Clem's Baseball home

TD Ameritrade Park
Home of the
College World Series
(2011 - )




Minute Maid Park
Key

Rosenblatt Stadium



 
Vital statistics:
Lifetime Capacity Outfield dimensions (feet) Behind home plate Fence height
L-C-R
The Clem Criteria:
Built Status LF LC CF RC RF Field
asymm.
Arch.
design
Seat
prox.
Loc. Aesth. Overall
2011 NEW 24,505 335 375 408 375 335 (50) 12 5 8 7 6 7 6.6

(Numbers in parentheses are estimates.)

BEEN THERE: I paid a visit on July 25, 2014, about one month after the College World Series.

There was a lot of nostalgia for the predecessor home to the College World Series, Rosenblatt Stadium (see photos below), but it was aging badly and of course the NCAA insisted upon a new stadium with all the modern-day revenue-enhancing features. So, the city of Omaha finally committed to building a replacement and it was named "TD Ameritrade Park" after the financial services firm. It opened for business in 2011, but oddly enough, the local minor league team (the AAA affiliate of the Kansas City Royals), were tired of having to vacate a stadium for two weeks every year during the College World Series. They were also tired of playing in the (relatively) oversized Rosenblatt Stadium, leaving so many empty seats for most games, and the new one was no different in that regard. So, in conjunction with a new team name -- the Omaha Storm Chasers, rather than "Golden Spikes" -- they built their own cozy, new stadium in the southwestern suburbs of Omaha: Werner Park.

TD Ameritrade Park TD Ameritrade Park bears a few similarities to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati: the grandstand is gradually curved, as is one side of the outfield wall. But whereas the curved outfield wall in Cincinnati is right field, in Omaha, it's in left field, with a corresponding straight outfield wall on the opposite side. In other words, the outfields are approximate mirror images of each other. The outfield dimensions suggest symmetry, but in reality it's not. The actual distance to the right field power alley is probably less than the indicated 375 feet.

TD Ameritrade Park is oriented toward the southeast, so the late afternoon sun makes it hard for left fielders to follow fly balls. The field is at ground level, unlike most newer stadiums that are 10-20 feet below the surrounding ground. That means most fans have to walk up a large flight of stairs at the four corners of the stadium to get inside. Although awkward, this proved to be a wise design choice in the summer of 2012, when massive flooding along the Missouri River left this neighborhood of Omaha under water for several days. The outfield of TD Ameritrade Park was briefly inundated.

The overall configuration of TD Ameritrade Park seems to have football in mind, as the straight, perpendicular right field wall and scoreboard in back are just right for a football gridiron. (Diagram pending.) Indeed, there was a minor league semi-pro football team playing briefly at TD Ameritrade Park (the Omaha Mammoths), and the Fall Experimental Football League has been considering a return to Omaha.

Under coach Brian O'Connor, who began in 2004, the University of Virginia Cavaliers made it to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time in team history in 2009. That was when the CWS was still played in Rosenblatt Stadium. In 2011, 2014, and 2015, Virginia advanced to the CWS once again, and in the last two years, they made it all the way to the third and final game of the championship series. In 2014 they lost (to Vanderbilt) by a score of 3-2, and in 2015 (also against Vanderbilt) they won the deciding game of the final series by a score of 4-2.

SOURCE: www.tdameritradeparkomaha.com; bradwilliamsphotography.com; fxfl.com



CLICK on the camera icons (camera) below to see each photo, one by one. (Photos #1 - #4 taken July 25, 2014.)

camera #1: Exterior view from the northwest, showing the main gate and the famous "Road to Omaha" statue.

camera #2: Exterior panoramic view from the southwest.

camera #3:(Obstructed) interior panoramic view from the main gate behind home plate.

camera #4: The west side, showing banners of the contending teams in the 2014 College World Series .

camera #5: Rosenblatt Stadium, exterior panoramic view of the (southwest) main gate. (August 2009)

camera #6: Rosenblatt Stadium, exterior panoramic view from the north. (August 2009)

TD Ameritrade Park photo

Vox populi: Fans' impressions

Have you been to this stadium? If so, feel free to share your impressions of it with other fans! (Registration is required.) Also, I welcome submissions of original stadium photos that fans have taken, and will make sure they get properly credited. Just send me an e-mail message via the Contact page.


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