Introducing the 49th State All-Stars: Here’s a collection of the best baseball players to set foot in Alaska

Part of a continuing weekly series on Alaska history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage or Alaska history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

So many great baseball players have passed through Alaska before, during, or after their careers afield. Some scattered gems were born here. Far more young players spent a summer or more honing their craft on amateur Alaska teams, like the Alaska Goldpanners and Anchorage Glacier Pilots. And a few established stars made their own way north, playing or otherwise performing for Alaskans desperate for diversions. There is no better way to organize this history, no more unassailable method of presenting this lineage, than in an imaginary team roster. Who could argue with a sports column featuring arbitrary restrictions and rankings?

The rules here are simple. A player must have set foot in Alaska but not necessarily played here. Players must have played a significant portion of their career at the given position, even if they did not play that position in Alaska. Accommodations are thus made for legends. Roster limits are those of the modern major leagues, with 26 players, including no more than 13 pitchers. For those players who played for an Alaska team, that team is noted in parentheses. This column covers the hitters. The pitchers will follow in next week’s column.

Catcher

The catcher position offers the best perspective on the decision-making process. The starter is Tom Sullivan (1906-1944) who played a single game — and batted once — for the Cincinnati Reds in 1925. He was born amid the Nome gold rush and was the first man born in Alaska to play in the major leagues. As of this writing, he is still only one of 12 born Alaskans to reach the majors. While his on-field credentials are perhaps weaker than those of other candidates, he deserves extra credit for his historic milestone and a life that carried him from the golden beaches of Nome all the way to the big leagues.

The backup catcher is Coen Niclai, a wager on the future. The recent Service High School graduate committed to play at the University of Oregon and was also drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 15th round of the 2024 draft. Former Alaska Goldpanner and four-time All-Star Bob Boone was considered. Other honorable mentions include Rick Cerone (Glacier Pilots), Don Slaught (Goldpanners), Mike Macfarlane (Anchorage Bucs), and Kurt Suzuki (Bucs).

First base

St. Louis Cardinals legend Stan Musial starts at first base. Over his Hall of Fame career, Musial played more games in the outfield, though he also started more than a thousand games at first, making him the first major leaguer to play 1,000 games each at more than one position. Slotting him here makes other roster decisions easier. Musial spent about two months from late 1943 to early 1944 visiting troops in Alaska. Apart from his skill as a player, he earns bonus points for visiting Kodiak and the Aleutians, which are farther in Alaska than most visitors travel.

His tour of Alaska fell within deep winter, across Christmas and the New Year. Still, the servicemen wanted to see some baseball. Said Musial, “The boys up there expected us to show some baseball, even in the snow. Occasionally we would throw a few if the hall was big enough. They play out in the fog and rain.”

But the soldiers were even more interested in the most recent World Series, where Musial’s defending champion Cardinals lost to the New York Yankees in five games. Danny Litwhiler, another Cardinal, was also part of the trip. He told the Sporting News, “The first thing the boys asked Stan and me was, ‘What happened to the Cardinals?’ And we told them, ‘We also would like to know.’ The boys there must have gone hook, line and sinker on the Cards, because they all claimed we owed them five, ten, 25, 50 bucks for their losses. Nobody appeared to have bet on the Yanks.”

Honorable mentions for first base are Chris Chambliss (Glacier Pilots), Alvin Davis (Goldpanners), Mark Grace (North Pole Nicks), Wally Joyner (Bucs), John Olerud (Peninsula Oilers), and Jason Giambi (Glacier Pilots). It is an honor just to be in the discussion. No, Mark McGwire was not forgotten; he slots in later.

Second base

Jackie Robinson leads the way at second base. He is one of two players on this list whose interactions with Alaska came after their playing careers, but concessions are made for the Rookie of the Year and MVP who integrated baseball. He visited Anchorage in November 1964, where he spoke at a church conference and made other appearances around town.

Shortstop

Another Hall of Famer starts at shortstop, Frankie Frisch, who was part of the same 1943-1944 Alaska tour as Musial and Litwhiler. Frisch was primarily a second baseman but did play shortstop in college and for 80 games in the majors. Shortstop is otherwise perhaps the weakest position among Alaska alums.

