Those games were to be the second and the first, respectively.
This specific game schedule was posted in the ladies' room at Grayson Stadium this evening, again verifying the schedule of play.
That is not how it all went down, though.
At some point, the Fan Vote and the East teams drew their fresh pitchers from the six-man Semifinals Pitcher Pool for play today. That's because every pitcher in the CPL All-Star Showdown is only allowed to pitch for a single inning, to allow maximum visibility of a large number of pitchers for the MLB talent scouts.
As the two teams had used their initial pitchers in the Quarterfinals yesterday, they needed new arms for the Semifinals. Fan Vote drew Kyle King, David Palermo, and Jordan Merritt; East received Connor Schultz, Logan Workman, and Zachary Taglieri. That meant Fan Vote would now have a Savannah Banana veteran - Jordan Merritt, in his second year at the All-Star Showdown - in their midst.
Perhaps that precipitated the switching of contestants prior to game start today.
I speak not of the order of game play for the teams with Bananas, as that had been determined by the Home Run Derby yesterday. The South was to play the first game and the Hometown Savannah had the second game, as #2 Seed and #1 Seed, respectively.
That was not the case, though. The actual teams to be played against were altered.
As soon as I heard that the first game was between the South and the East, I went in search of answers. Why was South playing against the wrong team? The two young women at the fan information desk knew nothing. I headed to the home team dugout. There, I asked Jared Orton why the teams had been switched, but he didn't even act like that had happened. Jesse Cole was in earshot of our conversation, but said nothing.
I headed back to the fan information desk. The girls had a Banana staffer, Rashad, for me to talk to, but he didn't know anything about the change, either.
I felt like Ella Fitzgerald: bewitched, bothered, and bewildered.
Did no one here except me understand the rules of baseball? Did no one here except me realize the magnitude of an error like this on the future of baseball at Grayson Stadium? Monkeying around during the home games was one thing; altering the playing of the Coastal Plains League All-Star Showdown games was quite another.
My continual questioning and stressing of rules brought Emily Cole to the desk. Apparently, a coach was running late, so things were switched up.
Say what? A change in game order might have been predicated by that situation, but not a change in contestants.
Now I felt like Cindy Lou Who, being sent back to bed after surprising the Grinch.
Seriously.
Was I the only person there who was not affected by the "Razzle Dazzle"?
Seemingly so.
I had gone back to my seat, like a good little baseball fan, but one who was more aware of the machinations at work.
That sounds like Neo seeing his real world, doesn't it?
In my case, I didn't realize what the rationale had been for the change until the last inning of the second Semifinal. In the new world order, that meant the Fan Vote team was up against Hometown Savannah, and was beating them soundly in this short game. Then, for the bottom of the third, with Hometown Savannah making their final stand to score runs, a familiar yellow uniform graced the pitcher's mound... and I got it.
I'm not saying the game was fixed.
After all, six-Bananas-strong Hometown Savannah was still shut out by Fan Vote.
At least the other Bananas-enhanced team, South, had given East a run for the money before they succumbed in that first game.
So, I'm not saying the second game was fixed, not at all.
Still, I have to wonder who knew about Jordan Merritt being drawn by Fan Vote.
I also wonder when they might have known that tidbit.
No matter now, it's all "Water Under The Bridge".
No team with Bananas advanced to the Championship game afterward.
Quite a few folks got up and left after that second game. My friend Scott, baseball fan that he is, prefers to feel that he has someone to root for, and now he did not.
I stayed, of course, as did Mister Willie and Jennifer and Steve... and my youngest brother and his family! They love the game of baseball, as I do.
After all, we had come for three games and three games we would have!
Not that the Championship game was completely devoid of Bananas.
From the Championship Pitcher Pool, the two teams had again drawn three new arms for the new three innings. East received Jonathan Cole, Chace Harris, and Leo Perez. Fan Vote had Tyler Koch, Alex Theis, and... Austin Temple.
Yes, the Bananas' Austin Temple, the giver of runs.
Honestly, I felt a bit of sympathy for Fan Vote, fearing the worst for them. The worst is what they received, too. They had a nice shut-out going, then that young man stepped up as the closer... and promptly gave up two runs.
East won the Championship with a walk-off run.
At least the Savannah Bananas were represented in that game...
though maybe not for the better.
So, where are the photographs?
Well, here are a few.
(smile)
is the always-smiling Bruce!
He had come up to greet Mister Willie and sit
with him and Steve Gerard for a spell before
the games began.
the first game, just before South got its third
out and were d-o-n-e for the series.
What a crystal-blue sky!
Such a magnificent day for this American pastime!
baseball diamond, about an hour later.
That's the Fan Vote All-Stars massing on the
field after their victory.
I loved seeing all the different jerseys
on the players as they sported their team
affiliations!
(My friend Scott, who had been sitting by Jennifer, is "Already Gone".)
She brought him one of the multi-plastic-hands toys that makes a clapping noise when it's shaken.
See the man in the blue Morehead City Marlins jersey, trotting along the third baseline toward home?
That's Jack Harris, representing the Fan Vote team,
after his left-wall dinger!
It was the first inning of the championship game and his was the only home run in the five-game Showdown.
I had saved them some seats two rows up from
Willie's seat and I'd spent the evening bouncing
back and forth between the two rows.
We were laughing about that racy "Hey, Baby"
song-and-dance crowd interaction that the Savannah Bananas players do on the dugouts!
That really is fun!
That's when I was home again, in my own driveway, after dropping Mister Willie safely back to Gloria and his home.
(smile!)
i thank You, God.
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