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Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks

*Location: Fairbanks, Alaska

League: Alaska Baseball League

Stadium: Growden Memorial Park

Team Bio

Founded in 1960 as an independent barnstorming team, the Pan-Alaska Goldpanners became charter members of the Alaska Baseball League at the league's inception in 1974. As the nation's most elite Summer Collegiate Baseball team, the Goldpanners play their home games at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, AK. They also host the annual Midnight Sun Game, one of the most quirky and unique games in all of baseball.

Like other Summer Collegiate Baseball teams, the Alaska Goldpanner of Fairbanks are dedicated and designed to providing minor league level competition for NCAA players that wish to continue on into professional baseball. The Goldpanners operate in a similar manner to a Minor League team: playing nightly in stadiums before fans, using wood bats and minor league specification equipment, and experiencing road trips between games. Like all other summer collegiate players, they are unpaid in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility, and live with host families in the same manner as Single A and Independent League players.

The Alaska Goldpanners gained fame worldwide in the early 1960s as runners-up in the 1962 NBC National Championship. The curiosity of being the only team from the Last Frontier endeared them to many in the Lower 48, giving them almost cult status among baseball fans. However, when the Anchorage Pilots were founded in the 1969, they became one of two teams from the state of Alaska. So, officially the team became the "Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks" in 1963. Within the ABL, and in TV and newspaper coverage throughout the state they're referred to as the "Fairbanks Goldpanners", but outside the state they are still commonly known as the "Alaska Goldpanners".

Over the years, the club has amassed numerous distinctions. Besides the unprecedented number of tournament championships, the Goldpanners stand alone in amateur baseball history. With alumni involved in all levels of baseball (and with representation in NFL football in the person of Dan Pastorini), the Goldpanners are represented throughout the sporting world. In 2008, former Goldpanner Bill "Spaceman" Lee returned to Fairbanks to avenge a loss in the 1967 Midnight Sun Game. During his time with the club, which included a win for Lee in the Midnight Sun Game, Bill declared that the Goldpanners were "the number one amateur baseball organization in history."

2010 On Field Staff

Manager:

Infield Coach: -

Pitching Coach: -

Midnight Sun game

First held in 1906, the annual is held yearly in Fairbanks, AK and hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners. The game, which begins at 10:30 PM on the night of the summer solstice, has gained the attention of international media, and is one of the oddest features of baseball the world over.
Baseball America declared the game one of the "10 Must-See Baseball Events." In 2005, ESPN spotlighted the game during "50 States in 50 Days." ESPN The Magazine called the event the "#8 Ultimate Baseball Experience." The Sporting News declared that on the 21st of June, "Fairbanks is the Baseball Capitol of America".

"I've been lucky enough to attend many World Series, All-Star Games and Opening Days but the Midnight Sun Game is in a league of its own." Greg Harris, National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

"Everybody should have an opportunity to come to Alaska and see the Midnight Sun Game" Bobby Doerr, MLB Hall of Famer