In 2012, the Alaska Baseball League was well represented in the first round of the MLB amateur draft. If MLB.com’s top 100 draft prospect ranking is any indication, we could likely see a pair of former Anchorage players added to the list of first-round picks with ABL experience. Ranked #13 on the list is 2011/2012 [...]

We’ve got about a month to go until big-time baseball finally arrives in Alaska. The teams should be getting close to having their rosters set up, and several of them have published their stable of players on the web for all to see. So I’m going to go ahead and kick off the 2013 previews [...]

Robert Barr, a filmmaker who “grew up at Mulcahy Stadium”, has decided to chase his dream of telling the story of the Anchorage Glacier Pilots on screens big and small. And he’d like you to be a part of his project. In 2001, Barr followed the Pilots on what would become their most recent National [...]

By my count, there were four players with Alaska Baseball League experience who made their Major League debut during the 2012 season. Kirk Nieuwenhuis, a 2007 AIA Fire player and a guy that’s been on the prospect radar for a while, earned a spot in the Mets’ lineup out of spring training in 2012. He [...]

The Kansas City Royals are taking a shot on former first supplemental round draft pick and 2005 Anchorage Glacier Pilot Mitch Canham. Canham was regarded highly enough to be selected 57th overall in the 2007 draft after back-to-back NCAA championships as catcher with Oregon State and, of course, a 2005 summer in the Alaska Baseball [...]

Long-time MLB star Geoff Blum, a member of the 1992 Mat-Su Miners of the Alaska Baseball League, has permanently left the batter’s box for a new career in the press box. Blum announced his retirement in January of this year; he was released by the Diamondbacks during the 2012 season and went unsigned for the [...]

Tanner Mendonca caught my eye late in the season. I filmed this video in late July last year and I was very impressed with what I saw. As you can see, Mendonca has a good repertoire of pitches. His four-seamer reaches a respectable 90-92 mph and he has a gnarly curveball in his arsenal…

The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks made a Facebook announcement yesterday that three 2012 players have agreed to return for the 2013 season. Pitchers Drew Mitrisin and Jake Ham will join outfielder and designated hitter Casey Munoz in a return trip to Alaska. Mitrisin, the 6’1″, 175-pound left-hander out of William Jewell College had a promising [...]

Tanner Rust is a two-year Alaska Baseball League player, coming up with the Oilers in 2011 before making the move to the Bucs with GM Shawn Maltby for 2012. Rust has served primarily as a catcher in his ABL tenure but has played around the field as well. In 2011 he went to the NBC World Series with the Oilers, where he had a homer and 5 RBIs in 7 games. Check out his scouting video below:

The Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks have dug down deep to the DIII level in their recruiting for 2013, and have produced a potential gem in a Hendrix College junior outfielder known as Collin Radack. The 6’4″, 205-pounder has risen to prominence over the past few years and, consequently, has punched his ticket to Alaska. In the hierarchy of [...]

Former Goldpanner Brooks Conrad, a minor-league free-agent this offseason, has come to terms with the big-league Tigers. The Hanshin Tigers of Japan’s big league, Nippon Pro Baseball, that is. Conrad had a “AAAA” season with the Brewers and Rays last year, shuttling back and forth between the majors and AAA. His most notable season came [...]

There’s a lot of voodoo involved in player-watching but timing runners with a stopwatch is one of the few pursuits I’ve found which gives you hard data. That’s why I’ve had a stopwatch with me every time I’ve gone to a game from day one at this blog. 2012 was no exception and I got [...]

The 2013 Peninsula Oilers’ roster is coming together, and the team has slowly been releasing names to the local media. James Clark, the team’s GM, has been using his Oilers Corner column in the Peninsula Clarion to feed his fans players’ names and summary background, one or two guys at a time. For the quickest [...]

I’ve received an inside tip, you might call it, on the shape of the 2013 Alaska Baseball League schedule. The most intriguing piece of information is that, for the first time (that I remember), the ABL will feature a post-season tournament to determine its champion in 2013. You know I love caveats, especially this time [...]

Hey guys. I wanted to make a few quick housekeeping notes addressed to some specific types of readers as we head into 2013. I say they’re going to be quick, but I’m notoriously long-winded; so they will be “jjack-quick”, as concise as I can make them. Here we go… Readers: I’ve been trying to get [...]