A Note on the Ballpark's Names vi Acknowledgments ix Foreword (John C. Manuel) 1 Introduction (Bill Lamberty, Kevin Warneke, Gary Rosenberg and Libby Krecek) 3 Part I: History and Background Baseball in Omaha Before Rosenblatt Stadium (Bruce Esser) 9 Johnny Rosenblatt and the Ballpark on the Hill (Gary Rosenberg) 27 Minor League Baseball at Rosenblatt Stadium (Robert P. Nash) 45 The College World Series Comes to Omaha (Dennis N. Mihelich) 60 The Greatest Show on Dirt: The College World Series Years at Rosenblatt Stadium (Jeremy S. Bloch) 75 African American Baseball at Rosenblatt Stadium (David C. Ogden) 88 They Grew a Ball Field: Rosenblatt Stadium's Icons (Devon M. Niebling) 100 They All Played at Rosenblatt Stadium (John Shorey) 121 Dingerville: South Omaha's Annual Transformation (Bill Lamberty) 137 The Price of Growth: Rosenblatt Stadium and Big-Time Athletics (Sherrie L. Wilson) 149 Part II: Memories Community Leaders 169 Minor League Baseball 174 College World Series 187 Fans 221 Media 243 Afterword (Mike Martin) 273 Appendix A: Rosenblatt Stadium Timeline 277 Appendix B: Minor League Teams at Rosenblatt Stadium, 1949–2010 281 Appendix C: NCAA College World Series Champions 284 About the Contributors 287 Bibliography 289 Index 291