Johnny Rodgers and Steve Rosenblatt make an appearance

Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers prepares to throw one of the
ceremonial first pitches at Werner Park.

Mike Moustakas is starting to make a habit out of playing catch with kids at Werner Park before games. Tonight, there was a little league team on the field for the pre-game ceremonies and Moose took turns playing catch with several of them.

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Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers threw out one of the ceremonial first pitches. This was his first time at Werner Park. He said they had to give him directions to find the stadium.

The 1972 Heisman Trophy winner spent some time warming up before he took the mound. Afterward, he appeared to be pretty happy about getting the ball to the plate.

“I’m impressed that I was able to make it to the catcher after all these years,” the 59-year-old said. “They always remember if it bounces.”

Royal Man visits Werner Park

Royal Man and Slugerrr have a little fun at
Kauffman Stadium (Photo: Andrew Johnson)

Kansas City Royal fans know heartache – especially those who are too young to remember the glory years. The team has finished over .500 just once (2003) in the past 16 seasons.

During that stretch, the Royals have had more than their share of high draft picks, leading to multiple youth movements – none of which have led to success. But Dayton Moore has been stockpiling talent through the draft and trades since becoming the general manager to the point that Baseball America has recognized the Royals as having the best farm system in the game.

Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean the talent will translate into winning seasons in Kansas City. And with the fanbase growing tired of new youth movements every few years, one particular fan, Troy Olsen, saw a chance to lighten the mood by transforming himself into Royal Man.

Werner Park firsts (chronological order)

This list will be updated as the season progresses.

First	Date	Inn.	Player	Team	Facing	Team	Notes
Pitch	04/16/11	T1	Danny Duffy	OMA	Eric Farris	NAS	7:11 pm/called strk
Strikeout	04/16/11	T1	Danny Duffy	OMA	Eric Farris	NAS	Swinging
HPB	04/16/11	T1	Mat Gamel	NAS	Danny Duffy	OMA	Hit on 3-1 pitch
Hit	04/16/11	B1	David Lough	OMA	Manny Parra	NAS	Infield single to 1B
WP	04/16/11	B1	Manny Parra	NAS	Eric Hosmer	OMA	Lough to 2B
Walk	04/16/11	B1	Eric Hosmer	OMA	Manny Parra	NAS
K the side	04/16/11	T2	Danny Duffy	OMA	Nashville	NAS	4th K in a row
SB	04/16/11	T3	Chris Nowak	NAS	Danny Duffy	OMA	Stole second base
DP	04/16/11	T3	Mike Moustakas	OMA	Brett Carroll	NAS	5 Unassisted
Double	04/16/11	B3	David Lough	OMA	Manny Parra	NAS	Liner off RF wall
OF Asst.	04/16/11	B3	Brett Carroll	NAS	David Lough	OMA	Putout 8-2
Run	04/16/11	B3	Eric Hosmer	OMA	Manny Parra	NAS	Moustakas double
RBI	04/16/11	B3	Mike Moustakas	OMA	Manny Parra	NAS	Drove in Hosmer
Triple	04/16/11	B3	J. Giavotella	OMA	M. DeFelice	NAS	Moustakas scored
Error	04/16/11	B7	A. Machado	NAS	Eric Hosmer	OMA	Throwing error, E6
Win	04/16/11		Jesse Chavez	OMA	Nashville	NAS	Escaped jam in 8th
Loss	04/16/11		Manny Parra	NAS	Omaha	OMA	2 runs in 2.2 inn.
Save	04/16/11		Louis Coleman	OMA	Nashville	NAS	K'd the side in 9th
HR	04/17/11	T2	Taylor Green	NAS	Vin Mazzaro	OMA	Solo shot

Photos from the home opener

Photos from the home opener at Werner Park on Saturday are up on the Omaha Baseball 360 Facebook page. While you are there, click on 'Like' so you'll see new photo albums as they are uploaded.

