During our first day at the Men’s College World Series, my father and I had a chance meeting with Kevin Thompson and his father, Jim. Kevin was attending his 48th MCWS, while his father has been in the stands for each Championship since 1955 (that’s 70 years for the non-math majors like me out there!).
Kevin had asked where my father and I would be sitting for our Monday doubleheader (Arkansas-Murray State elimination game in the afternoon and UCLA-LSU winner’s brack in the evening). I let him know we had seats in the outfield for both games and he said he’d “see what he could do.” We exchanged numbers and proceeded to watch Louisville beat Arizona. He and his father from the air-conditioned comfort of their suite; my father and I from the breezy sweat box that was Section 323.
I honestly didn’t give our exchange much thought until about the time I was in my hotel room witnessing J. J. Spaun sink an improbable 72nd hold birdie putt from 64 feet to clinch the U.S. Open Championship and I received a text message from the 402 area code. It read:
Hi - here are your tickets for Game 7 - Arkansas vs Murray State. ... Kevin Thompson from this morning. These seats are much better than the outfield tomorrow afternoon. Enjoy and have fun in Omaha!
As I cross-referenced the section and row, I realized this upgrade would put us behind home plate about nine rows back to witness the Cinderella Story of the tournament: the Murray State Racers.
Little did I know …
Witnessing History
Clockwise from upper right, the Arkansas dugout is ready pre-game; Murray Head Coach Dan Skirka and Arkansas Head Coach Dave Van Horn meet with the umpires; Racers’ lead-off hitter Jonathan Hogart preps for his first at bat; who was this LSU rooting for; Racers players sign autgraphs pre-game.
Unless you were wearing a red ballcap with a white A atop the bill, if you happened to be at Charles Schwab Field Monday afternoon there was a pretty good chance you were rooting for the Racers.
I mean, come on, the Murray State Racers from Murray, KY!?! Enrollment of about 10,000 (undergraduate and graduate students), playing out of the Missouri Valley Conference, needed to win four-straight MVC Tournament Games just to make the field of 64, won of three of four against Ole Miss and Georgia Tech during the Regionals to advance, then beat Duke in two straight elimination games to qualify for Omaha.
Yeah, pretty much anyone who was anyone from Murray, KY, was in their seats well in advance of this win-or-go-home showdown with the third-ranked Razorbacks.
All I can say is that Arkansas starting pitcher Gage Wood was unphased.
Following the first inning when Wood disposed of Dustin Mercer and Carson Garner on strikeouts featuring filthy mid-90s heat, I turned to the fella next to me and said, “I don’t think Murray’s sees that sort of stuff on the regular in The Valley.”
He concurred
And Wood just kept dealing … and dealing … and dealing.
After he’d set down the first 15 Racers’ batters in order, my antennae was fully raised.
And by the time Wood finished the seventh inning still perfect with 13 strikeouts, I think everyone in the park was fully aware of what was occurring.
A two balls, two strikes pitch got away from Wood against eighth inning lead-off batter, Dom Decker. That hit-by-pitch only seemed to steel the Razorback’s will as he went on to fan the final six Racers and complete a 119-pitch, 19 strikeout, no-hitter.
The 19 whiffs were the most in a 9-inning game in MCWS history (the previous mark of 17 was shared by LSU’s Ty Bane [2023] and Arizona State’s Ed Bane [1972]. Ohio State’s Steve Arlin struck out 20 during a 15-inning outing in 1965.
And the no-hitter?
Well, it hadn’t occurred in Omaha since 1960 when Oklahoma State’s Jim Wixson no-hit North Carolina en route to a 7-0 Cowboys’ victory. Before that, it had occurred only one other time, back in 1950 when the MCWS first arrived in Omaha from Kalamazoo, MI, and Wichita, KS. Texas Longhorn Jim Ehler no-hit Tufts, also in a 7-0 victory. (Read about both here.)
Aside from some high school baseball and softball no-hitters I’d covered during my time as a sports writer, this was the first no-hitter of consequence I’d witnessed in person. My dad, interestingly enough, was in Wrigley Field on August 19, 1969, with his younger brother (Uncle Paul’s first-ever MLB game!) for Ken Holtzman‘s 3-0 no-no against the Atlanta Braves. Holtzman struck out none!
- Postscript – About a month after this gem, the Philadelphia Phillies made Wood the 26th pick of the first round and signed him to a $3 million bonus on July 22. He’s off to Clearwater to begin his professional career.
Mother Knows Best (or Something Like That)
Our hotel in neighboring Council Bluff, IA, was crazy busy with youth baseball players, their families, and coaches participating in greater Omaha’s annual Slumpbuster Tournament that attracts over 8,400 players annually.
Because of this, it came as no surprise that the Best Western Crossroads of the Bluffs-provided breakfast was, shall we say, teeming with activity when I arrived on Monday morning. Rather than take what meager offerings I could scrounge together back to my room, I sat on some soft seating directly in front of the front desk. My father wandered by after refilling his coffee and we were chatting when a woman sat in another seat.
