"Bill The Spaceman Lee made an
appearance, not for a ceremonial pitch but he started
and pitched 6 innings and is still in line for the win.
I can die a happy man seeing the Spaceball/Leephus pitch
in person. It was magical."
PannerVision:
2008
Goldpanners : Youth Baseball Clinics - Every summer, the Alaska
Goldpanners provide clinics for all levels of youth baseball in the<
Interior. Products of the Fairbanks baseball program include Sean Timmons, who is the Goldpanners' winningest pitcher.
Home Run chase turns
eyes to Fairbanks Nobody in our organization had a harsh word
to say about Barry Bonds, Dennis said. He was exemplary and he was
just an average college kid. He had a tremendous sense of humor,
too.
Baseball at midnight? Only in Alaska
(Miami Herald) - It was weird,' said Brad Arnsberg, a former Marlins
pitching coach, of the Midnight Sun experience. You had to have foil on your
bedroom windows just to keep the light from jumping in when you were trying to
sleep. I remember, unfortunately, walking out of a couple of bars at three or
four in the morning and it was broad daylight. It was kind of an odd feeling.'
So Many Reasons to Love Baseball in Fairbanks "At Growden, where the box shakes and trembles in even a slight breeze, you take your chances every time you go up there. Covering a game during which your life is in danger surely changes your perspective."
8/23/8:
Beau Mills (06)
Kinston hands out end of year awards
"Kinston first baseman Beau Mills is the
recipient of the Kinston Indians Pat
Crawford MVP award. This may be the
first of many awards this season for
Mills who currently leads the Carolina
League with 21 home runs and 89 RBI.
Mills is also 2nd in the CL
in extra base hits (58), 3rd
in hits (139) and in the top five in
doubles (34), slugging (.507), and runs
scored (78).
8/16/8:
Allan Dykstra (05)
Dykstra and Padres agree to deal with an
hour to spare "The reworked deal,
reached about an hour before Friday
night's deadline for all unsigned
draftees, saved the Padres about
$250,000. But the medical detour raised
skepticism about Dykstra's hip, which
was repaired before he began his varsity
baseball career at Rancho Bernardo."
8/14/8:
Allan Dykstra (05)
Dykstra unsigned as deadline looms
"We think Dykstra will probably come
down to the last day," San Diego general
manager Kevin Towers said. "This one had
a couple of hurdles ... some curveballs
that we weren't expecting. So that's why
it's taken a little more time."
8/12/8:
How to make the 75th NBC tournament
special - "Alaska Night. Maybe you
pay off one of the local weathermen to
create a really cool day at the
ballpark. Dave Freeman has that kind of
power, right? If not, you at least set
aside a night to honor the Alaska
tradition that has been so important to
the World Series.
From 1969
through 2002, Alaska teams accounted for
15 of 34 championships. The Fairbanks
Goldpanners, Anchorage Glacier Pilots,
Kenai Peninsula Oilers, Mat-Su Miners
and Anchorage Bucs have been great for
the tournament and provided some of the
best players in its history, such as Tom
Seaver (Panners), Dave Winfield
(Panners), Rick Monday
(Panners), Chris Chambliss (Pilots),
Graig Nettles
(Panners), Mark McGwire
(Pilots), Barry Bonds
(Panners) and many others."
Cats' shortstop Cameron Blair (04
MVP), who was hit by a pitch
last Friday in St. Paul, was
diagnosed with a broken wrist on
Monday and is out for the season.
8/9/8:
Mike
Cervenak (98)
Cervenak relieved to collect first MLB hit
"I think I kind of pictured it not
being a high chopper through the infield," Cervenak said with a
smile. "When it happened, it was a big relief -- something I'm
always going to remember."
8/8/8: Lowell Purcell
"rounding third and heading for home" When the family moved
north in 1960, it wasnt long before Lowell made his voice
heard. He was a senior at Lathrop, working weekends at KFRB,
when he met up with the likes of Steve Agbaba. The
17-year-old read the ads during the broadcasts of Goldpanner
baseball games as Agbabas assistant. The 1961 season was young
when Agbaba threw him a curve ball.
In the bottom of
the fifth, in about the fourth or the fifth game, Agbaba says,
Here, you do the play-by-play. I did probably the
worst play-by-play ever, Lowell said in a 1987 interview. It
was bad, really horrible. Some people say I still broadcast like
that.
Lowell figured
that he did as many as 2,500 sports broadcasts across the years.
His real love was baseball and so it was fitting that he chose
to get married to his wife Leah in 1993 as part of the pre-game
activities at the Midnight Sun Game. The groom went on the air
to do the play-by-play that night."
8/8/8: Tom
Goodwin (87)
A 1988 gold medalist, Goodwin now coaching
in minor leagues - "It was awesome,"
Goodwin said about his Olympic experience.
