The world premiere of the full-length feature “Touching the Game: Alaska” was held in Fairbanks on June 19th in 2009. This is the same day that saw the passing of Alaskan legend H.A. (Red) Boucher.
“I didn’t know what to expect, but I wasn’t afraid.”
That quote was the opening line of the documentary film Touching the Game: Alaska, which premiered Friday night at the Pioneer Park Theater. It was said by Hall of Famer Dave Winfield, and member of the 1971 and 1972 Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks teams. But of course it could have said by virtually any of the thousands of players who’ve come through the Frontier State for the last 50 years, chasing their own personal big league dreams.
The documentary starts at the beginning- literally- in the summer of 1960, when a young politician named Red Boucher (who actually passed away on the evening of the premiere at the age of 88) came to Fairbanks, and was looking for an activity that the whole community could get involved in. He came up with a baseball squad comprised mostly of local players, as well as a few from the lower 48 states. Just like that the Alaskan Baseball League and Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks were born.
Since then, the league has taken various forms, with teams being added and subtracted in Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, Kenai and North Pole, with the league actually splitting into two at one point. The documentary tells the story of each team’s humble beginnings and intermediary struggles. Through it all though, one thing has been consistent: top-flight baseball. Some 500 future Major League players have spent summers in Alaska, each with their own story to tell.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher Jered Weaver discussed having to put blankets over his windows at night to get a good night sleep in the land of the Midnight Sun. Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson claimed Alaska to be the most beautiful place he had ever been, after touching every corner of the lower 48 states as a big leaguer. And Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres lamented on the lack of female companionship in Alaska, saying, “There were a lot of dudes, a lot of testosterone” which got maybe the biggest laugh from the crowd, including the current group of Goldpanners who were in attendance.
The movie got its roots in 2005, when executive producer Anthony Keel came to the Midnight Sun game in Fairbanks that year. Coming off a highly successful documentary of the Cape Cod Baseball League, he knew that Alaska had its own unique story to tell. It took close to four years from that day, but the movie was finally shown for the first time, and Keel couldn’t have been happier.
“It’s wonderful, I’m humbled and proud to be here,” Keel told the audience before the first showing.
As for the actual making of the movie, it didn’t come without its own difficulties.
“Certainly there were a bunch of challenges in making this movie,” said Keel. “The geography, distances and weather were a huge factor.”
Of course, Keel added that all he needed was a little homegrown Alaskan attitude to complete the movie. “Alaskans have an attitude that they can do anything they set their minds to, and that’s the approach we took as well.”
The movie showed again later in the evening, and a premiere is set in Anchorage for later this summer. Copies of the movie can be purchased for order online at Amazon, although there was nothing like being in the crowd for the first showing.
Keel summed up his nearly four year experience with one simple statement: “Alaska is such a unique place. We couldn’t have made a movie like this anywhere else.
June 20 2009
PICTURES OF THE WORLD PREMIERE EVENT
6/19/2009
