Arkansas won the first game, and we were secretly cheering for Oregon State to win the second. We talked to people that stood in line in the sunshine in 90+ degree heat, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. just to secure a general admission seat to watch that second game. The stadium was packed with a standing-room-only crowd as an epic game unfolded. Arkansas was one strike away from winning the game (and the championship), when the last Oregon State batter popped the ball up into foul territory. Three Arkansas players rushed to make the easy catch for the last out and the championship--but none of the three stepped up to make the catch and the ball fell to the ground between them. It was shocking to see as we watched it on television! To make matters worse for the Arkansas team, a couple plays later an Oregon State player hit a home run to win the game.
This would force a third game where the champion would be determined for sure. But because of the rain delays, that game will be played after the tournament was supposed to be completed. So fans that had purchased travel tickets long ago, were forced to fly home before this late championship game. Suddenly we were in Omaha for the championship game, with tickets available!
The $9 general admission tickets were available everywhere, and we even picked up two for just $15 total. As evidence that many baseball fans had left town, the general admission line was ONLY about four blocks long (about a third of yesterday's length).
We had been in town all day, and our Garmin showed that we had already walked ten miles. But we swung back by the car to pick up more snacks and water bottles, and headed to the game at TD Ameritrade Park near downtown Omaha.
We were early, so we staked out good seats under the jumbo-tron. You can see Mark standing in the bottom left corner of the scoreboard as they were introducing the starting line-up for Arkansas.
People with the more expensive reserved seats weren't in any hurry to get to the stadium as the temperatures cranked up to close to 100 degrees. This is the view of the field from the seats behind home plate in the shade. Our tickets, however, are under that distant scoreboard in direct sun.
We saw experienced series fans with towels under their caps, shading their already sunburned faces and necks. Less experienced world series fans had to make due with wet paper towels from the bathroom.
Denisa added to her mileage totals as she walked laps around the stadium, pausing to enjoy the shade. These two sportscasters, however, were in the direct sun, enjoying the heat in their black shirts.
The stadium filled up as the game started at 5:38. It seemed that the red shirts of the Arkansas fans outnumbered the orange-shirted Oregon fans that had to travel much further to be at this game. Because we had met more Arkansas fans, we were cheering for their team.
But the Arkansas team just never could get their bats going, while Oregon kept bringing in an occasional run. As fans got more frustrated and continued to drink more beer in the heat, tempers flared. We watched as several different spectators were taken away in handcuffs.
We finally left the game during the seventh inning stretch, as Arkansas continued to struggle. They had gone from an easy catch to win the championship, to seeing it slip away as they could never regain their momentum. As we walked back to our vehicle, Denisa saw the 13th mile register on her Garmin. We've walked all over Omaha today! We took pictures in front of the magical display of statues by the convention center. It's been a magical day where an odd set of events brought us to Omaha just in time for the championship game. Sometimes it feels like we live a charmed life as we wander His wonders.
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