Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska

By Lew Freedman

Book Overview

After winning Statehood in 1959, Alaska attracted thousands of collegiate stars who played for colorful teams such as the Fairbanks Goldpanners, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Peninsula Oilers, North Pole Nicks, and Anchorage Bucs. Hundreds went on to major leagues, including Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, home-run king Mark McGwire, and fireball pitcher Randy Johnson. And nowhere else is there an event like the annual Midnight Sun Game. Played in Fairbanks on June 21, the longest day of the year, it starts at 10:30 p.m. and continues until the next day, with no stadium lights.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0945397828
• ISBN13: 9780945397823
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Epicenter Press (WA)
• Length: 252 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Baseball history in the Last Frontier

Lew Freedman wrote one of the better books in baseball history as he traces the history of Alaskan baseball (bush league in its finest form) from the territorial days to the turn of the century. What make this book so interesting is that it also spotlights on many of the players who used to played in Alaska during its short summer seasons who later on became big time Major League players like Mark McGwire, Dave Kingman and Randy Johnson. But overall, the main focus of the book remains on baseball in Alaska, the history of the teams, players and coaches along with some of it more eccentric fans. It may be that some of the players we see in Anchorage today during the summer season, may be a future Hall of Famer. The book comes highly recommended for anyone interested in baseball history or enjoyed baseball in general.

Diamonds in the Rough

This is a very good book about different teams in the Alaska Baseball League. In talks about each team and their players and also talks of the history of the league.