The Goldpanners’ organization leads the
baseball world in a number of categories on the field, but their
successes off the field are just as impressive. Broadcasting is
no exception, with many victories in the field of promotion.
In 2000, the club began audio broadcasting
games on the Internet, allowing fans around the world could
witness the excitement with the best seats available. The next
year, video was added to the broadcast, as the Goldpanners
became the all-time first baseball team to stream an entire
season over the Internet. Major League baseball followed suit
two years later. Taking the broadcast on the road to Wichita,
Kansas in 2002 for the NBC World Series, the live online show --
dubbed “PannerVision” -- displayed to fans around the world the
unique thrill of watching a team halfway around the world go
from first pitch of the season to dogpile upon winning the
national championship.
Over the years, there have been many
brilliant moments for PannerVision. The many game highlites
include the Panners’ defeat of the eventual national champion
Chinese-Taipei Olympic team in 2003, and also what has been
dubbed “The Game” -- played on July 23rd in Fairbanks -- a game
against the Kenai Oilers in which Derek Bruce went 6-for-7 at
the plate, and Jeff Culpepper went an astounding 7-for-7! In
addition to the game activity, there have been many other key
moments, such as when MLB Hall of Famers Gaylord Perry, Ferguson
Jenkins, and Bobby Doerr tossed ceremonial pitches during
Midnight Sun Game broadcasts.
Every once in a while -- and far more often
than you might expect -- something completely out of the
ordinary happens which just defies belief and stimulates wonder.
Though it would be obvious to suggest that the various on-field
streakers deserve consideration here, there is one broadcast in
particular which cemented the “anything goes” attitude of the
Goldpanners stream : “The Plane Crash Game” of July 31, 2003.
During the third inning of the last game of
the Alaskan portion of the 2003 season, the Goldpanners’
Culpepper was at bat against the Anchorage Bucs in Mulcahy
Stadium. As Jeff was stepping to the plate, the umpire
frantically called time and waved toward right field -- where to
everyones’ horror, a plane was rapidly descending in an apparent
attempt to land in left field! The plane, a Cessna 207 Skywagon,
had stalled and was coming down. As the Bucs’ left-fielder
scrambled for cover, the pilot made a last-second wave of the
left wing to avoid the Mulcahy light pole, and plowed into the
fences just past left field. The plane flipped over and a ball
of flames erupted out of one side, after which it came to rest
on its belly with the engine sheared off by the fence. “It was
incredibly violent,” said passenger Marc Fisher. “My ankle
snapped the second we hit. My seat may have been busted. I had
seat belts on, but I ended up in the luggage.” Describing the
desperate minutes leading up to the crash, Fisher said “There
were people everywhere. Every road was busy. It just looked like
there’s no way to go, nowhere to land. It was scarey, buddy. Ten
seconds from landing, my brother and I both looked at each other
and said, ‘We’re (screwed).” Fortunately, the pilot and three
passengers all escaped more serious injuries, and no one on the
group was injured.
Thanks to the archival work at
www.goldpanners.com, the actual clip of this event is available
for viewing on the Internet. There have been millions of views
of all of the PannerVision games and clip available online.
