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6/16/6: Baseball loaded with family ties - "Dennis might not be a player, but he credits his success to a coach — his longtime employer, mentor and father, Goldpanners general manager Don Dennis. For both Dennises, and thousands of others who play or follow the game, baseball is as much about family as it is sport." 6/22/5: 100 Years of Baseball Fun - "The game dates back to the very beginning of the town, so I think it's all about Fairbanks," said Fairbanks assistant general manager Todd Dennis, who broadcasts games live on the Internet while also handling public address announcing duties during home games. Goldpanners assistant GM Dennis said at least 20 journalists from around the country, including reporters with The New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, ESPN.com and National Public Radio were there. So were cameras from two network morning shows. "Everybody wants to get a piece of it these days, whereas back in the '70s and '80s we went largely unnoticed except for the real die-hard fans," said Dennis, who has worked for the Goldpanners since he was 9 years old. "Now it's the average person that's getting a chance to find out about it, which is great." 7/8/2: Very Fairbanks - "Behind a door in the far-right box, Todd Dennis controls a studio that feeds audio, video and Internet broadcasts of Goldpanners games to the world. Some of the stadium's seats are wooden with bright paint, others are metal. Some are clean, but most are dirty and empty. The bullpens on each side of the field contain more field grooming equipment and machinery than pitchers. "It's very Fairbanks," Todd Dennis said. 'You look at an average Fairbanksan's yard and you're going to have things here and there. And it's all put together by Band-Aids and gum.  "But there's a lot of substance there." 6/6/0: Goldpanners Plan High-Tech Broadcasts "Goldpanners assistant general manager and information director Todd Dennis has some good news for.. the family and friends of the other 25 players on the team's roster. This season the Panners are planning on having a live video broadcast of every home game along with a live scoring update of every Panners game this season, home and away. There will be an archived audio broadcast of road games. "Last year we got a great response from the parents," Dennis said. "They really want to be involved in their kids' careers. There are a lot of proud parents out there." 6/30/85: Dennis Family Goes Nuts for the Panners "Todd, 14, the youngest of the four children, is the official "bike police commissioner" of the park, helping keep other kids from causing trouble during the games.  Todd is also the scoreboard operator and pitches in to help keep the ballpark in top shape.  "I don't know what I'd do without the Panners."   2009 Midnight Sun Game Todd Dennis, Al Coutts      Fairbanks Setup Anchorage Setups

Baseball Loaded with Family Ties
Josh Niva - June 2006

Todd Dennis doesn’t hit home runs, steal bases or throw strikes, but he may be the greatest utility man in Alaska Goldpanners history.

Dennis rarely misses an inning of baseball at Fairbanks’ Growden Memorial Park, where he has performed about every off-the-field duty imaginable. He started as a pint-sized independent contractor, chasing down foul balls and selling them back to the team for 70 cents apiece. He joined the Goldpanners payroll at 9, hawking hot dogs while walking the stands. Since, he’s stacked cases of beers, operated a baseball card shop, worked the scoreboard, launched the team’s Web site and ascended to his current title of assistant general manager.

Dennis might not be a player, but he credits his success to a coach — his longtime employer, mentor and father, Goldpanners general manager Don Dennis. For both Dennises, and thousands of others who play or follow the game, baseball is as much about family as it is sport.

“There’s stuff you don’t forget, like growing up a ballpark rat, hanging out with the diehards at the park,” Todd Dennis, 34, said about his time spent at Growden, “but the greatest joy of all is working with my dad and my family.”

Long before columnists dissected baseball’s fallible Bonds, poets pontificated about baseball’s familial bonds. It’s a game of parents and children, from the Ripkens, Griffeys, Boones and Bondses to generations of fans playing catch in the parking lot before a game. It’s a game of brothers, like the DiMaggios, Aarons, Alous and Drews. In the stands, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters discuss strategy and share a summer night over hot dogs and Cokes. Those scenes play out each summer at ballparks across the country and here at Alaska Baseball League ballparks.

Most ABL players even gain new families as locals open their homes as host parents. If you look at the folks running ABL concession stands, ticket booths and the front offices, you’ll often see faces with similar features. For a baseball player, success requires skill, confidence, quick hands and even luck. Success for ABL management comes from experience, hard work and a good home team: partners and children who are as much co-workers as fans.

Don Dennis is entering his 40th year with the Goldpanners. He wonders how long he would have lasted if his family — wife Ann and four children — hadn’t shared his passion for baseball and sacrificed many summer hours working with him.

“It’s hard to explain to someone how much support it really takes,” Dennis, 66, said. “With (amateur) baseball, you pretty much have to live and breathe this to make it all happen on the kind of budgets we have. Over the years, my entire family has participated in numerous ways, and they are the best help. They anticipate most things and always follow through. They are invaluable.”  Todd Dennis also can’t imagine a summer without baseball or family, which now extends to his son Tom, the Goldpanners official photographer. Tom is 10. // Now at 15, Tom has taken over production and camerawork for PannerVision, as well as team statistics and Facebook operations.  Daughter Bridget is a team cameraman.