Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks

Founded by H. A. Boucher in 1960, Fairbanks' baseball team first made national news when the Pan-Alaska Gold Panners appeared in the 1962 NBC national championship game. Following a business re-organization led by W.G. Stroecker in 1963, the team changed was renamed the Alaska Goldpanners.

From 1970 to 1972, the Goldpanners were a member of the Big West Conference, along with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots, Humboldt Crabs, Grand Junction Eagles, and Bellingham Bells. In 1967, the Goldpanners were in the inaugural Western Baseball Association with Humboldt, Grand Junction, Bellingham, and the Santa Rosa Rosebuds.

In 2008, former Goldpanner Bill "Spaceman" Lee returned to Fairbanks as an alumnus of the Midnight Sun Game. During his time with the club, which included a win for Lee in the Midnight Sun Game, Bill declared that the Goldpanners were "the number one amateur baseball organization in history."

The players line up before the first pitch of the 2011 Midnight Sun Game.

First held in 1906, the annual Midnight Sun Game is held yearly in Fairbanks, hosted by the Goldpanners. The game, which begins at 10:30 PM on the night of the summer solstice, has gained the attention of international media.

Baseball America declared the game one of the "10 Must-See Baseball Events." In 2005, ESPN spotlighted the game during "50 States in 50 Days." ESPN The Magazine called the event the "#8 Ultimate Baseball Experience." The Sporting News declared that on the 21st of June, "Fairbanks is the Baseball Capitol of America". In 2012, Yankees Magazine declared the game "Baseball's Most Natural Promotion".

• Official website
• Alaska Baseball League