Sign-In
Cart
Built for Omaha: South Carolina Baseball
Paperback
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jan 29 2026
Pages: 198
Weight: 0.60
Height: 0.42 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
South Carolina baseball did not stumble into greatness. It built it slowly, deliberately, and painfully, over four decades of near-misses, heartbreak, and stubborn belief.
Built for Omaha tells the full story of how baseball became the University of South Carolina's most reliable path to national relevance when football and basketball could not deliver it. Beginning with Paul Dietzel's decision in 1970 to invest in a neglected program, the book traces Bobby Richardson's transformation of an afterthought into a national contender, June Raines's twenty years of sustained excellence without closure, and Ray Tanner's final breakthrough that delivered back-to-back national championships in 2010 and 2011.
Along the way, it explains why South Carolina kept getting close without finishing, how the College World Series punishes programs built for regular-season success rather than postseason survival, and why player development, pitching depth, and mental toughness ultimately mattered more than recruiting rankings. It also examines the voices, venues, rivalries, and fan culture that sustained the program through decades of waiting, making the championships feel earned rather than accidental.
The book does not end with celebration. It follows the program through its post-championship decline, the difficulty of replacing a legendary coach, the impact of conference strength, transfers, and Name, Image, and Likeness, and the hard truth that championships do not preserve themselves.
This second edition has been updated and expanded for the 2026 season. New material covers Paul Mainieri's March 2026 departure after the program's worst SEC start, Monte Lee's interim run, the first thirty-loss season in 131 years of Gamecock baseball, and the paradox of an incoming transfer class ranked first in the country producing a lineup that finished last in the Southeastern Conference in batting average. The book also expands its game-by-game coverage of the 1975, 1977, and 2002 trips to the College World Series final and the 2010 through 2012 championship runs from Super Regional through final. The story of the 1980 series at Mark Light Field against Ron Fraser's Miami program has been added in full, and the chapter on rivalries has been broadened. The book closes by asking whether South Carolina's titles will stand as an isolated peak or the foundation for something that can be built again.
Written by a lifelong Gamecock fan who first encountered the program during the 1975 College World Series, Built for Omaha is a serious, unsentimental history of one of college baseball's great programs, and of what it actually takes to win when winning is hardest.
Also from
Elton, Donald
Vice House: Edición en Español: El vicio de los presidentes y su impacto en la historia de América
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Seis Días para Vivir: Una novela de Cash Malone Thriller judicial en Cayo Hueso
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Tampa Vice: El auge y la caída del crimen organizado en la ciudad más famosa de Florida
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Recursos Familiares UCI: Lo que toda familia debe saber cuando una vida está en juego
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Icu-Familienhilfe: Was jede Familie wissen muss, wenn ein Leben auf dem Spiel steht
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Noch Sechs Tage zu Leben: Ein Cash-Malone-Roman Ein Legal-Thriller aus Key West
Elton, Donald
Paperback
Also in
Baseball & Softball
Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins
Bruton, Jim
Bremer, Dick
Hardcover
The Magical Game: The Spirit and History of Baseball's Superstitions, Rituals, and Curses
Baird, Addy
Hardcover
The Bosses of the Bronx: The Endless Drama of the Yankees Under the House of Steinbrenner
Vaccaro, Mike
Hardcover
Fans First: Change The Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience
Cole, Jesse
Paperback
Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball's New Era of Pitching Dominance
Friedman, Rob
Hardcover
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball
Miller, John W.
Hardcover
True Blue: The Dramatic History of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Told by the Men Who Lived It
Delsohn, Steve
Paperback
It's a Numbers Game! Baseball: The Math Behind the Perfect Pitch, the Game-Winning Grand Slam, and So Much More!
Buckley
National Geographic Kids
Hardcover
Royal Treatment: Jackie Robinson, Montreal, and the Breaking of Baseball's Color Barrier
McLaughlin, Sean J.
Hardcover
Brain Games - To Go - Facts & Fun: Baseball: Info, Stats, Puzzles, Quizzes & More
Publications International Ltd
Brain Games
Paperback
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II
Keene, Anne R.
Paperback
Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball's Greatest Rivalry
Wrenn, Chris
Hardcover
Out of This World: How the Los Angeles Dodgers Captured Back-To-Back World Series Championships
Los Angeles Daily News
Paperback
The Chosen City, The Owner, the Players, and the New Hampshire City that Integrated Baseball in the United States
Ranauro, Bill
Paperback
The Franchise: San Francisco Giants: A Curated History of the Orange and Black
Pavlovic, Alex
Paperback
In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball
Fitts, Robert K.
