1960-2012: 53 Seasons of Championship Baseball The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks baseball club has entered its 53rd season. The Goldpan- ners operate in a similar manner as a minor league team: playing nightly in stadiums before fans, using wood bats and minor league specification equipment, and also enduring epic road trips by bus. Looking back, it is clear that the program has made a stunning impact on the baseball world. The Goldpanners were pioneers in the promotion of collegiate sports, and rode the strength of the amateur athlete to many victories on and off the field. The Fairbanks club remains dedicated to providing minor league level competition in order to assist in the continuation of the athletes’ careers into the ranks of professional ball. Though started as a humble town team in The influence of the Goldpanners in the the “North of the Range League”, the Alas- baseball world is still on the ascent even ka Goldpanners gained wide fame almost now. Besides the growing popularity of immediately after finishing second overall the Midnight Sun Game, the team’s alum- in the nation at the National Baseball Con- ni often continue with the game after their gress World Series in Wichita, Kansas. playing careers are over, and are now positioned administratively throughout all The curiosity of the Alaskan roots, mixed levels of play. with the entertaining play of a ball team composed entirely of college athletes, en- In addition to the 200 Panners to have deared many fans in the Lower 48. The ascended to the major leagues (and one continued successes of the club led to an - Dan Pastorini - who joined the NFL as almost cult-like following during the 60s Quarterback), a large number have risen and 70s. The team’s allure has only con- to the pinnacle of baseball in the coaching tinued to grow with each passing season or front office administrative fields. -- and each surpassed record and mile- stone. During the last few years, legendary ball- player Bill Lee (66-67-08) has taken it Over the years, the club has achieved nu- upon himself to spread the word of the merous national and international distinc- world-class Fairbanks program, even de- tions, leading to world-wide fame rivalling claring that the club was “the number one that of many professional teams. amateur baseball organization in history.” CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD: Charlie Cole CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Don Dennis PRESIDENT: E. Chilton Hines VICE PRESIDENTS: Phil Prax, Brian Rasley GENERAL MANAGER: Todd Dennis GAMING MEMBER IN CHARGE: Brian Rasley ASSISTANTS TO THE GM: John Denning, B.J. Hall PANNERVISION BROADCASTER: Smith Barber STADIUM OPERATIONS: Shirley Stewart TRAINING STAFF: Jim Kimbal FIELD MANAGER: Jim Dietz FIELD PREPARATIONS: Carroll Barber, Lynn Hines MARKETING DIRECTOR: Mike Cloutier VEHICLES: John Lohrke, Seekins Ford VIP, Park Surveyor/Engineer: Jason Barnebey INTERNS: Joshua Gilberts (Management) Josh Collins (Broadcasting) Tom Dennis (PannerVision) www.goldpanners.com P.O. Box 71154 Fairbanks 907-451-0095 / 907-456-6429 2011 - .771 Winning Percentage in Team’s 52nd Year TEAM RECORDS: Talented Club Barnstormed Through Canada and Down Pacific Coast Wins: 27 Losses: 8 Batting: .321 Pitching: 1.74 The 2011 Goldpanners raced to a walked 32 batters and struck out 115. Versatile Andy Peterson of Santa Ana Speedy Matt Ivanoff of Concordia-Irvine 27-8 record behind strong, some- College, equally at home in center field, hit .308 and thrilled the crowd as he re- times outstanding, individual efforts A pair of Columbia Basic College hurl- at second base or shortstop, hit .317 corded 5 triples, showing unusual speed from both the pitching staff and the ers divided the number 5 starting slot and was the leader in stolen bases with after rounding first base. offensive weapons. On top of all of and combined they were just as good 18. Kyle Geason of Minnesota turned in that the club was a very capable de- as the four stoppers ahead of them. sparkling third base play throughout the The team’s .321 batting average was fensive unit. season and hit .315. Geason was ac- very good and also of note was the fact Lefty Mac Acker and righty Arturo claimed as the best fielding third base- that the club drew 154 walks on top of The lone disappointment of the Reyes combined for a 5-1 record and man since Jason Giambi in 1990 and that while striking out just 151 times. season was losing the Kamloops 2.48 ERA over 36.1 innings. They ranking in the top 5 all-time with the likes International Tournament to Seattle walked 10 and struck out 30, allowing of