Diamonds in the Rough Baseball Stories from Alaska

Freedman shares his best baseball stories from a state whose season is short but there's no shortage of future major leaguers passing through-some 300 in the past thirty summers. Read about: The annual Midnight Sun Game that starts without lights at 10:30pm. An Alaska League team so eager to get in a game on a soggy day that is sets the playing field on fire. The legendary radio announcer who exits mid-game, inviting a bystander to continue the play by play. The bullpen that sneaks off to a local tavern for a few beers - during the game! But, hey! This is no joke. Mark McGwire, Dave Kingman, and Dave Winfield (all pitching then) donned uniforms of teams such as the Fairbanks Goldpanners, Alaska Glacier Pilots, Peninsula Oilers, Valley Green Giants, Mat-Su Miners, North Pole Nicks, and Anchorage Bucs. Other Alaska League alumni: Hall-of-Fame pitcher Tom Seaver and fireball hurler Randy Johnson. And don't overlook H.A. "Red" Boucher, "the George Washington of Alaska baseball," and others who shaped baseball history in the north.Freedman, Lew is the author of 'Diamonds in the Rough Baseball Stories from Alaska' with ISBN 9780945397823 and ISBN 0945397828.