Historic night at Werner Park ends with a Storm Chaser victory

George Brett, Bob Gibson and Jeff Suppan chat in the
Storm Chasers' dugout before the game.

The Omaha Storm Chasers got a strong effort from their starting pitcher Danny Duffy and got just enough offense to win their inaugural game at Werner Park 2-1 against Nashville in front of 6,533 fans.

Duffy was on a strict pitch count limit (he threw 76 pitches), so he had to be removed one out shy of qualifying for the win (he pitched 4.2 innings). His final line was impressive though: 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 7 Ks.

Everett Teaford, Luis Mendoza, Blaine Hardy, Jesse Chavez and Luis Coleman combined to only allow one earned run over the final 4.1 innings. Chavez got the win. Coleman picked up the save.

New schedule of events for the home opener at Werner Park

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Free Fan Fest. Storm Chaser players will be available to sign autographs and the ballpark will be open for fans to explore.

4:00 pm: Tailgate party in parking lot F4 (the northwest lot) in a tent with live music, food and drinks.

5:15 pm: Ribbon cutting ceremony, followed by the opening of the gates.

6:30 pm: Pregame celebration, scheduled to include Storm Chasers owners Bill Shea, Warren Buffett and Walter Scott, Team President Alan Stein, MLB Hall of Famer George Brett, Minor League Baseball President Pat O’Conner, Pacific Coast League President Branch B. Rickey, local elected officials and many more. The National Anthem will be performed by Omaha native and recent American Idol contestant Tim Halperin.

Opening Night Moved to Saturday

Just received this from the Omaha Storm Chasers:

OMAHA, Neb. — Due to inclement weather, the Omaha Storm Chasers are rescheduling their home opener at Werner Park to tomorrow, Saturday, April 16, 2011 at 7:05 p.m. Fans holding tickets for tonight’s game can exchange their for tickets to tomorrow’s game by taking their tickets to the Werner Park ticket office. Ticket office hours will be extended today until 8 p.m. to accommodate ticket holders and will open tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

Events planned for Friday will be combined with the special events scheduled for Saturday. Friday’s game will be played as part of a doubleheader on Sunday, April 17, 2011 beginning at 2:05 p.m., the regularly scheduled time.

Planned events at Werner Park for the home opener

Weather permitting, here’s a rundown of the planned events at Werner Park this afternoon and tonight for the Storm Chasers home opener:

• Gates open at 5:30 pm. Although if you are hoping to get a free parking spot (Lot F4), it sounds like you might want to get there closer to 4:00 pm. Game time is 7:05 pm.

• Additional free parking opens at Papillion-La Vista South High School (108^th & HWY 370) with shuttles departing for Werner Park every 10 minutes.

• There will be a party tent on the grounds with live music, food and drinks.

• The first 2,500 fans through the gates will receive Werner Park welcome mats.

Suppan pitches well, Duffy on his retirement, and more

There is rain in the forecast for the home opener tomorrow
(Photo: emples)

Jeff Suppan looked much better in his second start of the season last night in Round Rock than in his first start this season. In his first start on April 8 at Albuquerque, he gave up 7 ER on 7 H in 4.0 IP. Last night he gave up just 1 ER on 6 H in 5.1 IP.

Rob White from the Omaha World Herald wrote a feature about LHP Danny Duffy, who is scheduled to start tomorrow night for the first ever Storm Chasers game at Werner Park. The feature includes this quote about Duffy's brief retirement last year: “I knew I wanted to come back a while before I did. Watching 'Baseball Tonight' (on television), and seeing people I had faced kind of lit that fire. Baseball has always been what I was meant to do. I just had to go home for a while to realize that.”

2,500 attend first games at Werner Park

An estimated crowd of 2,500 people got to see Werner Park in trial run mode last night when Papillion-La Vista and Papillion-La Vista South played the first game of a high school doubleheader followed by Papio South and Omaha Creighton Prep.

