Alaska Baseball

Fairbanks fans chant 'Let's play ball,' but the traditional Midnight Sun Game is halted

FAIRBANKS — The unthinkable happened at about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday at Growden Memorial Park.

Baseball tradition in Fairbanks dimmed a bit when the annual Midnight Sun Game was called on account of cloudy skies. The sun is officially below the horizon at that hour, but let the record show it was dim, not dark.

The game started shortly after 10:30 p.m., according to long-established rules, but tradition failed to win the day.

The umpires suspended the game between the Alaska Goldpanners, who wanted to keep playing, and the Kenai Peninsula Oilers, who apparently did not.

As the fans chanted "Let's play ball," the Goldpanners took the field, but the Oilers did not send a hitter to the plate. The game was scheduled to be completed Wednesday night, with the Panners up 8-0, at the conclusion of a 7 p.m. seven-inning game between the Panners and Oilers.

According to the Goldpanner play-by-play announcer online, the Oilers coach complained to the umpire at the end of six innings about the lack of daylight.

KSRM radio in Kenai reported, "Umpires and coaches agreed to call the game after six innings for player safety."

ADVERTISEMENT

Early Wednesday afternoon, Goldpanners president John Lohrke said the suspension "was a decision made by the umpires after consulting with both teams at home plate."

"Both catchers and some hitters were telling the umpires that they were having a hard time seeing the ball, which initiated the talk," he said. "Considering the players' safety, the umpires decided to delay the game for one-half hour with hopes that the sky would get lighter but the clouds along the horizon wouldn't allow that. After waiting about 20 minutes, the talks resumed at home plate and the umpires consulted and then informed both teams that the game would be suspended."

The game, a Fairbanks summer tradition since 1906, always draws the biggest and most boisterous crowd of the season.

 The fans who remained in the stands booed the announcement that the game would not continue.

This decision will be argued vehemently in Alaska baseball circles. In 2011, the game was postponed, but that was blamed on rain and dark clouds in the 11th inning.

The game has always been played without lights, though the managers of opposing teams have often been unable to see the light.

Don Dennis, the former general manager of the Goldpanners, wrote on Facebook that a "lot of big-name guys will laugh" that the game was suspended. It has been played many times when the ball was hard to see.

Bob Eley, the former sports editor of the Daily News-Miner, said he has been at many games when light conditions were less than ideal, but that's part of the game.

"I have seen it played when it was very dark," said Eley, who wasn't at the ballpark this year. He did hear the cheers of the crowd just before midnight, however, as the ballpark is a bit more than a half-mile from his home downtown.

"They should have kept playing," said Eley, who is a stickler for tradition.

In 1984, the team from Taiwan refused to take the field in the seventh inning, even though the skies had started to brighten at 2:08 a.m. That time, the umpires refused to halt the game and it was ruled a forfeit.

The late Lowell Purcell, a longtime baseball broadcaster, told of the time when an umpire called for the lights during the Midnight Sun Game, and when the scoreboard operator moved to comply, Purcell said, "If you turn on those lights, not only will I kill you, but Don Dennis will."

I believe the lights do not work at the moment, so turning them on is not an issue.

The game could have been delayed a bit and resumed at sunrise, which was at 2:58 a.m.

Dermot Cole

Former ADN columnist Dermot Cole is a longtime reporter, editor and author.

ADVERTISEMENT