showdown? this ain't the OK corral!!!

Maybe not, but it was the second stop on the Banana Ball World Tour, so you know what that meant: anything goes!!!

I was keeping closer watch this time around, as I'd missed a bit of play yesterday.

Seriously, you can't look away for even a minute, or the game can be done with an inning and you didn't even see the pitches and hits!

Many of these innings seem to fly past in a two or three minute blur - they do!

That's a tenth of the time of a regular inning of baseball.

But this isn't baseball, now is it?

Nosirreebob... it's Banana Ball.

And so I was careful to limit my chat comments to the between-inning breaks, though that first one was just before the first pitch.

"So glad to have some baseball to warm up this chilly day!"

Then it was the second inning and my boy, Bill LeRoy, was not just a hitting coach but a player again, having his turn at bat... there's a song about that somewhere... and coming across home plate moments later! Woohoo!

The Bananas took the point for that inning.

Sure they had scored two runs, and the Party Animals had scored one run in that inning, but runs aren't counted until the 9th inning.

The team with the most runs in an inning gets the point; that's the rule.

Speaking of rules, folks like to act like the Savannah Bananas were the first ones to ever change the rules in baseball.

Well, a bit "Harrummphf!" to that!

The 2008 Summer Olympics changed some rules, to make the games better fit the time constraints for televised play. 

Jesse Cole and his boys in yellow have just streamlined a few things, to make it flow that much faster... but, it's still baseball, with the crack of the bat and smack of the ball!

As I said here, "Love seeing them have so much fun playing the sport they love!"

And just what kind of fun was it this time?

Oh, you mean besides the dancing umpire...

and the spontaneous choreography of the players catching the pitcher's vibe...

and the player in the red lab coat?

Well, hold onto your hat, 'cause the sight of this ten-foot tall Banana on stilts might blow it off your head!

And did the pitcher actually try to lob that ball into his strike zone?

I can only say this: the bat made no contact and the batter struck out.

Very funny to watch!

That was in the 8th inning, so the Bananas felt safe in putting forth that stunt, as they were ahead, 4 points to 1 point for the Animals.

The Bananas even scored an additional point that inning, so the game seemed set.

But, no, no, no!

The 9th inning saw the Animals claw their way up, scoring 4 runs! Game tied!

That meant it was a good thing that Josh had brought out his whiteboard to explain what would happen next!!

(The teacher in me really does like those segments of the game!)

The tie would be broken by a series of showdowns.

For the first showdown, the team on the field would have the pitcher and a single fielder, versus a lone batter who would have to be tagged out by the fielder or pitcher.

The showdown - essentially, an inning that follows the regular nine played for the purpose of breaking a tie - would allow both teams to have one at-bat.

Neither team scored got a man across the plate, so a second showdown was needed.

This time, it was the pitcher versus the man at bat.

As one might expect, each time scored, giving each team 6 points instead of 5, but maintaining the tie.

Time for the ultimate showdown to bring this match-up to a close!

So the team in the field gets a pitcher and and fielder; the team at bat gets the batter and bases loaded.

Sort of like a pinball machine, when you get a bonus and have multiple balls at play simultaneously, guaranteeing points, right?

Absolutely!

However, it all depends on that lone batter actually getting a hit... and the guy for the Animals did, bringing in all three men on bags!

The Bananas were less fortunate, not getting a single man back to home.

Big win for the Party Animals!

Big win for us, too: Saturday fireworks!

(smile!)