University of Minnesota Athletics
Kyle Geason Blog: Adventures in Alaska
7/15/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Photo Gallery Gopher thirdbaseman Kyle Geason and played for the Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks. Playing in 32 games, Geason has had 111 at-bats, 19 runs and 18 rbi for a .315 batting average. Along with Geason, baseball legend Dave Winfield also played for the Goldpanners in 1971 and 1972.
Geason has given us a glimse of what his life has been in the 49th state with photos and a running blog. His second and final entry of his west coast trip and tournament is now available following his Alaska entry.
Adventures in Alaska
by Kyle Geason
So far my experiences in the great state of Alaska have been quite memorable in many different ways. There have been many positives for playing for the Fairbanks Goldpanners so far, these including my teammates, host family, roommate and the fans.
Playing in Fairbanks was a blast. The field itself is not in prime condition, but playing on the astro turf is great for any infielder, which is why I enjoyed it. We played a total of 19 home games in Fairbanks, Alaska and finished with a home record of 17-2. We have had a very successful and winning team so far this summer and currently we are 23-4. We have some great talent from college players ranging from all levels. A majority of the team is from the west coast like Washington, Oregon and California. My favorite and most memorable times are bonding with this team because we are a bunch of goofballs, who love to play the game. This is a key part to our success because we have created a good team chemistry by having fun with each other off the field.
My host family lived in a very nice log cabin house literally across the street from the airport and off the Chena River, which is the main river that runs throughout Fairbanks. Fairbanks is a small town, but there is always something going on. People are very busy, which is mainly caused by the sun as it only sets for an hour or two early in the morning. It never gets dark during the summer. This was one of the hardest things to get accustomed to. Luckily, our host mom set up the bedroom for my roommate and I down in the dark basement. I don't think I would have been able to sleep a wink if I was staying upstairs. There were endless outdoor activities in Fairbanks, including ATV'ing, fishing, kayaking, and boating to name a few. Even though we played 18 days straight to start the summer, we did find time during the day to enjoy ourselves.
Another one of my favorite moments so far this summer has been the bus trips. To be honest, I hate the long and grueling bus trips but they have never been so easy up here in Alaska with this scenery. My favorite trip was the nine-hour drive from Fairbanks through Anchorage all the way south to Kenai which is right in the inlet to the ocean. The winding drives through the mountains made it very difficult to get some shut eye, and definitely drained a lot of battery out of my digital camera. The beautiful scenery up there will be something I will never forget.
West Coast Roadtrip
(July 15, 2011) (last entry)
Our last game that we played in Alaska was a little sad but at the same time exciting to
be able to do some more traveling, a lot of traveling to be exact. After our final series in Kenai, AK we drove back up to Anchorage, AK (amazing drive following the Kenai River) and flew out of Anchorage to Seattle, WA. From Seattle we drove all the way up to Kamloops, BC which was another great drive throughout the mountains. Kamloops is dubbed the "Tournament Capital of Canada" because of it's high volume of all different types of sports tournaments that are going on year round.
The tournament we played in featured teams from different provinces in Canada and teams in the Seattle area. It was a very fun tournament with very good competition. My favorite part about the tournament (besides hitting a home run my first at bat) was the fans. The fans were very loud but had a lot of fun over the weekend. They were very supportive of their home team when you played against them, but there were also a lot of fans at the other games as well. They would cheer if you made a great play, and heckle you if you struck out. One very interesting thing that I have never seen at a ballpark was "The Boot". A big boot that was tied from the top railing of the stands above the first base dugout with about 30 feet of slack. If anyone made an error people would start chanting "throw the boot!" and a designated guy would hurl the boot onto the field while the crowd cheered and laughed. This definitely helped ease the frustration of making an error because it was hard not to laugh. We finished second in the tournament to the Seattle Studs, which was a very good team compiled of college players and ex-minor league players.
Following the tournament in Kamloops we made the mountainous drive back down to the Seattle area and played that night in Bellingham, WA against the Bellingham Bells which is a team in the West Coast League. After that game we headed down to Florence, OR. That was a long eight hour drive (including a couple food & rest stops) down the west coast. After Florence (which was rained out) we headed further south to Medford, OR the following day to play a double header against the Southwest River Dawgs of the Far West League. We split the double header on a very gorgeous night in Medford. The team then makes its way down to Alameda, CA to play two games against the Neptune Beach Pearl who is also part of the Far West League.
It was difficult saying goodbye to the players and coaches on the team. After traveling and hanging out with them for so long, I was able to make some strong friendships with some great guys and ballplayers. Even though it was a shortened season compared to previous summers, I am still very glad and lucky to be given the opportunity to play for the Fairbanks Goldpanners. The team has such a rich history of developing great college players into Major League players. I can always say that I played on the same field as some big name players including Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, Bret Boone, Dave Winfield just to name a few. It was also a great experience to be able to play in the 106th annual Midnight Sun Game. The game starts at 10:30 and goes all through the night using no artificial lighting. The whole town came out to support us and it was a great experience that definitely made the summer.
I am very thankful that my coaches here at the U gave me the opportunity to play in Fairbanks because I gained a lot of baseball knowledge along with a great experience that I will always remember.