In addition to the Omaha Storm Chasers' staff testing video and sound operations, news crews and print journalists tested connections in the press box and fans got their first taste of baseball action in the new stadium.

The temperature was in the mid-50s, but with the wind, it felt colder than that.

Storm Chaser fans who love to shoot photos are going to like what they see once they settle into their seats for the first time. The field is close enough to catch facial expressions. Here are a few photos from the first game:

Signage goes up at Werner Park

When you make the turn off Highway 370, you can see the new video board peeking out of Werner Park as well as the new “Werner Park” signage that was just installed this morning. The signage is 66 feet wide, 5 1/2 feet tall and it weighs 1,800 pounds.

“Today is another milestone day in the history of Werner Park,” said Rob Crain, assistant general manager of the Storm Chasers. “It is exciting to see all the wonderful finishing touches come to life.”

Everywhere you look in the stadium, you see evidences of those finishing touches.

The video board is in place. The bullpens are being finished. Decals have been fastened to the cupholders in the seats. And the address has been affixed to the front of the stadium: 12356 Ballpark Way.

Jesse Cuevas spends one final day at Rosenblatt Stadium

Cuevas speaks to the crowd at Rosenblatt Stadium after
the final Omaha Royals' game there on September 2, 2010.

The Omaha Storm Chasers sent out the following press release today about former Rosenblatt Stadium groundskeeper Jesse Cuevas:

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Cuevas Spends Last Day at Rosenblatt, Honored at Werner Park

Longtime groundskeeper will see his name adorned on a single-game suite at the new ballpark

PAPILLION, NE – Jesse Cuevas, one of the most well-known baseball figures in Omaha, spent his last day at Rosenblatt Stadium Wednesday, ending a 41-year run as an employee at the ballpark. To honor Cuevas, the Omaha Storm Chasers have announced that one of their new suites at Werner Park will bear the longtime groundskeeper’s name.

Several thousand get a sneak peek at Werner Park

The work at Werner Park is estimated to be 90-95% complete

An estimated crowd of 3,000 people braved 30 degree temperatures to take advantage of the Werner Park Sneak Peak from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm Saturday.

Storm Chaser fans went out in groups of 25 on 20-minute tours of the park. They had a chance to see the video board going up, to visit the various suites, to hear about the nuances of the park and to ask questions.

Everything might be new, but the Storm Chasers plan to keep strong ties to the past.

Thousands show up for Werner Park open house

Storm Chasers' broadcaster Mark Nasser
poses with Vortex at the open house

More than 5,000 anxious fans showed up yesterday for the open house at Werner Park, even though temperatures were in the mid-20s and the wind was quite stiff at times.

“Today we were overwhelmed by the number of people who came,” said Rob Crain, assistant general manager of the Omaha Storm Chasers. “It was great support by the community and how excited they are to see Storm Chaser baseball at Werner Park. We’re excited – it’s just 83 more days until we open the season and open Werner Park for real.”

Fans munched on free hotdogs, posed for pictures with Vortex and Stormy (the new team mascots) and browsed the newly opened souvenir shop. They also had a chance to take a quick tour of the ballpark, learning about its nuances while taking refuge in one of the temperature controlled suites that will be available during the season.

Moving day at Rosenblatt Stadium

The moving trucks backed up to Rosenblatt Stadium early this morning, ready to transport office furniture, boxes full of desktop knickknacks and decades of memories.

“This is an unbelievable day,” said Rob Crain, assistant general manager of the Omaha Storm Chasers, while sitting in his now empty office. “I came in the office today beeping the horn – all excited because it’s moving day. We’re really excited. We made a lot of memories here over the past 42 years and we look forward to carrying those over into Werner Park and having a great, long term relationship there.”As the Omaha Storm Chasers’ office staff packed for the move to Werner Park in Sarpy County some 15 miles away, they ran across quite a few surprises.