On Wednesday, Jesse Cole released a 26-minute video which we could consider as an “annual report” for Banana Ball/Fans First Entertainment (FFE). This video discussed the achievements of the franchise, including the numbers. It also highlighted the failures. It was the most transparency that I have ever seen come from a sports league, including the roller derby leagues that I cover in Arizona and in the DMV area (trust me, derby has a long way to go in the fans first experience and that’s what I am trying to promote).

With that, here is the comment that I posted on that video and is what I would love to see happen in the 2026 season (even though I recognize that many things have already been planned out, but if there’s one thing Banana Ball is known for, it’s trying new things in the middle of the season). I would seriously love to see FFE give these ideas some serious consideration:

Jesse.. This was fantastic. I have always appreciated the transparency of Fans First Entertainment. I embrace the experimentation and even encourage it, even if it leads to failures. In sports and entertainment, you have to experiment and take risks and if something works, you improve it, if it doesn’t work, you evaluate why and if it possible to improve it, you improve it.

Here are a couple of things I would like to see in the 2026 season:

• During challenges, show the audio interaction between the crew chief umpire and the replay center as well as show the slow motion videos that they are reviewing. I am hoping with the broadcast technology investment, this is going to mean more camera angles that will not only entertain the fans, but will also improve the ability to provide more accurate resolution to challenges. I would also like to see the crew chief mic’d up to give the outcome of the challenge and open a new avenue for the umpires in this game to show off their talent. The NHL has Wes McCauley. There is room in Banana Ball for this same caliber of umpire talent.

• Allow a fan challenge to be reinstated if the call is overturned. This is a reward to the fans for being on the ball.

• Fan outs should allow for “bobbled” balls as long as the ball does not touch another person or another object that is not attached to the person (such as a glove). Under the current fan out rule, a fan successfully achieving a tip drill could be considered a bobbled ball. Trick plays by fans should be encouraged in places where it can be done safely (such as in the berm).

• Merch: I think Banana Ball needs to go to the next level and finally offer customized name and number (official) jerseys to fans. This is a great gift for kids aspiring to be the next Banana Ball player and for those die hard fans who want to feel closer to the Banana Ball family. Myself, I would want to custom order a Clowns jersey for the 2026. I totally support the message that FFE wants to deliver with the Clowns and I want to show my fandom in a way that is very personal. During the 2025 season, I have seen many Facebook ads from companies selling counterfeit Bananas jerseys that offered custom name and number. I think there is a market for this and this is something I would pay extra for.

I am looking forward to this season, following all six teams and writing on them and giving analysis at Michi-chan Sports. Back in 2008, I had demonstrated that there is a place for independent media covering modern flat track roller derby and with all of the home teams and the championship format of Banana Ball, there are a lot of parallels between what I used to cover in 2008 (and still do to this day) and what Banana Ball is doing, especially this year with the BBCL. The only way this sport is going to be recognized as a serious sport is for people to write and talk about it. The Bananas Breakdown Podcast is an excellent example of independent media and honestly, they are a much stronger force in Banana Ball than Michi-chan Sports and I am OK with that. I cover multiple sports (with a prime focus on flat and banked track roller derby), but as my slogan reads, “Because other sports need love too..”, I do expand Michi-chan’s Derby Love to also include Banana Love. I don’t have the same resources and bandwidth as the podcast does and that’s because I am not dedicated to Banana Ball as the exclusive thing I cover, but we need to encourage more independent media as well as mainstream media to not just cover the human interest and “show” aspects of Banana Ball, but also the mechanics of the game play. Please do what you can to encourage, embrace and provide support to independent media such as the Banana Ball Breakdown and Michi-chan Sports as well as others who want to take the time to report on this great sport. My door is always open.

Now, fans first on three... One, two, three.. FANS FIRST!

Now that I have had a chance for the Banana Ball announcement of the revival of The Indianapolis Clowns team name to really sink in, it does give me goosebumps.

The Negro Leagues are a part of our nation’s history. The circumstances that lead to the need for a separate league were some of our nation’s “not greatest” moments. But when you are faced with limitations, you work within those limitations and you learn to thrive and work with what you have.

