One-on-one with ESPN college baseball analyst Kyle Peterson, who is very familiar with the Gators and Omaha
Saturday, June 18, 2011 | Baseball, Scott Carter
ESPN announcers Kyle Peterson and Robin Ventura stood behind the batting cage Friday watching Florida take batting practice for the first time at TD Ameritrade Stadium.
The Gators hit some balls deep, but they didn't see anyone hit a ball out of the ballpark other than one each from catcher Mike Zunino and outfielder Preston Tucker. That's not a surprise considering Zunino leads the Gators with 18 home runs and Tucker is second with 14.
Prior to watching the Gators, Peterson and Ventura watched North Carolina and Vanderbilt swing away.
“I think I saw literally two balls leave the park,'' Peterson said. “Usually that gives you a pretty good assessment of how the ballpark is going to play.''
TD Ameritrade Park has the same playing dimensions as Rosenblatt Stadium – 335 feet down the lines, 375 in the alleys and 408 to center field – but don't expect as many home runs at this year's College World Series.
TD Ameritrade Park is expected to play much differently than Rosenblatt did.
“It's a lot bigger,'' Florida coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. “It's more spacious.''
Batters at the new ballpark face southeast, so the south winds common in late spring are expected to hold up fly balls hit to right or center field. Batters at Rosenblatt, where home plate was located where right field is in TD Ameritrade Park, faced northeast.
In addition, Rosenblatt Stadium had a closed concourse, cutting down on wind. The 360-degree concourse at TD Ameritrade is completely open.
The stadium hosted 27 Creighton University games this spring, yielding only 0.56 homers per game (15 homers in 27 games). In its final 10 seasons, Rosenblatt yielded an average of 2.13 homers per game.
A story in Saturday's Omaha World-Herald labeled TD Ameritrade Park “A Pitcher's Paradise.”
Peterson said Friday that he sees the park certainly playing bigger than Rosenblatt did.
“Look at the flags,'' Peterson said, pointing to a stiff wind blowing in from right field. “That's what you are going to see. If we are sitting at the other place, home plate is down there.''
Peterson's analysis comes with a unique perspective. He grew up and lives in Omaha and is very familiar with the weather this time of year. Peterson also called a Creighton-Nebraska game at TD Ameritrade Park in May to get a feel for how the park might play.
A former major league pitcher with the Brewers, Peterson would much rather start a game in TD Ameritrade than in Rosenblatt.
“It's going to play a lot bigger. You can throw the bats into the equation and everything else, but if the wind helps you here, it's going to be cold, because the wind is going to have to be coming out of north,'' Peterson said. “I think it's going to play pretty big. The area around the dugout is a lot bigger than it was before too, so you get outs over here that you didn't get before.''
There's one more reason Peterson expects to see scoring down at this year's CWS.
“What you've got here is you've got the absolute top arms in the country,'' he said. “You see those over the course of the season, but here you see them every game. So you throw that in with the bats and how the ballpark is going to play, you better be able to defend because there are going to be a lot of one-run games.''
Peterson is familiar with the Gators. He called multiple Gator games this season and likes Florida's chances considering its pitching is deep and the lineup is one of the most dangerous in the country, ranked fifth in the NCAA with 67 home runs.
“I've seen Florida as much as any team,'' Peterson said. “And I've said it here -- I think Florida and Vanderbilt are the two most complete teams. When you look up and down the roster, there are no glaring weaknesses.''
If the Gators do win their first national championship, Peterson believes the experience of playing in Omaha a year ago will play a huge role.
“They are a year older,'' he said. “Other than that, it's essentially the same pieces and parts except a year older. Try to find a weakness. It's not there. They have got everything that you want to see, and I think it's a huge advantage that they have been in this setting.
“I don't care what conference you play in, what stadium you play in, it's different when you come here. It's an advantage when you've been here before.''
Peterson is teaming with Dave O'Brien and Nomar Garciaparra in calling tonight's Gators-Longhorns game. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
