The days are getting longer, things are starting to thaw out a little bit, and can you believe it? It’s only about four months until ABL season gets into the swing. Junior colleges have started playing ball way down south, and although things seem to be frozen solid up here in Alaska, the Chugiak-Eagle River [...]

As you may know by now, Anchorage Bucs founder and long-time General Manager Dennis Mattingly passed away a week ago. A celebration of his life is planned for today, from 11a.m. until 4p.m., at Tudor Road Bingo. It will be a potluck-style get together. I’ve already said my piece on Dennis but I’d just like [...]

The past two years I have written a sappy New Year’s post full of thank yous and all that jazz, but this year I think I’ll give you all what you come here for and stick with baseball. Let’s look ahead at the 2012 Alaska Baseball League season! I’ll give a brief rundown of where [...]

Dear readers, you may have noticed that this blog has slowed down quite a bit over the winter. While I wish I could revive it on a more positive note, I have to break the recent silence with the bad news that Bucs founder and former general manager Dennis Mattingly is fighting for his life. [...]

Tomorrow, when the powers that be announce their pick for the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player, the pressure will be on them to make the right decision and anoint former Anchorage Glacier Pilot Jacoby Ellsbury with one of baseball’s most prestigious honors. The haters gonna hate. He was “only” 5th in the AL in [...]

Draft day 2011 is far behind us and baseball nerds everywhere are already looking forward to the 2012 MLB Draft. But before we turn the corner and start looking at our ABL alumni who may go pro this coming spring, we need to finish up 2011 with a recap of the guys who got drafted [...]

After having such a fruitful discussion with Rangers blogger Dan Edmonson a while back, I thought I would keep the ball rolling with and ask some other bloggers what they thought about the former Alaska League players employed by their professional teams of interest. Toward that end, I asked David Henderson, avid Cleveland Indians fan [...]

The relocation of the AIA Fire from Fairbanks to Chugiak took a bold step forward yesterday, giving their new local fanbase something to cheer for: a new name and logo. The former Fire are now officially known as the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks. The team will be building almost from scratch in the Eagle River area [...]

As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, I have the privledge of rubbing virtual elbows with some of the preeminent baseball bloggers on the web. One of those bloggers is Dan Edmonson, who blogs about the Texas Rangers over at Chicken Fried Baseball. Dan was kind enough to respond in detail to a few questions I [...]

The Peninsula Oilers typically bring a solid pitching staff up to Alaska, but there is definitely a difference between pitchers who are good at this level, and pitchers who have the tools to succeed at the next level. Cameron McVey is a guy who I think could qualify in both of those categories. During the [...]

According to a recent article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as a press release on the team website, the Goldpanners are slated to return to full ABL status in 2012. The Fairbanks-based club spent 2011 as an “adjunct” member, playing a shortened exhibition schedule against several teams of the Alaska Baseball League and [...]

In 2008, Paul Goldschmidt was acknowledged to be the best overall hitter in the ABL and was the main power threat in the Bucs’ lineup. With an average of .330, 3 homers and 28 RBI’s he was definitely a force to be reckoned with. Those who saw him play up here should have felt pretty confident that Goldschmidt’s talent at swinging the lumber would carry him far.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated this blog and some of you may have wondered where I ran off to. Well, after another amazing season I took what I think was a much-deserved break to get some things in my life in order and make the big jump: moving back to Alaska full [...]

The Peninsula Oilers could beat any team…any team, that is, except 1: the Santa Barbara Foresters. With a loss against them last night, they’ve brought their season to a close, and with it the NBC World Series and the Alaska Baseball League post-season. Their loss to the Foresters on Saturday came at an excruciating final [...]

With a big win tonight, the Peninsula Oilers have extended their season-series sweet of the San Diego Waves and, far more importantly, are within striking distance of the National Baseball Congress World Series championship, rebounding from a loss against the Santa Barbara Foresters. My apologies for being lax on the updates; in addition to a [...]