The stadium is gone. The history remains.
Some pieces of baseball history are preserved in photographs.
Others survive in stories, scorebooks, programs, uniforms, and the memories passed from one generation to another.
And sometimes, history survives in something as simple as a brick.
Sitting in the Link family baseball archive is an authentic brick paver that once stood at the entrance to Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha—the longtime home of the College World Series.
For most baseball fans, Rosenblatt represents one of the most important places in the history of the college game.
For our family, the connection is personal.
Omaha, 1968
In 1968, Mike Link traveled to Omaha as a member of the USC baseball team.
That season ended with USC winning the College World Series and a national championship under legendary coach Rod Dedeaux.
It became part of a remarkable era in USC baseball history—but for the Link family, it also became part of something much more personal.
Mike carried those experiences with him long after his playing days ended.
The lessons, relationships, traditions, and respect for the game that surrounded those years were eventually passed down to his son, Tim.
And decades later, those same ideas became part of the foundation of Link Baseball.
A Stadium That Became Part of the Game
For generations of college baseball players, coaches, families, and fans, the road to a championship ended in Omaha.
Rosenblatt Stadium became synonymous with that journey.
Teams arrived hoping to make history.
Players stepped onto the field knowing that generations before them had done the same.
Championships were won.
Careers ended.
Legacies began.
And every summer, another group became part of the story.
Eventually, Rosenblatt Stadium disappeared from the Omaha skyline.
But places that meaningful rarely disappear completely.
Their stories remain.
Their memories remain.
And in this case, even pieces of the stadium itself remain.
More Than a Brick
The brick in our archive came from the entrance to Rosenblatt Stadium and is accompanied by its certificate of authenticity.
Its face commemorates USC’s College World Series history.
But what makes the artifact meaningful to us isn’t simply what is printed on it.
It’s what it represents.
It represents a place where Mike Link once competed.
A place where his USC team became national champions.
A place connected to one of the defining chapters of his baseball life.
Today, that brick sits far from Omaha.
But it still carries part of Rosenblatt with it.
And through Mike’s story, it carries part of our family’s baseball history as well.
The Things We Keep
Baseball has always been a game that saves things.
A glove worn by a father.
A ticket from a memorable game.
A championship watch.
An old newspaper clipping.
A photograph tucked away for decades.
A brick from a stadium that no longer exists.
On their own, they may look like objects.
But when the story behind them is preserved, they become something else.
They become connections.
Between places and people.
Between yesterday and today.
Between one generation and the next.
That is why this brick belongs in the Link Baseball Archive.
Rosenblatt Stadium may be gone.
The history remains.
Built on Generations of Baseball.