Welcome to the show – a night with the Savannah Bananas

Our destination was Jet Blue Park in Fort Myers, Florida. Also known as Fenway South, it is the spring training site of the Boston Red Sox. There would be no spring training game on this night, but there would be baseball – of a sort.The Savannah Bananas would be taking on their version of the Washington Generals, the Party Animals, in a madcap display of athleticism that would entertain the sell out crowd. If you are not familiar with the Washington Generals. They are the team the Harlem Globetrotters defeated on a regular basis in a different sport.As a kid I got to see the Globetrotters on two occasions. I still recall Curly Neal dribbling the ball with precision, Goose Tatum dunking while high over the rim and of course the star of the show – Meadowlark Lemon. He always made that half court hook shot.The Globetrotters played the game with skill, but it was their comedy antics that thrilled basketball fans everywhere. I expected to see a similar version on the baseball diamond and I believe I did!We arrived before the gates opened and many fans were already there. We were greeted with "Welcome to the Show" signs on tents outside the stadium. There were several stands where you could buy Bananas merchandise, but it appeared most people already had their gear. Many outfits were yellow, but you could buy tee shirts that were also pink, green, gray or just about any color you could imagine.Shorts, caps and other items were for sale. My favorite was the fellow wearing a Savannah Bananas kilt. It was a yellow plaid.The Bananas would play three games on this weekend and we attended the middle game on Saturday night. The stadium seats a little over 10,000 and all the seats would be full. Apparently this is common as their games until the month of April are all sold out.You must get to the park early because you don't want to miss the pregame show. I should mention that the Bananas have a field announcer, cheerleaders (more on them later), a pep band and a mascot called Split. The Party Animals had a mascot of their own. His name was Pharty the Party Animal and his uniform number was #2. Of course it was!The announcer, decked out in a three piece suit informed the crowd of the history of Savannah Bananas baseball. Any thoughts that this would be strictly baseball were shattered when he pointed out the following. The Bananas first hit the diamond in 2015. "Since then, he intoned, they have reeled off 1,256 victories – a number that is totally made up!"He explained the rules for Banana Ball and here are a few of them. A team gets a point for winning the inning. If the visiting team scores a run in the top of the inning, the home team must score twice to win the inning and take a 1-0 lead. There is no bunting in Banana Ball because bunting sucks. If a batter hits a pop foul into the stands, he is out if a fan catches it. It seems fan involvement in the game is a top priority in Banana Ball.Another rule that seemed a little odd (not that any of the ones already listed are normal) was the fact that there are no walks in this game. When a batter is issued ball four, he drops his bat and takes off. The defensive team has to have all nine players touch the ball before they can make a play on him. That's why you might notice the outfielders cheating in when there is a three ball count.The catcher will throw the ball to the shortstop near second base. He will flip it to the second baseman who in turn flips it to the third baseman. This goes on until all players have touched it. Eventually it will end up in an outfielder's hands. In the half dozen or so times it happened on this night only one runner got to second base. All the others stayed at first. Entertaining? You bet.The entire roster of Bananas took the field before the game and as the announcer listed the participants they took infield practice. I have never seen so many balls fielded between players legs, thrown behind their backs and even caught at first base... behind HIS back. There was dancing and gymnastic flips along the way. I remember thinking that these guys are athletes, but would that translate to baseball abilities?I couldn't help thinking of former Phillies player John Kruk as that question rolled around in my head. He was once observed smoking in the dugout during a big league game by a female fan that admonished him. She said "you shouldn't be smoking, you're an athlete." Kruk's response was "I ain't no athlete lady, I'm a baseball player!"Before the game started a baby dressed in a yellow banana suit was lifted skyward – ala the Lion King – by a Banana player while the infant was surrounded by the entire team. He won't remember this night, but there will be plenty of pictures and video evidence that he will see in the future that will prove – at least for one night – that he was the Top Banana!Finally it was game time. The field announcer took to the diamond with this announcement: "At the count of three everyone say let the game begin as loud as you can." When he said three some ten thousand voices said in unison let the game begin. Two people in our section followed the word begin with as loud as you can.Our daughter looked at us and said "you two were made for each other!" We just smiled and said we were only following directions. Must be the teacher in us.Next week we will take a look at a game of Banana Ball.