Midnight Sun Game

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A photograph taken at midnight during the 2005 game, June 21, 2005. Midnight Sun Baseball Game.jpg
A photograph taken at midnight during the 2005 game, June 21, 2005.

The Midnight Sun Game is an amateur baseball game played every summer solstice at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Because the sun is out for almost 24 hours a day, the game starts at about 10:30 at night and completes around 1:30 the next morning. However, because Fairbanks's summer time zone differs by about an hour from local solar time, coupled with the state's observance of daylight saving time, the game may not actually last until solar midnight, at about 1:53. Famous players who have appeared in the game include Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Terry Francona, Harold Reynolds, Jason Giambi, and Bill "Spaceman" Lee.

Contents

After Noel Wien's arrival in 1924, he noted, "The baseball team played on weekends, and on June 21 and July 4 they always started a game at midnight sharp, just to indicate that this was the farthest city in the country." [1]

The first game was in 1906. Artificial light has never been used. The sun does dip below the horizon for about an hour. Since 1960, the game has been hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners, a collegiate summer baseball team based in Fairbanks. As the Goldpanners have been without a league since leaving the Alaska Baseball League in 2015, [2] the opponent has typically been picked from other collegiate summer teams from anywhere in the United States.

In 2020 the Goldpanners pulled out of the contest due to the coronavirus pandemic and local amateur squads played the game instead, with a local American Legion Baseball squad facing the local town team baseball squad. The game has never been rained out; the game narrowly avoided a rainout in 2020 after heavy downpours flooded the field earlier in the day, but the two competing teams were unwilling not to let the game go forward and cleared the field to the best of their ability to allow the game to go on.

For 2021, the game expanded into a Midnight Sun Tournament, with a doubleheader consisting of the final of the American Legion Baseball tournament leading into the Goldpanners' Midnight Sun Game. [3]

Game results

Through 1959, the Midnight Sun Game featured various teams from the Fairbanks area. In 1960, the game became exclusively hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners. [4] Although the Midnight Sun Game has been played since 1906, only games hosted by the Goldpanners are listed, with the exception of the 2020 contest. [4] The Goldpanners are 49-15 all-time.

DateWinning teamLosing teamNotes
 June 21, 1960  Pan-Alaska Goldpanners 11Fairbanks Pioneers0
June 21, 1961Pan-Alaska Goldpanners10North of the Range Military All-Stars4
June 22, 1962Pan-Alaska Goldpanners 8North of the Range Military All-Stars3
June 21, 1963 Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners3Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1964 Grand Junction Eagles 10Alaska Goldpanners5
June 21, 1965Alaska Goldpanners 4 USC Trojans 3
June 21, 1966Alaska Goldpanners8 Oregon State Beavers 3
June 21, 1967 Kumagai Gumi 10Alaska Goldpanners3
June 22, 1968Alaska Goldpanners7 Santa Clara Broncos 0
June 21, 1969 Boulder Baseline Collegians5Alaska Goldpanners2
June 20, 1970 Arizona Wildcats 4Alaska Goldpanners3
June 21, 1971Alaska Goldpanners 12 Stanford Indians 3
June 21, 1972 Ponchatoula Athletics 5Alaska Goldpanners4
June 21, 1973 BYU Cougars 8Alaska Goldpanners5
June 21, 1974Alaska Goldpanners7 Washington State Cougars 6
June 21, 1975Alaska Goldpanners4 Vanderbilt Commodores 3
June 20, 1976Alaska Goldpanners6 Westwood Bruins4
June 21, 1977Alaska Goldpanners 12 Red Deer M&K Generals11
June 21, 1978Wichita El Dorado Coors10Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1979Alaska Goldpanners 8 North Carolina Tar Heels 2
June 20, 1980Alaska Goldpanners16 Wisconsin Badgers 5
June 20, 1981Alaska Goldpanners11Intermountain Badgers4
June 20, 1982Alaska Goldpanners 9 San Francisco Senators3
June 19, 1983Alaska Goldpanners7 Anchorage Bucs 2
June 21, 1984Alaska Goldpanners9 Chinese Taipei 0Forfeit
June 22, 1985 Moraga Marauders12Alaska Goldpanners1111 innings
June 20, 1986Alaska Goldpanners8San Francisco Senators1
June 20, 1987 Mat-Su Miners 2Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1988Alaska Goldpanners 6 Hawaii Island Movers5
June 20, 1989Alaska Goldpanners7 San Diego SeaWorld Killer Whales3
June 21, 1990Alaska Goldpanners12 San Bernardino Tribe3
June 22, 1991Alaska Goldpanners 9 South Lake Tahoe Stars8
June 21, 1992 Victor Valley Mets2Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1993Alaska Goldpanners10South Lake Tahoe Stars4
June 21, 1994Alaska Goldpanners15San Diego Stars6
June 21, 1995Alaska Goldpanners 10San Francisco Seals4
June 21, 1996Alaska Goldpanners5Anchorage Bucs3
June 20, 1997Alaska Goldpanners12 Kelowna Grizzlies 0
June 20, 1998Alaska Goldpanners14Kelowna Grizzlies7
June 21, 1999Alaska Goldpanners 7 Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2000Alaska Goldpanners 3 Santa Barbara Foresters2
June 21, 2001Alaska Goldpanners2Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2002Alaska Goldpanners2California Dons1
June 21, 2003Alaska Goldpanners3California Dons1
June 21, 2004Alaska Goldpanners9 Peninsula Oilers 1
June 21, 2005Alaska Goldpanners 3 Omaha Strike Zone1
June 21, 2006Alaska Goldpanners2 Beatrice Bruins1
June 21, 2007Oceanside Waves5Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 2008Alaska Goldpanners10Southern California Running Birds6
June 21, 2009Alaska Goldpanners6Lake Erie Monarchs3
June 21, 2010Alaska Goldpanners4Heroes of the Diamond315 innings
June 21, 2011Alaska Goldpanners2Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2012Alaska Goldpanners7Everett Merchants5
June 21, 2013Alaska Goldpanners4San Francisco Seals1
June 21, 2014Alaska Goldpanners13Lake Erie Monarchs6
June 21, 2015Alaska Goldpanners7 Seattle Studs4
June 21, 2016Alaska Goldpanners9Kenai Peninsula Oilers2
June 21, 2017San Diego Waves4Alaska Goldpanners2
June 21, 2018Alaska Goldpanners6Orange County Surf4
June 21, 2019Seattle Studs5Alaska Goldpanners411 innings
June 21, 2020Eielson Brewers
Alaska Legion		15Black Spruce Pirates
Fairbanks Adult Amateur Baseball League		13Contested only by local teams due to COVID-19 pandemic
June 21, 2021Alaska Goldpanners3Everett Merchants0
June 21, 2022Alaska Goldpanners10San Diego Waves910 innings
June 21, 2023Alaska Goldpanners5 Michigan Monarchs1
June 21, 2024Alaska Goldpanners10Seattle Studs4

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References

  1. ↑ Harkey, Ira (1991). Pioneer Bush Pilot. Bantam Books. p. 103. ISBN   0553289195.
  2. ↑ Bragg, Beth (September 30, 2015). "Goldpanners won't play in ABL next summer". Anchorage Daily News . Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "Road Warriors win Fairbanks tourney; Pioneers sweep Dimond".
  4. 1 2 "All Time Midnight Sun Baseball Game Results". Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks. Archived from the original on August 28, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2011.

64°50′27″N147°45′32″W / 64.84083°N 147.75889°W / 64.84083; -147.75889

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