Gene Delyon and Doug Hunt, not to The combined hitting (.321) and pitching when the Panners were the victims just 6 earned runs between them mention the great Bob Boone, who be- (1.74) makes the 2011 aggregation one of an unusual triple play. came a record setting catcher in the ma- of the top producing Goldpanners teams The pitching staff posted a 1.74 ERA jor leagues. of the first 52 years. The extremely en- The pitching staff is probably the -- best in Goldpanners annals -- and tertaining team played 19 games over place to start in outlining the suc- struck out 284 in 284 innings. Alternate catcher Mike Vaughn of Fres- .500, the second year in a row the Gold- cesses. Most Valuable Pitcher no Pacific came on strong as the season panners accomplished that feat. The Blake Harrison of Concordia-Irvine BATTING CORPS progressed, ending the campaign with a combined 61-23 record of the last two posted monster numbers as he .309 average, and began producing the years is far and away the top mark post- compiled a 0.58 earned run aver- On the offensive side the headlines long ball in the process. ed in the amateur ranks. age. Harrison made seven starts were made by first baseman Robbie but oddly did not get enough sup- Buller of Houston Baptist. The big port to post wins except in the three first sacker rang up the second high- route-going efforts he made. Har- est season batting mark in team history rison, a righty, allowed only three en route to his Most Valuable Player earned runs and walked 13 while award. fanning 31. Buller’s .429 ranks second all-time to Closer Mike Rivera of Fresno Pa- Adam Kennedy’s .432 in 1995. Buller cific was perfect on the season. He finished ahead of Steve Kemp’s .425 appeared in 14 games, worked 14 which he compiled in 1974. The only innings, posted 4 saves and did not other .400 hitters in team history were allow a run, earned or unearned. Bob Boone at .405 in 1968 and Alvin Rivera walked 6 and struck out 21 Davis (1980), and Bill Dunckel (1991) in establishing his perfect mark. at an even .400 each. He became the third Goldpanners pitcher to have a 0.00 ERA behind Buller also led the way in home runs Ryan Schroyer of Arizona State and with 6, hits with 54 and runs batted in Kyle Brule, also of Arizona State with 46. and then later Oklahoma Baptist. Other players made impressive contri- The next three starters all had al- butions, as well. Leadoff hitter Chris most identical seasons. Matt Mil- Pfau from little Lincoln University in ke was 5-1 with a 1.78 ERA while Missouri hit .346 and rugged second Grady Wood was 4-1 with a 1.82 baseman Trent Bridges of Lewis-Clark ERA and Brent Clapper was also State checked in at .318. Pfau led in 4-1 while pitching at a 2.11 ERA. walks with 30 and Bridges topped the Those three starters combined club in doubles with 10. The 53rd season of the Alaska Goldpanners pro- gram has shaped up to be quite a thriller. With 2012 - The 53rd Season of Goldpanners Baseball two teams in operation, and top-notch athletes Goldpanners Operating Two Teams Again This Summer from around the world gathered in Fairbanks, the 2012 Goldpanners led by formidable coaching staff. 2012 Midnight Sun Goldpanners quest for another state championship has begun following up FAABL second place finish in first season of operation. in earnest. As in 2011, the organization will be fielding both the Alaska Goldpanners in the Alaska Baseball League, and the Fairbanks Goldpanners in the Fairbanks Adult Amateur Baseball League. The FAABL Goldpanners finished second last year in its first year of operation. Former Fairbanksan Randy Barber, out of a head coaching gig at Tem- pe High School in Arizona, will manage the team while returning infielder Josh Gilberts - out of the University of Wisconsin - will provide an assist by both coaching and playing in the field. 17 The featured attraction, however, remains our en- 22 try in the Alaska Baseball League. Jim Dietz re- 27 turns as Field Manager -- his 16th season in that 13 role. Dietz started with the club in 1970, and has 26 since compiled a stellar career, which was rec- 8 ognized by induction into the prestigious College 20 Baseball Hall of Fame. 24 11 Coach Dietz is joined on the field this season by a 7 full staff of experienced coaches. 33 Returning to Fairbanks as 19 Pitching Coach is former Pan- 15 ner Field Manager Tim Kelly. #4 In 1985, Kelly led the ABL champion Goldpanners all the 6 way to the summer World Se- 3 ries in Wichita, Kansas. Prior 18 to that, he was a pitcher on the 1980 club, which dominated all 32 competition and ultimately ran 14 away with the National Base- ball Congress championship.