"It was one of those experiences that if it
were to happen to me now or even five years
after it did, I probably would've taken it
in more. I was only 20-years old when I was
on the team so I didn't know nearly as much
as I know now. It was also my first time
being away from home. I learned so much how
other countries viewed us and how they
played the game of baseball. It's just one
of those things where experience is hard to
beat. I could've never have imagined what it
was like unless I went through it. I was one
of the rare athletes to have a chance and
compete for my country."
8/4/8: Nick Ciolli
(07-08)
Oilers drill Bombers in NBC opener Nick Ciolli, who joined the
Oilers from the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks, was 3-for-5 with
two RBIs in his first game with the club. Ciolli was voted the top
outfield prospect in the Alaska Baseball League this season.
8/2/8:
Longtime Fairbanks broadcaster Lowell Purcell dies "Longtime
Fairbanks radio broadcaster Lowell Purcell was inducted into the
Alaska Broadcasters Hall of Fame on Tuesday, two days before he
died. The award ceremony was originally slated to take place at a
Goldpanners game at Growden Memorial Park, but the game was washed
out by rain and by then Purcell had already been admitted to
Providence Hospital in Anchorage."
8/1/8:
PannerVision:
Beanball Leaves
Ballplayer Bloody "This
disturbing video of a baseball player being hit in the head by a
pitched ball is now being released after having been held under
wraps for over six years. It is obviously dangerous anytime a batter
gets hit by a pitched ball ; however, in this case, the beaning was
especially brutal due to the screaming velocity of the pitch.
The shattering impact of a nearly 100 mile per hour fastball could
be heard from a great distance, and presented a potentially career
and life threatening situation for the batter."
Picked up at MLB.FANHOUSE Seriously,
Kyle
Farnsworth should watch his back, because as this video and
the History Channel tell us: things are tougher in Alaska.
Oh, and if you're wondering where you heard the name Alaska
GoldPanners before, this wasn't the craziest thing that's ever
happened at
one of their games.
A SPECIAL THANK YOU FOR
YOUR SUPPORT IN 2008
Another Free PannerVision Broadcast!
"PANNERVISION TOP 10" BALLGAME
Letter from 2008
Cape Cod Baseball League employee: "I notice that the teams on
the Cape don't care nearly as much about wins and losses as the
teams in AK. The Cape teams are much more worried about exposing
their stars to the scouts."
As a parent of a 2008 Panner, I want to take a moment to thank the
city of Fairbanks, the Panner organization and most importantly the
people of Fairbanks for again being the place to be and play ball in
the summer.
Winning in baseball is important, and this years record may be
disappointing, but winning in life is what counts. Fairbanks, you
have won again, your residents, baseball fans, Panners organization,
coaching staff and most importantly your host families have again
done an amazing job.
There are thousands of players, families, that are grateful forever
for what you have shown our sons.
I can tell you that the players feel blessed to have spent the
summer of 2008 in your great city. Thank you to all and Fairbanks
will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Warren Brule,
Chandler, Ariz.
Published Monday, July 28, 2008
From Gail Conrad, Mother of Brooks (99-00)
"Brooksie was so
ready for this moment and had waited so very long...it was truly a
dream come true. It is wonderful to share the moment with all of his
supporters! Thanks for all the years of you and the Goldpanners
family rooting for him!
Those Alaska summers
are still some of the very best baseball memories that Brooks has
thanks to all of you! (And especially to) Brooks' host family
there; the Wentz's"
7/28/8: Emerson Frostad
(03)
Rangers' Frostad ready for Olympics
"This has been a two-year process that
I've been a part of," said Frostad, a native of Calgary, Alberta.
"It's real competitive. It's a different kind of baseball. Everybody
comes together real quick and you're playing for your country, so
there's a lot of pride involved. And it's all about winning, so
everybody's pulling for each other and trying to win at all costs."
7/28/8:
Newman's blast rocks Glacier Pilots
Kinstons 1B BEAU MILLS
has hit safely in his last 15-games batting .367 (22-60) with
11RS, 4-2B, 3HR and 14RBI In 96 games for Kinston he is batting
.283 (105-371) . Mills is T-3rd in the Carolina League with 27
doubles
7/22/8: 2008 Yearbook and
Statistical Record (51 Mb PDF)
7/22/8: Brooks Conrad
(99-00)
Conrad Makes MLB Debut - Panner # 190 to MLB // But as excited
as Conrad was to share the news, he couldn't resist having a little
fun with his father first. "He always wants to talk about
[that night's] game, so we were doing that for a while," Conrad, 28,
said before the opener of a three-game series against the host Rays
at Tropicana Field. "Then I said, 'Oh yeah, they made a move. ...
I'm going up to the big leagues.' He said, 'Wait. What?? You knew
that the whole time?' (Youtube:
Conrad hits 3-run HR)
New Britain's Ben Julianel
(00), whose 20 saves are fourth in the Eastern League, got the
save in the AAA All-Star Game.
