2009 All-Star Game
The 2009 Alaskan League All-Star Game would be played at Growden Memorial Park, home of the Goldpanners.
Growden Memorial Park
The game took place on July 5th. By this time, Alaskan League fans had seen a few surprises. One of them was the fact that the Seward Division, led by a red-hot Peninsula and a surprising Bucs club, was playing almost up to the standard of the Denali Division. In the Denali, the Nicks and Senators were duking it out for the top spot, while the disappointing Miners had trouble keeping their heads above .500. The financially handicapped Jets actually had a slightly better record than they.
There had been some disappointing injuries too. Last year's Hitter of the Year runner-up, Fairbanks' Jimmy Williams, was out for two months going back to June 1st, and was not selected for the All-Star Game. Bethel's Vincent Robinson, the 2007 ERA title winner, went down for seven weeks but hadn't pitched all that great so far (2-1, 4.37). Finally, the Jets got something they really didn't need: number two power threat, Japanese third baseman Hirotada Kokura, went down for the entire season. He'd been having a career year, hitting .354/.397/.535. The team's future now stood in even more doubt.
The All-Star Game featured some new and old faces. Tom Robbins was back on track, among the league leaders in home runs after a disappointing '08 campaign, and he made the Seward roster for a third straight year. He was joined by teammate Dave Bonnar, but between the two of them they couldn't sufficiently boost the league-worst Pilots' offense. Other familiar Pilot faces at the game were pitchers Bryan Kendall, Gary Tufts, and Eric Liger. Last year's Pitcher of the Year, the Bucs' Jack Hatt, was also on the Seward roster. New faces for the Seward Division included Newt Langille of Bethel, who was finally living up to his potential, and shortstop Ken Swerdlow of Anchorage, who hit .352 last year and stood at .350 at the break this year.
On the Denali side, the Nicks were well represented, with sluggers John Abston, Bob Horton, Alan Sellick, and Terry Kuhn out in force. Nick starter Tom Pick, who had thrown a no-hitter and cut his ERA in half from last year, made his first ASG appearance. Shortstop Jonathan Bertrand of Sitka, one of the most consistent forces at the plate in the league's short history, was at the game for the second straight year. Pitching phenom Scott Northeast, who had just signed a 5-year contract renewal with Juneau for almost $100,000 a year, made his third All-Star team. The hometown favorite for the game would surely be Gary Johnson, perennial batting champion contender.
The game opened with Louis Mays of Juneau, the current league ERA leader, facing off against Gary Tufts of AGP. In the bottom of the first, Tufts gave up a leadoff home run to Gary Johnson, which got the crowd into a raucous mood. The Denali team plated two more runs in the inning to take a 3-0 lead. They would get only one more hit in the entire game.
The Seward Division finally got on the board in the top of the fifth, when first baseman Adam Joly of Chugiak scored Musher outfielder Calvin Curry on a groundout. In the sixth the Seward team took the lead for good on a three-run home run by Dave Bonnar. They added an insurance run in the ninth and sealed a 5-3 come from behind victory. Bonnar won the All-Star Game MVP. Jack Hatt was credited with the win for the Seward Division, while Ken Iwasaki took the loss for the Denali team.
Over 3000 fans had attended on a fine, 60-degree July evening, the biggest crowd yet for an All-Star Game, and the game had been broadcast across Alaska over the radio.