How to Fix the College World Series

[TheRef]

For the first time in a long time, no home runs have been hit in the first 8 games of the College World Series. The offensive production is pitiful. Actually, it's worse than pitiful. It's non-existant. Jim Schlossnagle, TCU Head Coach, was quoted after the game saying "It's just a travesty what we've done to college baseball," in reference to the College World Series and TD Ameritrade Park. They NEED to move the fences in at least. No excuse for no HR between LCF and RCF in the years that college teams have played there. No excuse at all. Whenever Coaches and Media say it's obvious that there's something wrong, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG. But I'm sure nothing will happen because of the new ball. Get ready for another lack-luster year of College World Series ball.

[Dawg61]

They need to fix the constant wind issue, it's wind, figure out how to block it and they must get rid of these shitty bats and just go MLB wood imo. A lot of these players will be using wood very soon anyways.

[messageboardsuperhero]

I'm pretty sure that no player on any team (college or on the Omaha AAA team) has hit a ball out to dead center before- and in the 3+ years the CWS has been there, no team in the tournament has hit a ball out between the power alleys. There is a big-time problem with that stadium. The home run is totally nonexistent there. And fixing those issues while maintaining the world class quality of the stadium will be tough to do without millions more dollars.

As for college baseball as a whole, I wish they'd just go to wood bats and be done with it. The NCAA would never go for that though, because "no school shall be left behind." Wood bats wouldn't fix TD Ameritrade, but it would make the college game much more enjoyable as a whole.

[Todd4State]

They're going to bring in the new baseball next year. We'll see if that helps or not.

[engie]

They're going to bring in the new baseball next year. We'll see if that helps or not.

No doubt that it'll "help", but my problem is just how much of an outlier that park is. It'll still be an outlier even if the new balls let a couple more bombs leave there every year...

No way to "fix" it in a world class manner consistent with the rest of the park without spending another boat load of money either...

[HereComesTheSpiral]

Pretty sad when teams are able to make first round picks non factors because they can throw up junk balls because the park will keep it in.

[codeDawg]

No doubt that it'll "help", but my problem is just how much of an outlier that park is. It'll still be an outlier even if the new balls let a couple more bombs leave there every year...

No way to "fix" it in a world class manner consistent with the rest of the park without spending another boat load of money either...

Exactly. There is no reason for the CWS park to play so much differently than 99% of the parks around the country.

[RIdog]

Or , you know , they could just let every team have one of the Bears loaded bats :o
For the first time in a long time, no home runs have been hit in the first 8 games of the College World Series. The offensive production is pitiful. Actually, it's worse than pitiful. It's non-existant. Jim Schlossnagle, TCU Head Coach, was quoted after the game saying "It's just a travesty what we've done to college baseball," in reference to the College World Series and TD Ameritrade Park. They NEED to move the fences in at least. No excuse for no HR between LCF and RCF in the years that college teams have played there. No excuse at all. Whenever Coaches and Media say it's obvious that there's something wrong, THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG. But I'm sure nothing will happen because of the new ball. Get ready for another lack-luster year of College World Series ball.

[starkvegasdawg]

The park itself is not that big. It's not a little league park but. It is not some cavernous monster. 335 down the lines, 376 in the alleys, and 408 to center. For comparison Turner Field is 390 to the RF alley. Trust mark Park is only a combined 11 feet smaller than TD Ameritrade and we don't gripe about having to play games there. If you want to complain about the field orientation and the wind blowing in then fine but it is not the only park that has issues when the wind blows in. See Wrigley Field. Lastly, TD Ameritrade is exact same dimensions as Rosenblatt. Blame the wind or the bats but don't blame the stadium.

[SheltonChoked]

But it is the stadium. Or how the stadium is oriented with respect to the enviromental conditions it was built in. This is as big or bigger an error as if it had even built facing east west and the batter was looking into the sun.

Again. The best way to fix it might be lowering the field and or double decking the outfield seats to block the wind. But even that may not help.

IMO Really all a new ball will do is further show how much of an outlier the park is.

[Sam&DeansDawg]

They need to fix the constant wind issue, it's wind, figure out how to block it and they must get rid of these shitty bats and just go MLB wood imo. A lot of these players will be using wood very soon anyways.

It would be great to see wood bats but that'll never happen IMO

[Goat from MSU]

The AAA club does not played there .They have a place outside of town . The park is used very little.
I'm pretty sure that no player on any team (college or on the Omaha AAA team) has hit a ball out to dead center before- and in the 3+ years the CWS has been there, no team in the tournament has hit a ball out between the power alleys. There is a big-time problem with that stadium. The home run is totally nonexistent there. And fixing those issues while maintaining the world class quality of the stadium will be tough to do without millions more dollars.

As for college baseball as a whole, I wish they'd just go to wood bats and be done with it. The NCAA would never go for that though, because "no school shall be left behind." Wood bats wouldn't fix TD Ameritrade, but it would make the college game much more enjoyable as a whole.

[HancockCountyDog]

All I know is that the Cron kid murdered a pitch last night and it didn't make it to the track.

Having to watch teams hope for HBP, errors, or walks is just not enjoyable. I still don't understand what was wrong with the bats back in 2010.

[Pioneer Dawg]

I still don't understand what was wrong with the bats back in 2010.

There was slightly too much power with those bats. The shift to BBCOR should have been about 20% of what actually happened with the bats.

[Jack Lambert]

How many homerunds does the Storm Chasers hit there every year?

[maroonmania]

But it is the stadium. Or how the stadium is oriented with respect to the enviromental conditions it was built in. This is as big or bigger an error as if it had even built facing east west and the batter was looking into the sun.

Again. The best way to fix it might be lowering the field and or double decking the outfield seats to block the wind. But even that may not help.

IMO Really all a new ball will do is further show how much of an outlier the park is.

I'm just dumbfounded that smart people couldn't factor the environmental conditions into the design of a multi-million dollar baseball park that would host the biggest college event of the year EVERY year. The current setup is a joke and boring as hell trying to hit the ball into a hurricane headwind. You have about a 20 foot wind down each line to hit a HR and that's it. And that window is only available if its a line drive type hit. The Renfroe homer last year was very close to the left field line last year, that's the only way it got out. Something is eventually going to have to be done. TD Ameritrade makes Dudy Noble look like a power hitter's paradise.

[ScoobaDawg]

How many homerunds does the Storm Chasers hit there every year?

Zero.
They don't play there anymore.

Creighton plays a few games there per year.