As one does, we began engaging in small talk and shared what we were up to. She offered that she was also in town for the MCWS and was, in fact, the mother of Oregon State Beaver centerfielder, Canon Reeder. Sadly, Danielle noted, Canon had made the final out in OSU’s game the night before (a 6-2 Coastal Carolina win). With teammates on first and second and two out, Reeder struck out on five pitches. She was hopeful for a more positive experience for Canon and his teammates the next day against Louisville in an elimination game. OSU scored three in the top of the ninth to tie the game only to lose, 7-6, it in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly to – you guessed it – centerfielder Canon Reeder.
My dad and I listened to that back-and-forth game on the radio as we made our way across Iowa the next afternoon, wondering how Danielle, her husband Craig, and Canon’s brother, Carson (both of whom we also briefly met) were holding up.
- Postscript – We must’ve visited with Danielle for over thirty minutes and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen once the Beavers’ season ended. Canon had another year of eligibility but was also eligible for the MLB Entry Draft. He wound up being selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 18th Round and, like Gage Wood, signed recently. Reeder is off to Bradenton and the Pirates’ Florida Complex League entry.
The Rosenblatt Stadium Tribute
One of the reasons the Men’s College World Series made the Around the World in 80 Sporting Events list is because of my memories of players such as Pete Incaviglia, Will Clark, Robin Ventura, and Mike Mussina playing in Omaha each June.
When those fellas played it was not at Charles Schwab Field, but rather at historic Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium. Named for former the former Omaha Mayor – himself a semi-pro player who played against Satchel Paige and Babe Ruth – who was instrumental in bringing both minor league affiliates (Cardinals, Dodgers, and Royals) and the MCWS to what was once known as Omaha Municipal Stadium, Rosenblatt Stadium hosted the Series for 60 years (1950-2010) before the current venue was open for business.
City leaders have done an admirable job preserving part of that half century plus history by maintaining what amounts to a memorial of Rosenblatt at its former site which is now part of Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and its parking lot known as “Johnny Rosenblatt’s Infield at the Zoo.”
Dad and I paid it a visit Monday morning before heading off to the day’s games. It’s effectively a Wiffle Ball field in the outer reaches of the Zoo’s parking lot. They’ve kept markers to note where the actual 90-foot bases would be, have honored the past champions who played there, and have even kept the foul poles out in the parking lot.
Clockwise from upper left, a list of MCWS champions is displayed; the view from behind home plate; a list of professional winners who played at Rosenblatt; the signage notes where you’re at; this Rosenblatt informational sign is displayed at Charles Schwab Field; the original foul poles still stand in the parking lot; markers indicate where the bases would have been.
A Nightcap
Have I mentioned it was hot while we were in Omaha?
The afternoon feels like temperatures that Monday again reached the mid-90s and, as nice those seats that Kevin Thompson provided us with were, they did not come with the steady breeze of the third deck from Sunday or any hope of midday shade.
That said, after finding some shelter from the swelter at Hook & Lime around the block between games, we returned to check out Louisiana State University and UCLA in the Bracket 2 winner’s finale.
We bided our time under the shade of the upper grandstand down the right field line until the rightful occupants of our seats arrived and then moved to our ticketed spot in the left center bleachers.
If there’s a bad seat at Schwab, I’m not sure where it is. It’s big enough to provide the electric atmosphere one seeks from an event such as the MCWS, but small enough to provide good sightlines and enough of an up-close feel no matter where you’re at.
That was true in the outfield as well. Yes, the seats were benches, but they were benches with backs and that was good news for the two of us. Sadly, however, we didn’t have those same seats from the afternoon for this evening’s game. If we had, we’d have only been eight rows behind LSU baseball legend Paul Skenes and his girlfriend, Livvy Dunne.
I’d looked forward to seeing these two juggernauts face off and, early on, it lived up to the hype. The Bruins plated three in the top of the first but LSU countered with four of its own – including a 3-run homer by Jared Jones.
The Tigers added another in the third and two more in the fourth and then I saw what was looming in the sky over the backstop and decided it might be best to get a head start on our trip to the parking garage.
Good thing too, because as we drove by Schwab 15 minutes later many fans were doing the same as the game had officially been suspended due to lightning in the area. It wound up not resuming until the next morning. We listened to the finish on our way to Dyersville, IA, and not even a good night’s sleep did UCLA any good. It lost to the eventual champions, 9-5.
Our view from the outfield at Charles Schwab Field as the game began and again as storm clouds began to build.
Embracing its History
originally stood at Rosenblatt Stadium before making the move.
I’ll say this about Charles Schwab Field, though not the original Omaha home of the Men’s College World Series (see note about Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium above), the folks who operate the Schwab fully embrace the history of the MCWS in Omaha.
Outside the stadium, plaque after plaque commemorate past champions and inside the concourse features banners of past stars along with past champions.
Granted this facility is used almost exclusively for college baseball (the Creighton Blue Jays call it home during the season), but it still seems as much shrine as stadium.
Clockwise from upper left, a series of plaques hang outside Charles Schwab Field listing the MCWS winners by decade; similarly, in the concourse hang banners with images of notable past players along with the logos of the winning teams; and in the concourse behind homeplate is a plaque that features the name of the John D. Diesing Sr. Most Outstanding Players.