Hardcover
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball
O'Brien, Keith
Paperback
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season
Ballard, Chris
Paperback
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City
Mahler, Jonathan
Paperback
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality
Pearlman, Jeff
Paperback
L.A. Story: Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and a Season for the Ages
Plunkett, Bill
Hardcover
Weird Moments in Cleveland Sports: Bottlegate, Bedbugs, and Burying the Pennant
Guerrieri, Vince
Paperback
Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game
Sexton, John
Oliphant, Thomas
Schwartz, Peter J.
Paperback
We Sacrifice Everything to Baseball: How the Czech Republic's Amateur Underdogs Became World Baseball Classic Heroes
Clair, Michael
Hardcover
A Year of Playing Catch: What a Simple Daily Experiment Taught Me about Life
Bryan, Ethan D.
Paperback
America's Ballparks: A Trip Across the Country to Visit Baseball's Playing Fields, Old and New
Hajeski, Nancy J.
Hardcover
The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game's Greatest Players
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
Legendary Ballparks: Moments and Memories from America's Most Storied Stadiums
Enders, Eric
Hardcover
America's Classic Ballparks - Revised Edition: Celebrating Parks Past and Present
Buckley Jr, James
Hardcover
Coaching with Purpose: The Game Plan That Helps Coaches Build Winners on and Off the Field
Madison, Keith
Paperback
Crazy '08: How a Cast of Cranks, Rogues, Boneheads, and Magnates Created the Greatest Year in Baseball History
Murphy, Cait N.
Paperback
The Last Best League, 10th Anniversary Edition: One Summer, One Season, One Dream
Collins, Jim
Paperback
They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The '69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseball History
Coffey, Wayne
Paperback
Summer of the Cheap Wieners: What the 1941 Phillies Were Up to While Joe Dimaggio Was Making History
Klugh, Justin
Paperback
The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty: The Game, the Team, and the Cost of Greatness
Olney, Buster
Paperback
Slider: A baseball story that throws love, murder, drugs and corruption into the game.
Alderman, Peter
Paperback
Glory Days in Tribe Town: The Cleveland Indians and Jacobs Field 1994-1997
Hamilton, Tom
Pluto, Terry
Paperback
The Complete Book of Baseball Trivia: Test Your Knowledge with 750 Questions
Chandler, Matt
Paperback
Back When We Were Colored, Helping Black Athletes During Segregation, and Being Helped By Some 'Decent White Men' Along the Way
Woolfolk, Virgal Tyrone
Paperback
Tenacious and True: Coastal Carolina's 2016 Championship and the Rise of a Baseball Power
Pleasant, Scott
Hardcover
Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley's Swingin' A's
Turbow, Jason
Paperback
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It
Ritter, Lawrence S.
Paperback
Ron Shandler's 2026 Baseball Forecaster: And Encyclopedia of Fanalytics
Kruse, Brandon
Murphy, Ray
Hershey, Brent
Paperback
Brain Games - Baseball Goats (Greatest of All Time) Word Search: Players, Managers, Games, Mascots, & More!
Publications International Ltd
Brain Games
Paperback
The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge: Over 600 Quiz Questions for Die-Hard Baseball Fans
Patton, Hank
Paperback
Hot Foot: My Hijinks and Upside-Down Life with the World Champion New York Mets
Feldmann, Doug
McDowell, Roger
Hardcover
Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball
Epplin, Luke
Paperback
Baseball in Paradise: A Century of Spring Training in Bradenton, Florida
Carlucci, Pasquale A.
Hardcover
Play Harder: The Triumph of Black Baseball in America
Early, Gerald
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Hardcover
So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin' True Story of the New York Mets--The Best Worst Team in Sports
Gordon, Devin
Hardcover
Baseball as It Was: Building Champions Before Free Agency Changed Everything
Ferling, John E.
Hardcover
The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer's Thirty-Two Years in Arlington
Sullivan, T. R.
Hardcover
Bleacher Seats and Luxury Suites: Democracy and Division at the Twentieth-Century Ballpark
Tannenbaum, Seth S.
Paperback
Second to None: A Coach's Message of Love & Selflessness Propels Tiny El Segundo to a Dramatic Little League World Title
Coonan
Boehle, Danny Joseph
Paperback