May this new Banana Ball team not only honor the great players of the past, but may the presence of this team not only educate our current generations, but to also inspire our younger generations that no matter what limitations someone may impose on them, that they can have every opportunity to thrive.

May the Clowns inspire kids, of all races and all genders get be involved in baseball and/or Banana Ball. Representation does matter. May the modern day Clowns follow in the footsteps of the same team name that was once worn by the great Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige. May the modern-day Clowns be a symbol of representation, respect for history, education, resilience, trick plays and just plain having fun on the diamond. In 2026, I am hoping to see the Clowns play.

Please join me in congratulating Jesse Cole, as he made this bold move to turn the page of the baseball history book to create a new chapter, and my thanks to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum for putting the name in the trust of Jesse and Fans First Entertainment. I trust Jesse will uphold the legacy and will be a good custodian of the brand.

Banana lovers.. derby lovers.. regardless of your heritage, or how you identify, let’s step up and create a new, very diverse fan base for this legendary brand. I’m in!

Friday, August 15

This was the Michi’s birthday game and just like the Michi, this game had some crazy factors. Overall, this game has tied the Banana Ball record for the most foul balls out by fan catches (fan outs). This game recorded six fan outs. Four of them were recorded by the Firefighters in the first and seventh innings. In addition, there were two fan outs in the second inning against the Firefighters. The Bananas chocked up the other two. There was controversy on a couple of the fan catches where it was questioned on the field whether it was caught cleanly. Those who know me know that I want to see the fan out loosed up a little bit. Whatever can be caught on the field as an out and be seen by umpires or the broadcast booth should also be considered an out.

The Bananas would take first blood in the first inning through a Reese Alexiades shot into right field. Noah Bridges would try the trick play and would carelessly miss. This puts the Bananas up 1~0, after one inning.

In the top of the third with one out, Mason Maxwell would get hit by a pitch off of Noah Niznik. Next up was Zach Bridges with a two run blast to give The Firefighters a 2 run advantage. Bananas were not able to answer that challenge and now we are tied at 1 point each.

Bottom of the fourth, Kyle Jackson gets on first through the first ball four sprint of the game off of Marshall Shill. Jackson would eventually score on a tapper by Ryan Cox that was fielded by Liam Spence, but Stephen Cullen could not make the play at first. Bananas now up 2~1.

In the top of the sixth, Liam Spence would hit a home run out to left scoring 2. Bottom of the sixth, the Bananas call up A.J. Pierzynski, former Chicago White Sox from 2005~2012. He would ground infield with a glove flip by Liam Spence and a behind the back catch by Stephen Cullen at first for the out. The Bananas could only answer with 1 run and we are tied again at 2~2.

Top of the seventh and Pierzynski comes into the game to catch with Bill LeRoy moving to first. There was a tense moment. With Caden Green at bat and a 1-1 count, a pitch goes inside and hits him in the face taking him down. Without the normal helmet tap (that indicates that he is OK), he was tended to and was escorted off. With two out, the Bananas call up former White Sox World Series champion Mark Buehrle. Pierzynski is still behind the dish. Buehrle would give up a base hit to Dakota McFadden but would be redeemed by a Ryan Cox trick play to end the half.

Bottom of the seventh, Robert Anthony Cruz grounds to Cullen who tried to back hand flip to pitcher Tyler Rigot covering first and the ball was not even close. RAC is on first. Bill LeRoy would get on a trick play missed to South Trimble. RAC advances to third. Eric Jones Jr. would pick up a ball four sprint by Rigot to score RAC. Bananas up 3~2. No further runs were scored giving the Bananas their 34th win on the season.

The Party Animals continues their college tour to the University of Arkansas with the first Banana Ball game played in the state. The game itself was a see saw battle. Bottom of the first, Tanner Thomas would hit a two run jack also bringing in Reece Hampton. The first inning would get pushed. The Tailgaters would pick up the third and fifth innings but then the Animals would then claim the sixth, seventh and eighth innings (the latter with 4 runs). Bottom of the fifth, the Animals will call up former Arkansas Razorbacks football player Peyton Hillis. He would ground to Mac Danford, who walked it to first but also picked up a trick play. Both teams pick up a run in the ninth inning and the Party Animals would win 4~3.

