The 2-Disc Touching
the Game, Alaska DVD
was released on
11/30/09. To order, click here.
The Alaska Baseball League,
a six-team amateur summer
league, is the subject of
the documentary film,
“Touching the Game, Alaska,”
which was co-produced by
Vail local Anthony Keel.
|
|
Anthony Keel, who
has lived in Vail
for 17 years,
co-founded the
production company
Eye Candy Cinema in
2002. He spent part
of the last four
summers in Alaska
filming “Touching
the Game, Alaska.”
|
|
|
The Midnight Sun
Game in Fairbanks
begins at 10:30 p.m.
on the longest day
of the year. It
never uses
artificial lights.
|
VAIL, Colorado — Long bus rides.
Days that are, literally,
endless. And occasional run-ins
with bears and moose.
The life of a player in the amateur Alaska Baseball League may not be easy. But the league can be the gateway to the majors.
That's the drama behind “Touching the Game, Alaska,” a new documentary film that was co-produced by Vail's Anthony Keel.
“This is their best opportunity to show what they've got, to deal with some adverse conditions, to experience what it's like to have a roughly minor league experience,” Keel said. “They've got to travel — from Fairbanks to Anchorage is at least six, six and a half hours if they're going to go play each other. It's not an easy, cushy kind of lifestyle for these guys.”
‘The sun never sets in Alaska'
Keel is a longtime local who has been in the valley for 17 years. He ran the bar at Los Amigos, worked for Vail Resorts and was a raft guide for Timberline Tours. In 2002, Keel and a ski buddy, Eric Scharmer, founded Eye Candy Cinema, a production company that focuses on outdoor and adventure documentary films.
The Alaska film is the second in the “Touching the Game” series. The previous film focused on the Cape Cod Baseball League. For “Touching the Game, Alaska,” Keel and the rest of the crew spent part of the last four summers in the Last Frontier. The film was just released last month. They were attracted to Alaska by the long tradition of baseball there, stretching back over a century. The Midnight Sun Game — played on the longest day of the year, starting at 10:30 p.m., never with lights — has been played for over a century.
“It's pretty amazing,” Keel said of the game. “Especially if you've just gotten to Alaska and are not acclimated to the idea that the sun never sets in Alaska.”
Top players
Another attraction was the pedigree of players who have passed through the league. The film includes interviews with former Alaska players who made it big, including Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Chris Chambliss, Bill Lee, Terry Francona, Mark Grace, Michael Young, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew, Jered Weaver and Jason Giambi.
“The best of the best over the last 50 years or so in the major leagues have played in Alaska,” Keel said. Former Major Leaguer Mike Timlin narrates the film.
The Alaska Baseball League is comprised of six teams from four cities. Many of the players come from the nation's top college programs.
“(Playing is Alaska) is kind of a true test for them,” Keel said. “And that's part of what you get from the guys that we interviewed for the film that are in the Hall of Fame. They all say if they hadn't gone up there, they wouldn't have gotten to where they've gotten to.”
The film also includes plenty of colorful local fans from Alaska. Indeed, former Gov. Sarah Palin is one of them.
Keel and his colleagues plan to continue with the “Touching the Game” series with two more films. They are thinking about Cuba and Taiwan for locations of the next two.
Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 970-748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com
The life of a player in the amateur Alaska Baseball League may not be easy. But the league can be the gateway to the majors.
That's the drama behind “Touching the Game, Alaska,” a new documentary film that was co-produced by Vail's Anthony Keel.
“This is their best opportunity to show what they've got, to deal with some adverse conditions, to experience what it's like to have a roughly minor league experience,” Keel said. “They've got to travel — from Fairbanks to Anchorage is at least six, six and a half hours if they're going to go play each other. It's not an easy, cushy kind of lifestyle for these guys.”
‘The sun never sets in Alaska'
Keel is a longtime local who has been in the valley for 17 years. He ran the bar at Los Amigos, worked for Vail Resorts and was a raft guide for Timberline Tours. In 2002, Keel and a ski buddy, Eric Scharmer, founded Eye Candy Cinema, a production company that focuses on outdoor and adventure documentary films.
The Alaska film is the second in the “Touching the Game” series. The previous film focused on the Cape Cod Baseball League. For “Touching the Game, Alaska,” Keel and the rest of the crew spent part of the last four summers in the Last Frontier. The film was just released last month. They were attracted to Alaska by the long tradition of baseball there, stretching back over a century. The Midnight Sun Game — played on the longest day of the year, starting at 10:30 p.m., never with lights — has been played for over a century.
“It's pretty amazing,” Keel said of the game. “Especially if you've just gotten to Alaska and are not acclimated to the idea that the sun never sets in Alaska.”
Top players
Another attraction was the pedigree of players who have passed through the league. The film includes interviews with former Alaska players who made it big, including Tom Seaver, Dave Winfield, Chris Chambliss, Bill Lee, Terry Francona, Mark Grace, Michael Young, Jacoby Ellsbury, J.D. Drew, Jered Weaver and Jason Giambi.
“The best of the best over the last 50 years or so in the major leagues have played in Alaska,” Keel said. Former Major Leaguer Mike Timlin narrates the film.
The Alaska Baseball League is comprised of six teams from four cities. Many of the players come from the nation's top college programs.
“(Playing is Alaska) is kind of a true test for them,” Keel said. “And that's part of what you get from the guys that we interviewed for the film that are in the Hall of Fame. They all say if they hadn't gone up there, they wouldn't have gotten to where they've gotten to.”
The film also includes plenty of colorful local fans from Alaska. Indeed, former Gov. Sarah Palin is one of them.
Keel and his colleagues plan to continue with the “Touching the Game” series with two more films. They are thinking about Cuba and Taiwan for locations of the next two.
Staff Writer Edward Stoner can be reached at 970-748-2929 or estoner@vaildaily.com
“Touching the Game, Alaska”
For more information, to watch
the trailer or to order the
film, go to
www.touchingthegame.com.
Reproduced with Permission from Edward Stoner and THE VAIL DAILY!
