Midnight Sun fun

The longest day of the year was warm (hot actually, with temperatures in the 80s) and sunny. We celebrate this day, June 21, with festivals, sales, a 10k run at 10:30 p.m. and a 10:30 p.m. baseball game played without artificial lights.

The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks play in the Alaska League. The teams from Fairbanks, Anchorage, Kenai and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley are recruited largely from colleges around the country, and many of the former Alaska-leaguers have gone on to play in the major leagues.

The Alaska League season is a short one. The players come to Alaska in June and by August they're gone - to tournaments or home. But the teams all have die-hard fans who look forward to that first game every year. The fans are vocal, enthusiastic and loyal. It's great fun to sit in the stands and listen to the crowd when archrivals from Anchorage come to town.

The Midnight Sun Game has been a Fairbanks tradition for years - this year was the 103rd MSG. It typically draws a crowd of several thousand, with standing-room only.

The game started this year with a US Air Force flyover - a real treat for the crowd.

The starting pitcher was Bill "Spaceman" Lee, former Boston Red Sox pitcher and, before that, Alaska Goldpanners pitcher. I think most people believed the 62-year-old man would pitch one inning, mostly ceremonial. I didn't expect him to go more than three innings. He went six, and came out the winning pitcher. And he was smiling the whole time. The crowd loved him, and he acknowledged it several times.

The game was a good one, with the opposing So. Cal. team closing in on the Goldpanners. The Panners, however, kept the lead and went on to win. We really don't like to lose the MSG!

On June 21 it doesn't get truly dark here, but when the sun dipped it was dark enough that the two teams had a bit of difficulty seeing the ball. (I think it just made the game more interesting.)

The photo here was taken about 10 minutes after midnight.

I have front-row box seats for the Panners' games, just to the right of home plate, so have a good view of the field. To me there's not much I enjoy more than sitting in the sun watching a good game. A well-executed double play, an extraordinary stretch to catch the ball on a throw to first, the sound of the bat connecting with the ball - I love this stuff. Baseball is a game where spectators can watch the play and still chat with friends who stop by.

In my mind, it's aptly named "America's favorite pasttime."