The Bucs were originally founded in 1980 as the Cook Inlet Bucs by former General Manager Dennis Mattingly. The Bucs operated as a barnstorming and exhibition Summer Collegiate Baseball team until the following season when the Bucs formally joined the Alaska Baseball League. In 1984, the Bucs officially changed their name to become the Anchorage Bucs as a 501-c non-profit summer collegiate baseball club.
The Anchorage Bucs are dedicated and designed to provide minor league level competition for NCAA players that wish to continue on into professional baseball. The Bucs operate in a similar manner to a Minor League team: playing nightly in stadiums before fans, using wood bats and minor league specification equipment, and experiencing road trips between games. Like all other summer collegiate players, they are unpaid in order to maintain their NCAA eligibility, and live with host families in the same manner as Single A and Independent League players. While serving as a player developmental team, the Anchorage Bucs have continued to push the boundaries of Summer Collegiate Baseball, including foreign players, winning many national and international titles and bringing their own brand of baseball across the world.
Important to our mission is to cultivate local baseball players by providing an opportunity for them to play in a highly competitive league, enabling them in advancing their skills and educational aspirations. The Bucs provide low cost family friendly summer entertainment to the Anchorage community. We encourage the youth of Anchorage by offering annual free Baseball Clinics. We assist the Military by offering Military personnel and their family free admission and honoring them at our annual Military Appreciation Day at the Ballpark. The Bucs support Cancer Research, Special Olympics, Little Leagues, the local United Way and others by holding annual special promotional events. The Bucs champion our community and the diverse cultures within. An example of this is our annual Hispanic Culture day, which embraces collaboration with the Consul of Mexico in Anchorage and local Hispanic Cultural leaders.
Baseball Ambassadors
The Anchorage Bucs have made International Baseball central to their mission and character. Notably among the international baseball experiences of the team have been:
- Team USA- 1991, 1994
- Moscow Red Devils- 1992
- Hawaii International Baseball Tournament- 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996
- Japan Aichi All-Stars - 1994
- Korean National Team- 1995
- Colorado Silver Bullets- 1997
- Kelowna B.C. Grizzlies- 2001
- Taiwan National Team- 2008