7/21/8:
Panners
outplay the Pilots "The suddenly stumbling Anchorage Glacier
Pilots suffered their third loss in four games on Sunday, dropping a
6-3 decision to the Fairbanks Goldpanners at Mulcahy Stadium."
7/21/8:
MLB Network to pursue broadcasting the Midnight Sun Game - "Much
like NFL Films supplies content to NFL Network, MLB Network will
rely on MLB Productions and its extensive library. The network also
plans to pursue rights to non-MLB live programming such as the World
Baseball Classic, Arizona Fall League, Caribbean World Series and
the Cape Cod League. Theres also midnight games in Alaska, said
(CEO Tony) Petitti, referring to the Alaska Baseball League. All
that stuff is going to be talked about. Well take pieces of all
that hopefully and sprinkle it throughout the schedule.
7/20/8: PannerVision:
Brendan Ryan -
2002 Goldpanners
(From July 12thBrendan Ryan
Interview by
the G-Man: "I went to Lewis-Clark St. (Lewiston, ID) and I
won an NAIA National Championship there and that was great and Im
not taking anything away from that, but it just seemed like with the
level of competition up there that summer, it was pretty special.
Its probably up there at the top. Id sure like to win a World
Series up here (MLB) but that was definitely one of my best
memories."
7/19/8: PannerVision:
WebGem: Clauson
to Torrez to Heroy - Stanford's Andrew Clauson makes the pitch ;
Arizona State University's Raoul Torrez makes the grab ;
Pepperdine's Ryan Heroy makes the stretch.
Brooks Conrad did what
he has done many times this season. He hit his team-leading 20th
home run to tie Salt Lake's Matthew Brown for fifth in the PCL
"The Anchorage Glacier Pilots lead the ABL. The Kenai
Peninsula Oilers are in a race for second. Both teams want to play
in the NBC. The Glacier Pilots are already making preliminary travel
plans. It would take a miracle to keep us out of there, GM
Jon Dyson said."
The Glacier Pilots still rest atop the ABL
standings with a 16-8 record. The Peninsula Oilers (12-10) are the
only other team in the league with a better than .500 record. The
Mat-Su Miners (11-11) are in the third spot, followed by the Panners
(11-12), Anchorage Bucs (12-14) and Athletes in Action Fire (8-14).
All six teams will be in Anchorage this weekend
for the ABL Showcase at Mulcahy Stadium.
7/17/8: PannerVision:
2008
Goldpanners : Youth Baseball Clinics - Every summer, the Alaska
Goldpanners provide clinics for all levels of youth baseball in the
Interior. Products of this program include Sean Timmons, who is the
Goldpanners' winningest pitcher.
7/17/8: Brooks
Conrad (99-00)
Little Big
Man Size doesnt matter, River Cats manager Todd Steverson
(89) will tell you and that power hitting is all about weight
shift, torque and wrists. Conrad has a short compact swing that
generates plenty of power. However, Steverson says Conrads ability
to launch balls gets him into trouble.
7/17/8:
Panners split doubleheader with Mat-Su
former Lewis-Clark State
College player Emerson Frostad
has been named to the Canadian baseball team
On the longest
All-Star Game in history: "I may have been the only one
disappointed to see them suspend play. We should have at least
played until sunrise. - Jim Umbarger (73)
7/16 -
Game One
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Alaska
Goldpanners
0
1
0
1
0
0
1
3
7
0
Mat-Su
Miners
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
2
WP: Matt Newman - Complete Game
C Emerson Frostad belted a two-run shot and drew a walk in his Triple-A debut.
New Roster Addition: Bryan Beres, Catcher, Bethany College
7/12/8:
Patterson too much for Goldpanners to handle "Pattersons only
trouble came in the ninth. He began the inning with his first walk
of the game, and Raoul Torrez followed that with a two-run homer
over the left field fence."
7/11/8: Mike
Cervanek (98)
Finally receives his call to the major leagues - "Columnist
Nick Fierro chronicles Cervenak's story, from the independent
Frontier League to a spot in the Citizens Bank Park home dugout for
Thursday's matinee meeting with the St. Louis Cardinals. Cervenak
told Fierro his head was spinning so much after IronPigs manager
Dave Huppert gave him the good news, the rest of his manager's words
were a blur: "Everything that he said about the trip to Philly
was just kind of like the teacher from Charlie Brown," he said. "It
was just like, 'wah, wah, wah.' You know what I mean?"
