2006 MSG

In the entire baseball world, there is no team that has more natural a promotion than the Alaska Goldpanners and their celebrated Midnight Sun Game.

Since the Goldpanners are the farthest north baseball club on the face of the earth, where in summer the sun rarely stops shining, the team annually takes advantage of its unique geographic location by staging the patented Midnight Sun Baseball Game.

With Fairbanks a mere 160 miles south of the Arctic Circle, the sun is just beginning to set in the north as the game gets under way and, at its conclusion some three hours later, the sun begins to rise again - also in the north.

It is a phenomenon ever so rare.

Each June 20, 21, 22, each equal in time as the longest day of the year (with a full 24 hours of daylight in the vast Tanana Valley), the Panners begin their widely acclaimed contest at 10:30 p.m. The game continues straight through the hour of midnight and often lasts as late as 2 a.m.

Never once has artificial lighting been used for this unique event, and never has the game been postponed or delayed because of darkness.

The tradition was adopted by the Panners in 1960, their first season of operation. Through 1962, the Panners met the North of the Range All-Stars but, since 1963, a different opponent - usually from out of state - has been invited each year to participate in the symbolic event. 

 “To be able to represent the Great Lakes League and the Great Lakes region in the Midnight Sun game is one of the greatest opportunities our organization will have ever taken part in” - Jim DeSana, the Monarchs General Manager

Each games adds some new thrilling chapter to the hundred-year-old tradition.   One of the Goldpanners' most dramatic classics ever came in 1991 when the Panners' Brett Backlund drilled a bottom of the 9th inning home run to provide a come-from-behind win over the South Lake Tahoe, Ca, Stars. In the 2000 Midnight Sun Game, the Goldpanners defeated the Santa Barbara Foresters in one of the most exciting midnight contests ever.    Former Goldpanners Most Valuable Pitcher Dan Grimm (71-72-73) was on hand to throw out the first pitch.

In 2009 the Goldpanners were handed a rare defeat at the hands of the Oceanside, CA, Waves - led by Fairbanksan Mike Studer.   The Waves are set to appear in Fairbanks again in 2011, giving the Goldpanners a chance for some redemption of their own.

The 105th Midnight Sun Game, in 2010, was one of the finest in memory.   A 15-inning marathon between the Goldpanners and the U.S. Military "Heroes of the Diamond" came down to some intense action and a critical injury.    The emotion released at the outcome had been pent up since the brilliant pre-game show.     Special dignitary was Norm Jenkins, a longtime Goldpanners player host, and 100% disabled veteran of Korea and Vietnam.  Footage of this awe-inspiring event is available via PannerVision.

The 106th playing of the MSG will be remembered as one of the wildest in the tradition's history.   With the game knotted up in the 11th inning, gale force winds combined with dark clouds and pounding rain -- causing the umpires to postpone the game for the first time in its history.  When play resumed at 6:00 pm, the Goldpanners promptly scored the winning run, defeating the Oceanside, CA, Waves.

On June 21, in 2012, the Goldpanners will host their 53rd solstice classic - nearly one-half of all games played.   As always, play will be stopped at the half-inning nearest midnight for the traditional singing of the Alaska Flag Song.