As of his Alaska trip, Frisch was managing the Pittsburgh Pirates. The tour included two other ballplayers: Dixie Walker of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Hank Borowy of the New York Yankees. This was no recreational cruise. The Army kept the players busy, rushing from one engagement to another. As Frisch told the Sporting News, “At times we are so dog tired after coming home that we feel like flopping right into bed. In the last two days we really have stepped on it. Up at 7 in the morning and on the go until 10:30 at night. The old throat then needs a few lozenges.”

He added, “If anyone in the States complains about anything, that person should take a trip up here, and there would be little grumbling thereafter. These service kids are doing a great job. Some of them have been up here for a long time, and it becomes mighty lonesome. It pleases us to know that these boys take to our hot-stove sessions.”

Third base

Former Goldpanner Graig Nettles was one of the more underrated players of his generation, with a 22-year career that spanned from 1967 to 1988. He combined power and slick defense, but low batting averages lessened his public stature. He also played in the shadow of Thurman Munson and Reggie Jackson on the raucous Bronx Zoo New York Yankees of the 1970s. Still, he was a two-time Gold Glove winner, six-time All-Star, and led the American League in home runs in 1976. He starts at third base.

Nettles was also one of the wittier players of his era. He once said, “Some kids dream of joining the circus, others of becoming a major league baseball player. I have been doubly blessed. As a member of the New York Yankees, I have gotten to do both.” When facing notoriously quirky pitcher Mark Fidrych, fond of talking to his baseballs before throwing them, Nettles told his bat, “Never mind what he says to the ball. You just hit it over the outfield fence.” But after striking out, he blamed the “Damned Japanese bat! It didn’t understand a word of English.”

The backup infielders and bench bats are 2000 National League MVP Jeff Kent (Bucs), seven-time All-Star Michael Young (Goldpanners), and 2015 American League MVP Josh Donaldson (Fairbanks AIA Fire). Young was primarily a shortstop, and Donaldson came up as a catcher before shifting to third base. Kent played for the Anchorage Bucs in 1987 and was notably unpopular with fans. They taunted him with “Jeff-Rey” chants, like the “Dar-Ryl” jeers faced by New York Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry.

As shall be clear from the second half of this two-part series, the pitching staff is strong enough to need fewer pitchers, allowing for more position player depth than a major league team would carry. Honorable mentions for infielders are Marty Barrett (Glacier Pilots), Harold Reynolds (Goldpanners), Casey Candaele (Glacier Pilots), Bret Boone (Goldpanners), Craig Counsell (Mat-Su Miners), Roy Smalley (Glacier Pilots), Bobby Crosby (Goldpanners), Tim Wallach (Goldpanners), Aaron Boone (Glacier Pilots), and Todd Zeile (Nicks).

The Boones deserve special notice. Bret Boone is part of a multi-generational baseball legacy. His grandfather Ray played in the majors from 1948 to 1960. His father Bob played for the Alaska Goldpanners as well as three teams across 19 years in the majors. Ray did visit Alaska to see his son play here. Like his father, Bret spent a summer with the Goldpanners. And his brother Aaron, now the New York Yankees manager, played for the Glacier Pilots and was a one-time All-Star.

Outfielders

The outfielders offer an embarrassment of riches: two Hall of Famers, the all-time home run leader, and one of the game’s current brightest stars. In right field is Dave Winfield, who hit and pitched while with the Goldpanners in 1971 and 1972. He had more than 3,000 hits and 450 home runs in the majors, but his first legendary shot came in Fairbanks. One of his blasts sailed over the Growden Park left-field wall, hitting the curling club across the street. Some say the ball bounced once before striking the building. Others, including Winfield, say it landed on the roof. In 2024, the Goldpanners installed a statue of Winfield by Growden Park.

[Fairbanks group to raise statue in honor of former Goldpanner Dave Winfield]

Mickey Mantle takes centerfield. The longtime Yankee was the reigning American League triple crown winner and most valuable player when he visited Anchorage in 1956 as part of a troupe accompanying Bob Hope. The group filmed an episode of the “Bob Hope Show” at what is now West Anchorage High School. Mantle awkwardly, if endearingly, performed in a skit as a pampered Army recruit who tests the patience of a gruff sergeant played by Hope. The recruit’s gear included slippers, curtains for his bunk, and a letter from his mother requesting “not wake him too early in the morning.” The slugger struggled to maintain a blank face as required by the role and repeatedly broke, smiling and laughing.