Saturday, August 16:

At Rate Field in Chicago, it was already raining as the second game between the Savannah Bananas and The Firefighters was about to start. Jesse Cole was there to start the clock, but a few minutes into the game with one out, runners on first and second and a 1-1 count on Joe Lytle, the grounds crew comes in to roll out the tarp and we go into an 80 minute rain delay. The clock stopped at 1:57:13. The BTV broadcast, which was also being broadcast for the first time on the new TNT Sports deal which included TruTV and HBO MAX would eventually switch to the Party Animals vs. Tailgaters game for the duration of the delay. I know from fan comments, some fans were concerned that the Party Animals were not going to get any TV time with the TruTV deal. While we will see The Party Animals play for at least four games in October during the Championship series, tonight’s temporary addition of the PA on linear TV was an added bonus.

Before the delay, with Kyle Luigs on the mound, Liam Spence would get a ball four sprint, Dalton Cornett would fly out to center and then a base hit by Logan Lacey to put runners on first and second. After the sky cleared and we were back to Banana Ball, Joe Lytle would complete his at bat with another base hit single to load the bases. Stephen Cullen would get a base hit out to left scoring three. Noah Bridges gets a base hit out to center, but it will be Mason Maxwell who will bring Cullen home. Firefighters get four in the frame. The Bananas were not able to get any runs home and the Firefighters take the first inning.

The Bananas would subsequently take the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings giving the boys in yellow a commanding lead 4~1 points. The Bananas’ inning win in the third was made possible by a solo bomb to right by Robert Anthony Cruz. The only home run in the game. The Firefighters would take the 7th inning, 3 runs to 2, but the Bananas would widen the lead by taking the eighth and winning the game, 5~2 points.

With the topic of fan outs on everyone’s mind, we had controversy in the bottom of the fourth. Jackson Olson would hit a foul ball towards the left field lower deck. The third base umpire called it a bobble. The Firefighters would challenge the call. Biko and Josh would call it as cleanly caught and the call was overturned.

In the bottom of the fifth, Jesse Cole would introduce former White Sox shortstop and then manager Ozzie Guillen. Guillen will take first base coaching activities. Jesse would eventually bring up six-time all star and 2005 World Series champion Paul Konerko.

This game has also made some Banana Ball history as in this game, Ryan Cox broke a Banana Ball record by achieving 8 trick plays in the game.

On the second night in the Arkansas series from Baum-Walker Stadium, the 38-22 Party Animals would dominate the Texas Tailgaters. The Party Animals would take 5 innings and push another inning as both teams would reach four runs in the fifth inning.

Game Stats

Friday: Bananas vs. Firefighters

Bananas win: The Firefighters 2(4) ~ Savannah Bananas 3(4).
The Firefighters trick plays: 9 ~ Cullen (4), Green (2), Lacey, Maxwell, Spence
Bananas trick plays: 10 ~ Cox (3), Jones Jr. (2), K. Jackson (2), Meadows (2), Cruz.
Home Runs: (FF) Spence, Z. Bridges
Triples: (none)
Strikeouts: (FF) Webb (3) (SB) Archer (2), Phillips.
Fan Outs: T1 (3B), B1 (1B), T2 (1B), T2 (HP), B2 (HP), T7 (3B) (ties league record)
Fastest MPI: (FF) Lang 1:07.

Saturday: Bananas vs. Firefighters

Bananas win: The Firefighters 2(8) ~ Savannah Bananas 5(8) .
The Firefighters trick plays: 5 ~ N. Bridges (2), Parra (2), Trimble.
Bananas trick plays: 14 ~ Cox (8), Meadows (3), Olson (2), Hosley. Cox: league record for most trick plays in a single game.
Home Runs: (SB) Cruz.
Triples: (none).
Strikeouts: (SB) Donalson (2), Luigs, Vorhees, Perry.
Fan Outs: B4 (3B).
Fastest MPI: (SB) Perry 1:58.

