Midnight Sun Game


The Midnight Sun Game is an amateur baseball game played every summer solstice at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks, Alaska, United States. Because the sun is out for almost 24 hours a day, the game starts at about 10:30 at night and completes around 1:30 the next morning. However, because Fairbanks's summer time zone differs by about an hour from local solar time, coupled with the state's observance of daylight saving time, the game may not actually last until solar midnight, at about 1:53. Famous players who have appeared in the game include Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Terry Francona, Harold Reynolds, Jason Giambi, and Bill "Spaceman" Lee.
After Noel Wien's arrival in 1924, he noted, "The baseball team played on weekends, and on June 21 and July 4 they always started a game at midnight sharp, just to indicate that this was the farthest city in the country."
The first game was in 1906. Artificial light has never been used. The sun does dip below the horizon for about an hour. Since 1960, the game has been hosted by the Alaska Baseball League's Fairbanks-based Alaska Goldpanners. The opposing team may be another ABL team, but frequently an NCAA or other collegiate summer team from another league is invited to play.
In 2020 the game was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Game results

Through 1959, the Midnight Sun Game featured various teams from the Fairbanks area. In 1960, the game became exclusively hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners. Although the Midnight Sun Game has been played since 1906, only games hosted by the Goldpanners are listed.