Barry Bonds, the seven-time National League MVP, assumes his familiar spot in left field. However, his links to Alaska are more tenuous than the rest. In 1983, he only joined the Goldpanners for the National Baseball Congress World Series played in Wichita, Kansas. He played first base in the tournament to make room for an outfield of Oddibe McDowell, Shane Mack, and Mark Davis. In 1984, he was again expected to play for the Goldpanners but never suited up. In all, he made one trip north in time to watch a single game. As he later said, “I just watched the sun, sun, sun.” Nonetheless, he represented Alaska on a national stage and did manage a brief trip to Fairbanks.

[‘A special kid’: The inside story of home run king Aaron Judge’s season with the Anchorage Glacier Pilots]

The backup outfielder is the scandalously overqualified Aaron Judge (Glacier Pilots), the 2022 American League MVP. As his career continues, he might overpass one of the starters. As is, he would also backup the designated hitter and allow the other outfielders to rest with no dropoff. With his first starts at left field this year, he has played all three outfield positions. Honorable mentions for outfielders are Rick Monday (Goldpanners), Dave Kingman (Goldpanners), Billy Sample (Goldpanners), Steve Finley (Nicks), Luis Gonzalez (Nicks), J.D. Drew (Oilers), and Jacoby Ellsbury (Glacier Pilots).

Last, Mark McGwire (Glacier Pilots) is the designated hitter. Like Winfield, he was predominantly a pitcher before Alaska, but here began a transition to hitting. He most notably was the hero of the greatest game in Alaska baseball history. On July 7, 1982, the Bucs and Glacier Pilots were locked into a scoreless pitching duel into the ninth inning. Glacier Pilots starter John Hoover struck out 16 and only allowed two hits, but the Bucs’ Don August had a no-hitter going. In the bottom of the ninth, August had one out when McGwire came to the plate. And on a 1-0 count, McGwire lifted a ball over the lights to secure the one-run win.

Moreso than any accomplishment on the field, the most famous McGwire-Alaska connection is likely a baseball card. Despite the prominent “1982″ at the top of the card — the year McGwire played for Anchorage — the card was actually printed years later to profit off his early major league stardom. Many collectors bought the card thinking it predated his rookie cards, but the McGwire Glacier Pilot card appeared around 1988, three years after his earliest representation on cardboard.

In summary, the position player starters are Tom Sullivan, Stan Musial, Jackie Robinson, Frankie Frisch, Graig Nettles, Dave Winfield, Mickey Mantle, and Barry Bonds, with Mark McGwire as the designated hitter. The backups are Coen Niclai, Michael Young, Josh Donaldson, Jeff Kent, and Aaron Judge. Combined, they appeared in 118 All-Star games and won 18 Most Valuable Player awards. Five of them are currently in the Hall of Fame.

Next week, the best pitchers with Alaska connections will be announced.

Related:

This Anchorage family is proof that host families are the lifeblood of the Alaska Baseball League (Part 1)

Meet the ‘epitome of a host’ for Anchorage Glacier Pilots players the past decade (Part 2)

Key sources:

Bieri, Chris. “Fairbanks Group to Raise Statue in Honor of Former Goldpanner Dave Winfield.” Anchorage Daily News, May 1, 2024.

Daniel, Dan. “Servicemen Ask More News of Game.” Sporting News, February 3, 1944, 3.

Doyle, Charles J. “Questions Swamp Tourists in Alaska ; Frisch Gets Out the Old Crying Towel.” Sporting News, January 6, 1944, 12.

Freedman, Lew. Diamonds in the Rough: Baseball Stories from Alaska. Kenmore, WA: Epicenter Press, 2000.

James, Bill. Historical Baseball Abstract, revised edition. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2003.

Martin, Danny. “Road to the Majors.” Anchorage Daily News, July 11, 1993, K18-K19.

“Two Cards and Yankee Back from Alaska Trek.” Sporting News, January 27, 1944, 12.