Friday: Party Animals vs. Tailgaters

Party Animals win: Texas Tailgaters 3(9) ~ Party Animals 4(9).
Tailgaters trick plays: 7 ~ Stanley (2), Luders (2), Watson, Castillo, Danford.
Party Animals trick plays: 9 ~ Swan (2), Bloomer (2), Baber (2), Jacobo (2), Hampton.
Home Runs: (PA) Thomas.
Triples: (PA) Fisher.
Strikeouts: (TT) Carson, (PA) Ponce (3), Delano (2), Benson, Holden.
Fan Outs: (none)
Fastest MPI: (TT) Davis 1:34.

Saturday: Party Animals vs. Tailgaters

Party Animals win: Texas Tailgaters 0(6) ~ Party Animals 5(11).
Tailgaters trick plays: 2 ~ Danford, Luders.
Party Animals trick plays: 9 ~ Baber (2), Hampton, Skole, Thomas, Jacobo.
Home Runs: (none).
Triples: (none).
Strikeouts: (PA) Helton (2).
Fan Outs: T2 (LF).
Fastest MPI: (PA) Holden 2:13.

Season Standings

Game Replays

When trick play counts between what is shown in the post game graphic and the official scoresheets, we will use the scoresheet values.

Please pardon if we get a name spelled wrong. Sometimes, I am rushed to write these. Keeping up with four rosters can be tricky sometimes. Thank you for your understanding.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @thepartyanimals.bananaball and YT @thesavannahbananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Because of the uneven schedules for this year’s World Tour (something that should not be a thing next year with the introduction of the Banana Ball Championship League), let’s talk about the math and let’s look at all scenarios to see who will take the different seed spots and for those who have not yet heard, what the format for the 2025 Banana Ball World Tour Championship will look like. Time for some….

In Banana Ball, we have sort of a “pennant race” going on right now between The Savannah Bananas and The Party Animals. As we had mentioned previously, Banana Ball has officially announced the dates and format for the Championship Series and how the teams will be seeded (ranked).

Overall, it will be a five game format. There will be two groups. The number 1 and 4 seeds will play against each other and likewise, the number 2 and 3 seeds will play against each other. This is pretty typical for these types of tournaments.

Because it is Banana Ball, you should expect a twist. That twist is that each group will play two games against each other. If the same team wins both games, they will automatically advance to the Championship Game a week later.

However, if each team wins one game each (for example, the second seed wins a game and the third seed wins a game), fans will need to stay locked into their seats, on YouTube or TruTV. This is because at the conclusion of the second game, there will be a showdown to determine which of the two teams will go the Championship Game. That’s right!, it can all boil down to a showdown.

The 2025 World Tour schedule was a very interesting one because two teams, The Firefighters and The Texas Tailgaters did not start playing until the middle of the season.

In an email sent to K Club members, Banana Ball had announced that the seeding will be based on percentage of the number of wins to the number of games that that were played. In an inquiry to Banana Ball by Michi-chan Sports, we have confirmed that the six games played during this World Tour against Banana Ball’s development team, The Visitors will be factored in to the standings. This will affect the standings for the Bananas and The Party Animals.

Because The Firefighters and the Tailgaters started halfway into the season, they obviously played fewer games during this time. Even the Bananas and The Party Animals, despite playing during the entire season, did not play the same number of games. Overall, it comes down to:

• The Savannah Bananas playing 72 games (it would have been 73, but one of the games against The Visitors was cancelled due to rain at Grayson Stadium);

• The Party Animals playing 69 games;

• The Firefighters, 35 games; and

• The Texas Tailgaters, 31 games.

Also, just for the heck of it, The Visitors played 5 games (one additional game was rained out).

Since the Tailgaters have played less than one half of the games that the Bananas did, a Tailgaters win or loss will have a bigger impact on their overall percentage than a Bananas game. To determine this impact to the overall percentage per game, simply divide 1 into the number of games the team has played during the season (1 / [games]). Therefore (rounded to the nearest hundredth):

• Party Animals: 1.45% per win.

• Savannah Bananas: 1.39% per win.

• The Firefighters: 2.86% per win.

• Texas Tailgaters: 3.23% per win.

