A Fond Farewell

Jason Budden: Un-Common Sense?

Every June, the College World Series captures the sporting spotlight through the continuous ping of Louisville Slugger bats. Baseball fans nationwide are captivated as 64 becomes 16 and finally the Omaha Eight that create the College World Series. It’s teams like Fresno State that define the CWS. In 2008, they were a four seed in the regionals, and went on to win it all. That’s like a 13 - 16 seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament winning the tournament. Unheard of, yet it happened in Omaha.

This is one of thousands of amazing moments that have occurred at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska, but the moments are running out. This is the last year that the CWS will be played at Rosenblatt Stadium. Next year, the tournament will move downtown to the TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, currently being built in preparation for 2011. The sound of it just screams “commercial.” How many years before TD Ameritrade Park becomes the Bank of America Park or the AOL Park.

Rosenblatt Stadium was built in 1948 and began hosting the CWS in 1950. The park seats 23,100 fans, which is one of the main reasons for the move. The CWS has gone from a tournament to an event, and there’s enough demand to warrant a larger and more state of the art stadium. While it makes sense from a business perspective, baseball fans will be sorry to see it go. Within its walls, many of the greatest college players in history have competed. While many of the participants have gone on to greatness at the professional level, many of them are now doctors or teachers…having graduated and moved into what is the “real world” for the majority of us.

I think that’s what helps connect our country to college sports in general. While the NCAA is big business, these are still 18 – 22 year old kids, playing a sport that they love, before entering the “real world.”

While the CWS will continue its storied history next year, and we’ll all continue to watch, I can tell you that I’m paying closer attention this year than ever. I don’t want to miss the last moments that Johnny Rosenblatt has to offer.


Jason Budden is the Vice President of Operations and Marketing at Baseball Factory. Jason joined the Baseball Factory in 1997 while still a junior in high school. After going through the Baseball Factory's college recruiting program he was placed at Johns Hopkins University where he played two years of college baseball before graduating with a degree in Economics. After working part-time at the Factory throughout college, Jason joined the team as a full-time employee in January 2002 when he was promoted to Director of Marketing. He currently oversees all marketing projects and sponsorship opportunities at Baseball Factory. He is also in charge of development and marketing for Baseball University, the leader in online baseball education and a division of Baseball Factory.