NCAA VP/Baseball & Football Dennis Poppe is "pleased so far with the new" TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, according to the AP. Poppe said that "other than a few minor glitches," the first College World Series at the $131M ballpark "has run smoothly." The "only issue that has come up is the placement of fencing above the yellow line on the outfield wall." Univ. of Florida 1B Brian Johnson "hit a ball Saturday that struck the fence and bounced back onto the field." Johnson "was held to a double, but the NCAA umpiring supervisor said after the game that the hit should have been ruled a home run." Attendance after nine games of this year's CWS was 197,310, or an average of 21,923. Last year's CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium drew 191,143 fans, or an average of 21,238, at a comparable point (AP, 6/23).
EXPRESS DELIVERY: In Omaha, Jeffrey Robb reports Ticket Express purchased "four of the centerpiece memorabilia items" from Rosenblatt Stadium that were "put up for auction Thursday." The company spent $21,000 on four signs from the ballpark, including the "big red 'Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium' sign" and the "tall Rosenblatt Stadium/Henry Doorly Zoo sign from 13th Street." In total "some 800 items or groups of items were auctioned off, from the largest signs down to toilets." About 160 people "congregated early Thursday in the Rosenblatt parking lot to bid," and "about 700 bidders from across the country were registered" online. Robb notes the "home plate from Rosenblatt's last game already went" to the Baseball HOF (Omaha WORLD-HERALD, 6/24).