Therefore, if the Tailgaters win a game, it is the equivalent of winning about 2.3 games. For The Firefighters, about 2.1 games. We do note that there is no path for The Firefighters to achieve a number one seed, however we still need to watch their position as that will impact who will rank last and play the number 1 seed in the semi-finals round.

To determine the current percentage, divide the number of wins into the total number of games already played ([wins] / ([wins] + [losses]). We do not count games that were cancelled. This season, there only has been one.

For this article, I am going to consider current records on all World Tour games played up to August 10, 2025, which includes both games played in Denver and both in Baton Rouge.

Michi’s view - team by team

Let’s look at each team, where they are at right now and where they can potentially go:

Party Animals

The Animals are currently at 37-22 (37 wins and 22 losses) for a total of 59 games. The current percentage is 62.71%. If the Animals win all of their remaining games, their record would be 47-22 (69 games). This means that the best possible percentage the Animals can achieve is 68.12%. If the Animals do not win any more games, they would be 37-32, or 53.62%.

All remaining games for the Party Animals will be against the Texas Tailgaters. So far, these two teams have played 11 games of which, 3 of them have been won by The Tailgaters. 4 upcoming games will be Party Animals headliners where the Animals will have the home team advantage. The remaining six games games will give the Tailgaters that advantage. It will be interesting to see if having the home team advantage, where the team can walk off the inning and not have to go through three outs will shift the overall standings. If the Party Animals win their four remaining “home” games and lose all of the Tailgaters headliners, they will be at 41-69 (59.4%). Of course, any wins during the Tailgaters series will take you to 59.4% upward.

Savannah Bananas

The Bananas are currently 33-24 or 57.89% of games already played. They have 15 more games, 13 against The Firefighters and 2 against The Tailgaters. The Bananas will have home team advantage at all 15 of these games.

If the Bananas win all 15 of those games, they will end the season at 48-24, or 66.67%. If for some strange unlikely reason, the ‘Nanners lose every single game going forward, they would be at 33-39, which means the worst possible percentage would be 45.8%. If this was to happen, I am going to buy more Powerball tickets.

Texas Tailgaters

The Tailgaters are currently 6-13 or 31.58% of games already played. They have 12 more games; 10 against the Party Animals and 2 against the Bananas. Tailgaters will have home team advantage at 6 of these games. If the Tailgaters do not win any more games, they will end up at 6-25 or 19.35%. If they are able to win 6 games (such as those where they are the headliner/home team), they will end up at 12-19 or 38.71%. In the chance of a very rare sweep of those remaining 12 games, they would be at 18-13 or 58.06%. As we will mention below, there is a path for the Tailgaters to get the first seed, but it will require winning most of the games against The Party Animals and winning at least one game in the final Houston series.

The Firefighters

The Firefighters are currently at 5-18 or 21.74%. They have 13 games remaining, all against the Bananas with no home team advantage opportunities. Depending on the number of games that they win, their percentage can range from 11.43% (4-35) if they don’t win another game this season to 48.57% (17-18) if they win all of their games. The Firefighters have no mathematical path to taking the #1 seed.

Team pairings in the semi-finals

As previously mentioned, the parings in the semi-final games will be based on percentage of wins and will pit the #1 and #4 seeds in one group and #2 and #3 in the other group. We are making an assumption that the #1 and #2 seeds will have home team advantage in their respective games.

Before we continue, time for a station break! This Friday is my 57th birthday! If you are a hardcore Banana Ball fan like I am and you are appreciative of what I am offering in this article, I am going to ask everyone here to please consider making a donation to BANANAS FOSTER through my Facebook fundraising campaign. Emily Cole is doing great things to support the foster care community. Please show your support now by going to my Facebook fundraiser. With banana love from the Michi!

Michi-chan Sports has produced charts that will show every potential playoff situation that comes up (short of a game cancelled and not made up). These charts will show the names of the teams that will be playing and which team is assumed home (based on the background color).

