who threw 21 TD’s for USC in 1987, and then hit 12 home runs for the Trojans the following spring.  Oklahoma State’s Josh Fields threw for 21 TD’s in 2003, and then hit 10 homers in the spring.  Some guy named John Elway hit 9 homers for the Stanford Cardinal in 1982, and then threw for 24 TD’s that next fall.  None of them could do what Parker did this season.

Pre-season goal achieved.  Now, what’s next?  Does Parker come back next year to try to join the 25-25 Club, or does he take his big signing bonus check and try to tear up the South Atlantic League for the Asheville Tourists (the Rockies’ Class A affiliate)?  Parker’s not saying.  He told Ping!Baseball that he wanted to make his decision by June 30th, but he’s not going to rush it.  It’s a tough choice: Big Man on Campus, or Big Man on the Bus driving to Savannah.

Keep an eye on Kyle Parker.  He has the potential to be the next great two-sport professional athlete.  Regardless of his decision, those of us in attendance at the 2010 College World Series can say in the future that we saw Kyle Parker play college ball.

I was able to talk to Jerome Pena, TCU Second Baseman, shortly after his batting heroics in CWS Game 11 against UCLA.  Did we talk about his home run?  His ability to fight off pitches from UCLA pitcher Rob Rasmussen and company, and increase their pitch count?  Sure.  But, there was one burning question on my mind…what’s up with the Mohawk haircut?  “The Mohawk,” Pena told me, “I got one earlier in the season.  Coach told me to cut it off.  Then I asked him before conference tournament at the beginning of May if I could do it again.  He said ‘yeah, go ahead.’  That’s where it all started.” 

Now, why would TCU Head Coach Schlossnagle tell Pena to cut of his warrior haircut?  “He’s not a very good-looking guy (with the Mohawk)” Schlossnagle told me.  Quick to Pena’s defense was TCU superstar pitcher Matt Purke.  “I think he’s a pretty-good looking guy,” Purke said.  “He works it (the Mohawk) well.” 

What about getting the rest of the Horned Frogs to don the fabulous Mohawk?  “You can’t,” Pena told me.  “That’s the superstition with what we’re doing.”  So far, it’s working well for TCU, and for the only pseudo-Mohican on the roster, Jerome Pena.

Sitting in the Ping!Baseball luxury box at Rosenblatt Stadium at the College World Series during the UCLA vs. TCU game, we noticed something unusual in the stands.  Some guy was running in place along the third-base line against the fence by the UCLA bullpen.  Then, he would turn around and run up the stairs.  A little kid followed him.  He would repeat this ritual, over and over.  By the end of his pseudo-jog, he had about a dozen kids following him up and down the stairs (in Pied Piper fashion).  Instead of yelling at him to sit down, the crowd was encouraging him.  In fact, they were giving him high-fives, and drinks from their cups.

We tracked down this running man.  He is Alan Brace of Hesperia, California, and a UCLA fan.  He plays for the Heroes of the Diamond, a traveling baseball team of military personnel and their sons.  They are considered the “Globetrotters of Baseball,” and wear distinctive camouflage uniforms, that honor servicemen.  On the back of Brace’s jersey, in lieu of his name, is “Pearl Harbor.”   

We got a hold of Brace in between running stints, at Rosenblatt Stadium.  Our first question to him was “what’s up with the running?”  It turns out is started as a dare/bet from one of his coaches, who didn’t think he would do it.  And his minature entourage?  “A little kid joined me, and more kept coming,” Brace told us.  About a dozen kids, in all.  Bruce told Ping!Baseball he wasn’t done, either.  He promised an encore after the 7th Inning Stretch of the UCLA/TCU game.  Why?  Why not?  It’s the CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium.

Run, Alan, run!  It’s fans like you, that makes the College World Series in Omaha so special.  Check out his organization at www.heroesofthediamond.com .

A quick glance at the roster of the Oklahoma Sooners at the College World Series will lead any baseball fan to inevitably say “Hey, isn’t his dad…?”  Well yes, yes he is.  Sophomore infielders Cameron Seitzer and Garrett Buechele are sons of former Major League players Kevin Seitzer and Steve Buechele, respectively.  In fact, Kevin Seitzer played minor league ball at Rosenblatt Stadium for the Kansas City Royals’ farm club in 1986.  Now, twenty-four years later, Kevin sits in the stands at Rosenblatt and cheer on his son.  Caleb has not disappointed Dad, either.  Caleb smacked a home run, his 16th of the season, in OU’s 6-4 loss to Clemson.

Ping!Baseball spoke to Cameron after the game about being a ball player, and a ball player’s son.  The first thing we asked him, was what was it like to play at Rosenblatt, where his dad played while on his rise to the Majors.  “Just to follow in his foot steps, play in the same stadium…it’s really a cool feeling.”  Both Cameron and Garrett, whose dad played ten years in the majors (and was known for hitting solo home runs), share a common bond of being MLB sons.  “Between me and Garrett, we talk about it” Cameron told us.  But, it doesn’t affect their play, or who they are  “We’re the same old two guys.  We don’t take it any different.” 

We at Ping!Baseball like to stir up trouble when we can.  So, we asked Cameron who was a better player at his age, himself or his dad.  “Dad talks that it’s me, but I believe it’s him.”  Damn, these kids are smart these days.  He either believes that, or doesn’t want to risk losing his allowance.  Meanwhile, Kevin Seitzer sits in the stands, beaming.  A proud father of a Boomer Sooner.