7/11/8:
Alaska Goldpanners overturn Bucs' big lead "Adam Gaylord went
from a struggling No. 9 batter to a game-changer for the Alaska
Goldpanners in a 6-4 victory over the Anchorage Bucs in Thursday
nights Alaska Baseball League game at Growden Memorial Park"
Redbird pitchers going with the flow "Pitchers have been
hearing instructions like these for years from their pitching
coaches. And to that, Brent Strom says, ''Hogwash.'' There's a
lot of conventional wisdom out there that quite frankly is
wrong, and it just keeps getting perpetuated," Strom said."
Greg Dobbs' single in
the seventh was his 18th pinch hit of the year, the most by a
Phillie since Dave Philley had 18 in 1958.
7/10/8: Mike
Cervanek (98)
Promoted to Philadelphia! MLB Debut looms 7/10/8:
Alaska Goldpanners bounced on Bank Night I started to sit back
on the offspeed, since thats all he was throwing to us, Hamel, who
struck out in the third and grounded out to short in the eighth,
said. None of us were really seeing the ball that well. He was
just throwing to the outer half (of the plate), and we were looking
to drive the ball to the right side of the field.
7/7/8:
Panners fall back to fourth after road loss to Peninsula "The
win enabled Kenai to claim two wins in the three-game series and
move ahead of the Panners in the ABL standings, where only 1 1/2
games separate the top four teams." 7/7/8:
Giambi one of AL Final Vote contenders "If Jason Giambi is to be
named to the American League All-Star team, he'll need a little help
-- even more than his iconic mustache can provide. The
slugger has been named as one of the candidates in the Monster 2008
All-Star Game Final Vote, in the midst of a big-swinging season that
has seen him return to prominence as a powerful force in the heart
of the Yankees' lineup."
Brooklyn Eagle - "Last week, in another slap at the
overprotective pitch counters now populating dugouts across all
of Major League Baseball, 62-year-old Bill Spaceman Lee threw
six innings while getting the win in a Midnight Sun League game
in Alaska. Taking the mound in an Alaska Goldpanners uniform
for the first time since 1967, Lee was the winning pitcher in a
10-6 victory over the Southern California Running Birds. He had
great tempo, said Panners manager, Tim Gloyd. Hes a real
major league-type player.
Lee, who once infamously proclaimed his preference
for grass over Astroturf by pointing out, I never smoked
Astroturf, wore number 337 (Lee upside down) and registered three
strikeouts while allowing four earned runs. Oh, yeah. He threw 83
pitches. I wonder if Tony LaRussa would have pulled him after 50."
6/28/8:
Spaceman's Midnight Sun Game one for the ages
I went to places through adrenaline
and the crowd and everything, he said. Somehow my body was 38
years old again. It was an emotional game. I took my shoulder
places it hasnt been in a long time. And he was still
hurling through the sixth, which was long enough for the Panners
offense to give him a 5-4 lead and the chance for a win. At this
point, Lee could not lose the game if he stayed off the field. So it
was surprising to see him put on his glove and begin the seventh."
Id finally redeemed myself since 67, he said. Sometimes you
gotta wait a long time for it to come back, you know?
6/27/8:
Strong pitching enables Fire to end losing streak - "Duran,
a former Santa Clara University (Calif.) pitcher who spent this past
season at San Jose City College, was making his first appearance for
Alaska. He allowed all of the AIA runs and hits, while striking out
two, hitting two batters and walking one in 5 1/3 innings. He was
supported, though, by two double plays. He had pretty good
stuff. He was just a little ... I think hes going to be pretty
good, Gloyd said.
6/25/8: Goldpanners pull out unlikely extra-inning win
against Fire - The best hitting
performance for the Panners came from a player who was questionable
to even start the game. After blocking a pitch with his right hand
Tuesday, catcher Trent Diedrich showed he was playing at full
strength by belting a three-run homer in the bottom of the second.
The other Alaska catcher to get hurt Tuesday, Jeremy Gillan, had a
home run of his own, a solo shot in the seventh.
Photo Journal: Midnight Sun Game "The stadium was adorably
cute and small-town. No big bleachers, no bag checks or metal
detectors to walk through. Heck, I saw people pulling in wagons
and mixing up margaritas during the game."
Ira and Mary Watts:
Summer solstice - "Summer Solstice in Alaska is a big deal
as the day is almost 22 hours long and during the other two
hours it is still daylight. It never really gets dark. After the
downtown festival Mary & I went to see the 103rd annual Midnight
Sun Baseball game played entirely without artificial lighting.
The game was a lot of fun and we enjoyed every minute of it.
"It means more now than ever," Bill Stroecker said. A
smile curled across his face. He adjusted his tie. He sat up a
little straighter. "We've always known it was something. Now the
world knows."
"It was top-notch competition. It really helped sharpen my
skills. I got to look at top pitching from different parts of
the country." - Kevin McReynolds
"I knew if I wanted to improve as
a player, I'd have to play against the best, and all the best go to
Alaska. Of the many stepping stones on my path to the major leagues,
the Alaska League was one of the largest." - Alvin Davis
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