These charts are based on the number of wins that the Party Animals have in their remaining 10 games starting on August 15, 2025. Cross-reference that with the number of wins that the Bananas have in their 13 remaining games with The Firefighters. There will be three sets of charts and this will be based on the outcome of the series between the Bananas and the Tailgaters in Houston. Whether the Bananas sweep the series, the Tailgaters sweep or the series is split will show which chart to use. There will then be separate charts for each group (#1 vs. #4 and #2 vs. #3).

As the games progress through August and September, I will post updates at Michi-chan Sports on Facebook and for those who are fellow members, in the K Club group with updates of where we are.

Please give the Facebook page a like, I would appreciate it!

REMINDER: START COUNTING GAMES WON FROM AUGUST 15, 2025 TO THE END OF THE REGULAR SEASON.

If the Bananas sweep the series in Houston

Group 1: #1 seed vs. #4 seed:

Group 2: #2 seed vs. #3 seed:

If the Bananas and Tailgaters split the series in Houston

Group 1: #1 seed vs. #4 seed:

Group 2: #2 seed vs. #3 seed:

If the Tailgaters sweep the series in Houston

Group 1: #1 seed vs. #4 seed:

Group 2: #2 seed vs. #3 seed:

Standings history

Here is a graph that shows the current percentage (based on games played to date).

“The Worm”

This chart tracks the overall percentage depending on whether or not a team was to win every game.

Of course, things will shake up in October during the Banana Ball draft, including the launch of the Banana Ball Championship League. I will write more about the BBCL in an upcoming article.

If you have any questions or have ideas for non top-tier sports that we should cover here at Michi-chan Sports (or you have some roller derby scores you want to share), our email is always available, staff@michichan.com.

Editor’s note from the mind of the Michi: This past weekend’s Coors Field series had me thinking about how I do these articles at Michi-chan Sports. If I follow the same style that I have been recently using to break down Banana Ball games for Saturday’s game, it would probably be about the size of the phone directory for Hokkaido, Japan and would probably take days to properly put together. Coming back from a 15 year “retirement” and exploring new sports has been a challenge for me. With that, I am still trying to discover my new “format”. Please be patient and if you have any suggestions, please feel free to let me know by writing to staff@michichan.com. Let’s make something good here. Thank you for your understanding.

This past weekend, Banana Ball went to the mile-high city of Denver, Colorado. People warned about how the change in altitude can impact you. When I lived in Arizona, I used to travel frequently between Phoenix (around 1,100 feet above sea level) and Denver (around 5,280 feet) and never experienced any issues. However, the “thinner air up there” does have some impacts on how baseball and Banana Ball would be played. It is even to the point that MLB has a special process where they refrigerate baseballs in a humidor in order to reduce the “bounce” of the balls, perhaps in an effort to level the playing field with other stadiums at lower elevations.

Saturday at Coors Field

Saturday night’s game at Coors Field clearly showed that Jesse did not refrigerate the balls. I was expecting there to be a higher scoring game, and of course, Banana Ball did not disappoint. If anything was to give a clue of how this game would go, look no further than the very first at bat. The Bananas sent out starter Noah Niznik who would eventually put in 2.2 innings of work in that game. The third pitch to Liam Spence would set the tone with a solo home run just over the wall at center field.

The Bananas would give chase in the first inning through a pair of base hit singles by D.R. Meadows and Dan Oberst, followed by a ball four sprint from Firefighters starter Austin Temple to Kyle Jackson and an RBI single by Reece Alexiades to win the first inning.

This game of “keep away” would continue for the next three innings. In the second inning, the Firefighters would put up two runs with base hits by Joe Lytle and Ron Franklin Jr. would ground towards right, Jackson Olson missed the behind-the-back trick play scoring Lytle and Franklin. The Bananas answered with a pair of base hits by Ryan Cox and Bill LeRoy, the latter being a triple and a pair of ball four sprints off of Ga’von Wray to Corelle Prime and Jackson Olson allowing the Bananas to win the second inning.

