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.

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 47-14 all-time.

DateWinning teamLosing teamNotes
 June 21, 1960  Pan-Alaska Goldpanners11 Fairbanks Pioneers0
June 21, 1961 Pan-Alaska Goldpanners10 North of the Range Military All-Stars4
June 22, 1962 Pan-Alaska Goldpanners 8 North of the Range Military All-Stars3
June 21, 1963 Wichita Rapid Transit Dreamliners3 Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1964 Grand Junction Eagles10 Alaska Goldpanners5
June 21, 1965 Alaska Goldpanners 4 USC Trojans3
June 21, 1966 Alaska Goldpanners8 Oregon State Beavers3
June 21, 1967 Kumagai Gumi10 Alaska Goldpanners3
June 22, 1968 Alaska Goldpanners7 Santa Clara Broncos0
June 21, 1969 Boulder Baseline Collegians5 Alaska Goldpanners2
June 20, 1970 Arizona Wildcats4 Alaska Goldpanners3
June 21, 1971 Alaska Goldpanners 12 Stanford Indians3
June 21, 1972 Ponchatoula Athletics 5 Alaska Goldpanners4
June 21, 1973 BYU Cougars8 Alaska Goldpanners5
June 21, 1974 Alaska Goldpanners7 Washington State Cougars6
June 21, 1975 Alaska Goldpanners4 Vanderbilt Commodores3
June 20, 1976 Alaska Goldpanners6 Westwood Bruins4
June 21, 1977 Alaska Goldpanners 12 Red Deer M&K Generals11
June 21, 1978 Wichita El Dorado Coors10 Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1979 Alaska Goldpanners 8 North Carolina Tar Heels2
June 20, 1980 Alaska Goldpanners16 Wisconsin Badgers5
June 20, 1981 Alaska Goldpanners11 Intermountain Badgers4
June 20, 1982 Alaska Goldpanners 9 San Francisco Senators3
June 19, 1983 Alaska Goldpanners7 Anchorage Bucs2
June 21, 1984 Alaska Goldpanners9 Chinese Taipei0 Forfeit
June 22, 1985 Moraga Marauders12 Alaska Goldpanners11 11 innings
June 20, 1986 Alaska Goldpanners8 San Francisco Senators1
June 20, 1987 Mat-Su Miners2 Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1988 Alaska Goldpanners 6 Hawaii Island Movers5
June 20, 1989 Alaska Goldpanners7 San Diego SeaWorld Killer Whales3
June 21, 1990 Alaska Goldpanners12 San Bernardino Tribe3
June 22, 1991 Alaska Goldpanners 9 South Lake Tahoe Stars8
June 21, 1992 Victor Valley Mets2 Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 1993 Alaska Goldpanners10 South Lake Tahoe Stars4
June 21, 1994 Alaska Goldpanners15 San Diego Stars6
June 21, 1995 Alaska Goldpanners 10 San Francisco Seals4
June 21, 1996 Alaska Goldpanners5 Anchorage Bucs3
June 20, 1997 Alaska Goldpanners12 Kelowna Grizzlies0
June 20, 1998 Alaska Goldpanners14 Kelowna Grizzlies7
June 21, 1999 Alaska Goldpanners 7 Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2000 Alaska Goldpanners 3 Santa Barbara Foresters2
June 21, 2001 Alaska Goldpanners2 Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2002 Alaska Goldpanners2 California Dons1
June 21, 2003 Alaska Goldpanners3 California Dons1
June 21, 2004 Alaska Goldpanners9 Peninsula Oilers1
June 21, 2005 Alaska Goldpanners 3 Omaha Strike Zone1
June 21, 2006 Alaska Goldpanners2 Beatrice Bruins1
June 21, 2007 Oceanside Waves5 Alaska Goldpanners1
June 21, 2008 Alaska Goldpanners10 Southern California Running Birds6
June 21, 2009 Alaska Goldpanners6 Lake Erie Monarchs3
June 21, 2010 Alaska Goldpanners4 Heroes of the Diamond3 15 innings
June 21, 2011 Alaska Goldpanners2 Oceanside Waves1
June 21, 2012 Alaska Goldpanners7 Everett Merchants5
June 21, 2013 Alaska Goldpanners4 San Francisco Seals1
June 21, 2014 Alaska Goldpanners13 Lake Erie Monarchs6
June 21, 2015 Alaska Goldpanners7 Seattle Studs4
June 21, 2016 Alaska Goldpanners9 Kenai Peninsula Oilers2
June 21, 2017 San Diego Waves4 Alaska Goldpanners2
June 21, 2018 Alaska Goldpanners6 Orange County Surf4
June 21, 2019 Seattle Studs5 Alaska Goldpanners4 11 innings
June 21, 2020 Alaska Legion All-Stars15 Fairbanks Adult Amateur Baseball League13 Contested only by local teams due to COVID-19 pandemic
June 21, 2021 Alaska Goldpanners3 Everett Merchants0
June 21, 2022 Alaska Goldpanners10 San Diego Waves9 10 innings
June 21, 2023 Alaska Goldpanners5 Michigan Monarchs1

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″N 147°45′32″W / 64.84083°N 147.75889°W / 64.84083; -147.75889

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