2003 Goldpanners' Most Valuable Players
Monday, September 1, 2003
The Alaska Goldpanners' 2003 season Most Valuable Players will be joining a very select group of players in what amounts to the Fairbanks organization's Hall of Fame. Past winners include some of the greatest names in the history of the sport (Nettles, Boone, Winfield), and some of the golden names in today's current field of top prospects (Heilman, Bush, Gassner).
Though the 2003 Goldpanners fell short of their championship goal, many aspects of the team's play was exemplary. Above all, the Goldpanners captured the Alaska Baseball League triple crown by leading the league in hitting, pitching and home runs. Goldpanner offense ranked number one with a .265 batting average, and the pitching staff led the league with a 2.10 ERA. Overall, the pitching staff complied the third-lowest ERA in the history of the club, at 2.06 runs per game.
What let this year's club down was unquestionably its defensive lapses. Only able to maintain a .949 fielding percentage with 109 errors, Panner defense allowed 67 unearned runs -- many of which provided the scoring difference for opponents. In the two losses in Wichita, the Goldpanners allowed three unearned runs, losing both by a combined total of three runs.
The 2003 season Most Valuable Position Player is Jeff Culpepper, a first-year Goldpanner out of Gonzaga. Jeff was the club's leading hitter, with a .328 batting average; however, the real measure of his status was the other-worldly focus and execution he exhibited when needed most ... matching, if not exceeding, the clutch work of Scott Robinson in 2002.
Every year one player performs so magnificently that the rest of the team is able to raise the level of their game. Jeff was "the guy" responsible for lifting the entire team to a stratospheric level of confidence. Facing the Peninsula Oilers on the 23rd of July, in what has come to be known as "the game," Jeff set a new team record by finishing with seven hits in seven at-bats. On July 31st, after a 47-minute game delay due to a plane crash at Mulcahy Field, Jeff laced the first pitch seen into the right-centerfield gap, scoring two runs in a rout of the Anchorage Bucs.
Jeff led the club with hits (59), and tied for the lead in home runs (3), and runs batted in (29). In addition, he ranked second in doubles (10), slugging percentage (.444) and walks (21).
Jeff shows many early signs of what appears to be a steady lifetime ascent into the ranks of baseball royalty. He respects the game, and the "baseball gods" love him, as is evidenced by his having claimed the first hit in the history of Safeco Field in Seattle, home of the MLB Mariners.
So dominating was Sean Timmons this season, that he has been named to the All-ABL Team and was named the ABL Player of the Year, in addition to being honored as the 2003 season Most Valuable Pitcher.
The 2003 pitching staff included many fine performers - a tight unit achieving perhaps above their ability, facing the ugly prospect of having to create four outs in many innings, due to the incessant defensive lapses of those in the field. Though many pitchers performed at a high level of intensity and success, none compare to the Goldpanners' ageless wonder, dubbed "The Prescription" by broadcaster Gero von Dehn.
Allowing less than one run per game for most of the season, Sean ended the campaign with a stellar 1.44 ERA, lowering his seven-year total to 2.16 runs allowed per nine-inning game.
Sean's history with the club reads as such: "Fresh out of Lathrop High he first appeared in a Goldpanner uniform and most likely would like to forget that first try. But, he returned a couple of years later bigger and stronger, and in the process of becoming a pitcher. By the end of his collegiate days at Armstrong Atlantic in Atlanta he had become pretty good. He was a sometimes starter for the Goldpanners, was pitching in the local Fairbanks Adult Amateur Baseball League, and helping coach high school and American Legion age players. Three years ago he became a regular member of the starting rotation and two years ago worked himself to the number three spot in rotation. This past year he posted the best numbers among the Goldpanner starters on a National Championship team and posted two wins in the NBC. His 8-0 record and ERA near 1.70 is the new target of Fairbanks youngsters. Previously, the Panners had received contributions from several local hurlers but never on the threshold of Timmons." (Don Dennis, "Many Happy Returns", 2002)
Timmons' career with the Goldpanners has become the stuff of legend -- clearly, the best ever for a native Fairbanksan. In 2003, Sean tied the all-time record for most season as a Goldpanner. He is currently tied with George "Muggs" Mies, now living in Anchorage, who similarly anchored the Panner staffs in 1960-61-62-63-64-65-66. With recognition as the 2003 Most Valuable Pitcher, Sean becomes only the third Goldpanner to be a repeat winner of the award. Brent Strom won consecutive awards in 68-69, and Brian Scott in 95-96.
Most impressive of all Sean's accomplishments in his seven-year career is the total number of innings pitched. In 2003 he became the all-time first Goldpanners pitcher to eclipse 300 innings pitched in a career! The next closest Panner hurler is Brent Strom (1967-68-69), who compiled 267 innings pitched. Sean also holds second place in team history with 22 career wins.
All ABL Team
Other Goldpanners were awarded for distinction this summer.
Six Goldpanners were named to the All-Alaska Baseball League Team. In addition to MVPs Sean Timmons and Jeff Culpepper (03), returning Panner Tyler Best (02-03), and Nick Blasi (03), Jon McCaslin (03), and Ricky Fairchild (03). In addition, Ed Cheff (02-03) repeated as ABL Manager of the Year.
Sean Timmons was named the ABL Player of the Year.
Emerson Frostad
On August 26th, Emerson Frostad became the first 2003 Goldpanner to be signed to a professional contact. He was signed by the Texas Rangers organization, which has held his rights since making him their 13th-round pick in the June amateur draft.
"Em" was reportedly signed for a bonus of $110,000. In addition, his negotiation yielded an additional three years of college paid for by the Rangers. Frostad, 20, is set to report to the Rangers' Arizona instructional league in Surprise, Arizona, for a six-week camp starting later this month. His salary will be based upon a scale, depending on where he is assigned.
PannerVision Premium
2003 PannerVision Season Pass holders
have been upgraded to an entire winter of PannerVision game broadcasts. Order
now to receive the entire 2003-04 winter rebroadcast season, as well as the
entire 2004 Goldpanners Season
SEPTEMBER 2003 Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks
