From too much offense to none: 75 years of the CWS in Omaha has been a rollercoaster

Few things in Omaha have been a mainstay as long as the College World Series. On June 23, 1950, Texas toppled Washington State to win the first series played in Nebraska’s largest city.

Throughout the next 75 years, college baseball would be categorized by a rollercoaster of changes, especially in the last 30 years.

Regulations on the balls and bats and a new stadium are just a few of the differences in today’s series.

A record 24,800 fans per game watched the nation’s final eight teams compete for a national championship last season. Attendance has been steady, while the product on the field has varied drastically.

Through many changes and styles of play, college baseball fans have continuously shown up in droves for the eight-team tournament.

Sam Dinkelman graduated from high school in May and is playing his final season for Grand Island’s American Legion baseball team this summer.

The shortstop and pitcher remembers going to the College World Series for the first time in 2012. Back then, Dinkelman said teams focused on moving runners one base at a time.

“There was a lot more small ball played and stuff, really good defense,” Dinkelman said.

In 2013, UCLA won the national championship. The Bruins hit just 19 home runs the entire season, according to Baseball America. That’s not much offense. And big hits are typically more popular among fans.

In the last several years, the sport has gone from a home run derby to a bunting competition, and then back and forth a few times.

Despite the lack of offense in his early CWS experiences, Dinkelman was awe-struck by college baseball.

“(For my) first time being there and seeing college players at that level, it was eye-opening, really inspiring,” Dinkelman said.

It made it full circle, with Dinkelman enrolling in college this fall and continuing his baseball career.

He will call Northwest Missouri State home in just a few months. The high school grad will study biology, with hopes of getting into optometry.

The Grand Island summer team also makes an annual trip to watch the nation’s eight best college clubs compete. One fan base sticks out in his decade-plus time as a CWS patron, Dinkelman said.

“There were so many LSU fans there,” he said.

Tiger fans have gained a reputation for their passion and friendliness, as well as becoming a mainstay in the legendary jello shot challenge.

All College World Series fans have experienced several different versions of America’s pastime in Omaha.

Changes after a ‘football score’

Kyle Peterson grew up in Elkhorn. He pitched at Stanford, playing in the 1995 and 1997 College World Series.

Now, he broadcasts the tournament for ESPN.

Bat companies in the 1990s intentionally made their bats more potent, Peterson said.

“It was legal because there weren't any specifications. They changed it after the national championship game in 1998 was 21-14,” Peterson said. “When they had a football score for a national championship, they looked at it and said ‘We can't do this anymore.’”

Teams, like LSU, had already built their rosters around hitting the long ball, he said.

“Shortly thereafter is when the NCAA started dialing things back,” Peterson said.

In 1999, one year after the football score in a championship game, the NCAA adopted the ball exit speed ratio (BESR) requirement for college aluminum bats. Peterson said bats had to be tested for the first time, to ensure the average batted ball velocity didn’t exceed a certain standard.

It didn’t work.

Teams eventually realized bats became “juiced” the more they were used. By 2009, the home run rate jumped by more than 40% compared to two years prior, according to Baseball America.

After more than a decade of failing to neutralize the offense, the NCAA landed on the batted ball coefficient of restitution (BBCOR) standard of bats in 2011. These sticks didn’t sound as loud as previous versions, which made a piercing “ping” sound.

The BBCOR bats sounded and played more like wooden bats. That, combined with moving the series from hitter-friendly Rosenblatt Stadium to what was then called TD Ameritrade Park, changed the game drastically.

“When we moved to TD Ameritrade Park, I think it was too dialed back,” Peterson said.

All of a sudden, the offense went away. The 2014 College World Series was especially quiet offensively, Peterson said.

“There were two or three home runs in the whole College World Series,” Peterson said, “and that's not the way the game is intended to be played.”

Three home runs in about 15 total games. It was a far cry from the infamous 21-14 championship game in 1998, when USC and Arizona State slugged a combined nine home runs in a single game.

By the 2015 season, a new ball was introduced. The seams were lower, creating less “drag” as the ball flies in the air.

“It's gotten back to the ball and the bat agreeing with more offense,” Peterson said. “But there was a period of time, to where the offense had essentially gone away in college baseball.”

Pitchers can throw harder with the new ball, too.

“Everybody likes offense,” Peterson said. “Now, it's at a point that I think there's enough, but it's not egregious.”

Finding a sweet spot

As a season ticket holder since 1992, Roger Simonsen of Omaha agrees the NCAA has found a sweet spot.

“I think they've gotten to a pretty good balance,” Simonsen said of the bat and ball changes.

Despite the more balanced game, he misses the character of the old stadium.

“I prefer the Rosenblatt experience overall,” Simonsen said, “in terms of showing up for a game, walking through the South Omaha neighborhood, a more eclectic vending choice at the ballpark and the red, blue and yellow seats.”

The new park located near downtown Omaha, now called Charles Schwab Field, is cookie cutter and doesn’t have much flare, Simonsen said.

“At the Rosenblatt with the desert dome in right field, everybody across the country knew the desert dome sitting out there,” Simonsen said, “and there was that then immediate connection with Omaha.”

But he also understands it serves a purpose for the growth of the game and said recent business developments in the area have been positive.

“North of downtown has really been a transformation over the last 15 years, because those first years, it was an industrial graveyard,” Simonsen said.

The new location puts the city’s best foot forward, in terms of offerings for visitors, Simonsen and Peterson said.

Regardless of where the games are played, Simonsen said it’s a festival-like experience each season.

“My favorite part has to be seeing the fans from other universities around the country come in and root for their teams,” Simonsen said. “The enthusiasm that they bring lifts it to a level of excitement that wouldn't be there if it was just Omaha people.”

In at least one respect, the game has returned to the 2000s era. There’s a renewed emphasis on power hitting and home runs, Grand Island’s Dinkelman said.

“I know the last few years I’ve seen a lot of home runs, but those first years I saw a few,” Dinkelman said. “But I think the bats are a lot better now too.”

The experience outside of the stadium gives high school ballplayers plenty to see. The tents and shops in the area are a great spot for trying out new gear, Dinkelman said.

“Lots of new stuff, new bats, new gloves that people can try, so it's pretty cool,” Dinkelman said.

He recently bought a new bat at the College World Series.

The product on the field is as good as ever. Grand Island third baseman Ethan Coslor said college baseball is more skilled and athletic today.

“It was definitely a little less flashy” (in previous years), Coslor said. “Players had probably less of a skill set.”

New training techniques are likely the main reason, Coslor said.

Pitchers now throw faster in Major League Baseball. It trickled down to college and even youth baseball, said Peterson, who credits advancements in training and what we know about throwing fast.

Major League Baseball teams used to prefer drafting players right out of high school. High school prospects could spend multiple years in the minors before getting called up to The Show.

“The way professional baseball looks at college baseball is very different now,” Peterson said. “They realize that you can get these kids out of college, and ultimately they can be in the big leagues in a year.”

Collegiate players are more proven and experienced, so they are more likely to be successful draft choices, Peterson said. This has led to more high-quality high school prospects deciding to pursue college

Improved play at the college level and a more balanced game could have led to the record attendance numbers in 2024.

But Peterson said the number of college teams with dedicated fan bases, usually from the Southeastern Conference, put fans in the seats last year. There were four SEC teams in the College World Series last year but just two this year, Arkansas and LSU.

No matter who’s playing, Peterson said, people from the Omaha-area will show up.

After all, they showed up when it was a bunting competition.