In the third, a ball four sprint and a hit by pitch to Dalton Cornett and Logan Lacey respectively by Niznik would lead to a base hit single off of Dakota “Stilts” Albritton to made give The Firefighters two runs, but like as we have seen so far, the Bananas had the answer…

No, it was not Ty Jackson suspiciously, in Matt Wolf’s barrel, but a two-base ball four sprint off of Austin Temple to DR Meadows and a base hit single by Dan Oberst leading up to a Reece Alexiades three-run jack out to near-dead center, giving the ‘Nanners yet another inning. Savannah now up 3~0 in points.

In the top of the fourth, Noah Bridges hits one into the pocket in deep right and about to get to third. Mason Maxwell then hit one out to right, Alexiades tried for the diving catch but could not get it to bring in Bridges giving Maxwell his own triple. Liam Spence would then ground to Ryan Cox who throws it home to deny Maxwell of his own destiny. The Bananas would answer with a pair of runs by base hits by Robert Anthony Cruz, Bill LeRoy and Jackson Olson. Bananas are now up 4~0 in points. In the fifth inning, the Firefighters would get an ounce of redemption with a single run through a ball four sprint to Logan Lacey and an RBI single by Stephen Cullen to bring him in. The Bananas could not answer that. It was now 4~1 , Bananas.

The sixth inning is when everything went crazy, if I was to detail everything, I think it would crash Substack. The Firefighters would use their entire 10-man line-up to rack up six runs, this included a two-run blast by Stephen Cullen, the third home run in the game so far. The Bananas’ sixth included the only foul out to a fan, but like the Firefighters, used the entire 10-man line-up. The ‘Nanners fell short netting only five runs. All of that effort on the part of both teams only to give The Firefighters a single feather in their cap in their efforts. Now 4~2, Bananas.

The seventh inning would start with Noah Bridges on 2-1 tapping one to pitcher Jared Donalson who throws it between the legs to Eric Jones at first for the double trick play and the first out. The Firefighters would get two runs off of a pair of ball four sprints off Donalson to South Trimble and then to Liam Spence which brought in Trimble. Dalton Cornett would hit to the wall at deep center bringing in in Spence but then would get caught up in a pickle between second and third. The Bananas were unable to answer those two runs and now we are at 4~3, Bananas.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Bananas would expand their point lead to 5~3 with a walk-off solo home run by Dan Oberst. The Firefighters were unsuccessful in the ninth and the Bananas get the win. With 31 total runs, this game set the Banana Ball record for the most runs scored in a single game.

Watching this game, I could see how the thin air does affect the flight of the balls, I noticed a lot of moonshot foul balls, balls too high that the average fan may not be able to get a handle on it, hence why the game was limited to only one fan out. Overall, it was an incredible game to a Banana Ball record crowd for an MLB-specific stadium (50,000). Jesse Cole outdid himself again.

Sunday afternoon at Coors Field

Perhaps it was a change in the atmospheric conditions, players who were still recovering from the previous day’s longball fest or someone decided to finally refrigerate the banana balls, but Sunday’s show felt just like a typical show played closer to sea level.

The Firefighters would claim the second, fourth and seventh innings while the Bananas would claim the first and and fifth innings. No homers, no triples, but there were three fan outs.

Controversy in the bottom of the sixth with Matt Wolf pitching for The Firefighters. As Wolf was starting to wind up to Jackson Olson with a 1-0 count, Wolf stops, and casually throws to second baseman Caden Green who tags Danny Hosley. Hosley was confused, the broadcast booth was, and probably banana lovers everywhere were also (I know I sure was). It turns out that it was a balk. Honestly, I think this is the first time I have ever seen a balk call in Banana Ball. With the various “stylized” windups and other approaches that Banana Ball pitchers do, it’s hard to determine what is truly a pure “balk”. I am very relieved though that the umps in this sport are not fast to hairline trigger a balk call. This is one of the problems that I have with MLB. Anyway, it was determined a balk and Hosley was awarded second base.

In the top of the seventh, the Bananas call up pitcher Kelsie Whitmore. Kelsie is currently on the U.S. Women’s National Baseball Team and was previously at the Staten Island Ferryhawks and most recently at the Oakland Ballers in the Pioneer League. She would give up a base hit to Liam Spence, a 2 RBI ball four sprint to Dalton Cornett, a double to Logan Lacey and a ground out to Dakota McFadden to end the inning. The Firefighters would go on to win that inning.

