Lou Webb
1960-61 Goldpanners

ORIGINAL GOLDPANNERS

On June 21, 1960 (39 years ago) I played in the (Goldpanners') first Mid-Night Sun Baseball game in Fairbanks, Alaska for the newly formed Pan Alaska Gold Panners. The nucleus of the Gold Panners consisted of six 18 and 19 year old boys who were gathered together by a retired Navy chief petty officer, Henry (Red) Boucher. Red had been involved with baseball as a somewhat scrawny but "fire-balling" pitcher - and then coach for the all Navy team in the Caribbean. In any event, Red contacted the coach at the University of Arizona, and six of us were selected from the Freshman Baseball team. (In 1960, Freshmen were not eligible for varsity competition) The rest of the first Gold Panner team was made up of another 18 year old from St.Louis; Ray Wheeler who was the coach of the University of Alaska Basketball team; and some local players. In the first two seasons, our competition was mainly drawn from the numerous Army and Air Force Bases surrounding and between Fairbanks and Anchorage.

I can remember being quite excited to learn that I had been selected to play in Alaska. After the school year, Red sent plane tickets, and six Arizona nomads with mitts, flew to Fairbanks.  We were met at the airport by a fiery little man who had begun his quest to bring baseball to Alaska. Unless you've met him, you really can't describe Red Boucher. He was flamboyant, peppery, impishly ornery, but sincere in his love of baseball. Most of all, he had a dream, we were his "angels," and he couldn't wait to get started. He took us from the airport in a somewhat rickety Volkswagen Bus to a boarding house. He was so anxious to judge "his" imported talent, we were not even afforded time to get settled after our 3000 mile journey. Instead we threw on some shorts, grabbed our cleats and mitts, and were transported to a "practice field" abutting the Tanana River.

Two things stand out in my mind from that first "practice;" 1) There wasn't any infield, and 2) the mosquitoes in Alaska were equal in size to the state bird of Arizona. Although we were more than a little disappointed in the "facilities," our fears were over ridden by a genuine fear that we would either be sucked dry of blood or carried off to the tundra by a squad of needle nosed insects.

Nonetheless, we were committed, and Red's unbridled enthusiasm began to rub off on us. Within a few days, we moved to the City Park, which had an old grandstand, a backstop, outfield fences, and tracings of an infield. We played our first game or two clad in sweatshirts, shorts, and OFF mosquito repellant. Our fans consisted of a few people Red had browbeaten into watching us play. To their surprise and credit, they also contributed enough money to the can he passed among them to pay the umpire. Most of all, however, they liked us. By the third or forth game, we were sporting top of the line uniforms and nice red jackets with leather sleeves which Red had had embroidered with the team name and a map of Alaska. The following year, we refurbished the field, the grandstand, and the outfield fences. We plowed it up, threw enough rocks off of it to form a small mountain, and then planted, watered and mowed the grass. The artist among us painted some advertising signs on the outfield fences, while the rest of us carved a dirt infield and warning track out of the Kentucky Bluegrass. After a year and a half, the Gold Panners had ARRIVED! When we suited up for the second Midnight Sun Baseball Game, we had a real ballpark in which to play it. Red's dream had become a reality!

Part of the lure to join the Gold Panners had been a promise of good construction jobs. Since we could only earn $1.00 an hour in Arizona, the promise of $4.50 an hour or so in Alaska, plus a lot of overtime, seemed heaven sent. We needed the money, because baseball scholarships were rare and limited to only books and tuition. Unlike the more cushy jobs that we had heard about in the Dakota and Canadian Semi-pro leagues, we worked hard labor/ construction jobs and long hours. We got up at 4:00 A.M., and typically worked into the evening. After work, we played baseball, and every now and then we got a full night's sleep. It wasn't easy, but it was fun. Most of all, we learned that sweat and commitment could foster success.

During those two summers, I was able to save enough to fund a good part of two years of college. In truth, it wasn't hard to save, because Fairbanks was not much more than a frontier town - no pipe line yet. Other than a string of taverns in which I drank my share of "under-aged" beer and learned about darts, money pretty well stayed in my pockets. Initially, we lived in a boarding house in a sort of dormitory, but "Vi" the owner almost went broke trying to feed our hungry group. We ultimately moved into the high rise apartment house - which I think was 7 or 9 stories and the highest building in town. Red was great to us, and Alaskan friends soon began to provide the bulk of our food from their freezers. We ate everything from Moose to Caribou to Bear to Salmon and other native fish. The second year we lived in a little house about ½ way between Fairbanks and the University of Alaska in College, Alaska.

Mostly, I remember wonderful people. In 1960, Fairbanks was a town of about 7,000 pioneers.  It wasn't hard to imagine that the Alaskans who came - and stuck, genuinely struggled to carve out a niche in this wide open country and town. Much, I think, as my great grand father did when he drove cattle into Arizona in 1880. Alaska needed people, and these rough hewn individuals saw to it that we got whatever we needed. They wanted us to stay. They not only gave, they enjoyed the giving. The lessons learned nudged a group of boys toward manhood.

Lastly, I think of (Red) Boucher and his then wife, Heidi. They had met as contestants on "Name That Tune", which was a nationally televised game show. As I recall, Red won all of the money, and then convinced his opponent, Heidi who was a stewardess from Iceland, to marry him and move to Alaska. They started a trophy shop and soon were doing pretty well supplying bowling trophies and the like to the winter bound soldiers on the military bases. Red, however, loved baseball, and he and Heidi gave their hearts, and a lot of their money to the game and to the rag tag group from Arizona. It took three years to get the Gold Panners to the national tournament in Wichita, but once there, they have proven they belonged. The original team didn't have a Tom Seaver, or Mark McGwire. We did, however, have some pretty good all American boys who profited from the energies of a red headed character with a dream.

Thanks Red!

Lou Webb

1961