The Bananas would tie the game in the ninth inning when Kyle Jackson attempts to steal home. The ball is bobbled and dropped in the rundown and Jackson was successful in stealing home. The Bananas score and the game is tied. The Bananas were not able to rack up any additional runs/points, so we are going to showdowns.

In the first showdown, Joe Lytle would come up for The Firefighters and would hit one clear out to deep left. Remember, there’s only the pitcher (Austin Krezminski) and one fielder (Reece Alexiades). Lytle manages to round the bases to score a point. The hit was not without controversy. The ball did ground in the infield along the third base line. The third base umpire called it fair. The replay shows dirt on the fair side of the line hitting. It looked perfectly fair to me. The Bananas did not challenge the call and the point stood.

For the Bananas, they would send up Robert Anthony Cruz to go against Ben Dum III on the bump and Noah Bridges in the field. RAC keeps the ball in the infield and was easily stopped by Dum, who ran the ball towards home and gave RAC the big “NOPE!” just before the plate. With that, The Firefighters break a 14-game Bananas winning streak.

This game also broke the season record for overall trick plays with a total of 1,360 trick plays among all four Banana Ball teams, plus The Visitors, Banana Ball’s development team that had played both the Bananas and the Party Animals during this season.

Saturday night in Baton Rouge - The Party Animals vs. The Texas Tailgaters

After Friday’s Texas Tailgaters victory, the Party Animals hosted a second game on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge, LA.

The Tailgaters would win the fifth and seventh innings and the Party Animals would win the second and fourth innings and the game went to showdown.

The Tailgaters’ Zach Watson would complete the inside the park home run to win a point. For the Animals, Reece Hampton would pop up to Jorden Hussein who made a trick play catch. We believe this is the first time a trick play was successfully executed in a showdown. The Tailgaters would sweep LSU.

Game Stats

Saturday: Bananas vs. Firefighters

Bananas win: The Firefighters 3(15) ~ Savannah Bananas 5(16).
The Firefighters trick plays: 7 ~ Spence (2), Green, McFadden, N. Bridges, Cullen, Dum.
Bananas trick plays: 12 ~ Cox (3), Olson (2), Meadows (2), Cruz, K. Jackson, Alexiades, Donalson, Jones Jr.
Home Runs: (FF) Spence, Cullen, (SB) Oberst, Alexiades
Triples: (FF) Lacey, Lytle, N. Bridges, Maxwell, (SB) K. Jackson, LeRoy.
Strikeouts: (FF) Temple, Wray, Shill, Hummel, (SB) Niznik, Hosley.
Fan Outs: B6 (1B)
Fastest MPI: (SB) Phillips 1:52

Sunday: Bananas vs. Firefighters

The Firefighters win: The Firefighters 4(7) ~ Savannah Bananas 3(4) SD1.
The Firefighters trick plays: 4 ~ Spence, Green, Parra, Maxwell.
Bananas trick plays: 12 ~ K Jackson (4), Alexiades (2), Olson, Prime, Meadows, Cruz, Cox, Hosley.
Home Runs: (none)
Triples: (none).
Strikeouts: (FF) Webb, Rigot, (SB) Luigs (3), Perry (2).
Fan Outs: T4 (HP), B7 (HP), B9 (3B)
Fastest MPI: (SB) Luigs 1:49

Saturday: Party Animals vs. Tailgaters

Texas Tailgaters win: Texas Tailgaters 3(5) ~ Party Animals 2(2) SD1.
Tailgaters trick plays: 3 ~ Hussein (2), Moniot.
Party Animals trick plays: 9 ~ Bloomer (2), Skole (2), Baber (2), Swan, Jacobo, Holden.
Home Runs: (none)
Triples: (PA) Thomas.
Strikeouts: (TT) Reid (4), Tiepanier (3), Sperone (2), Kitchen, (PA) Rodriguez (2), Helton, Fluke.
Fan Outs: (none)
Fastest MPI: (TT) Reid 2:15

When trick play counts between what is shown in the post game graphic and the official scoresheets, we will use the scoresheet values.

Please pardon if we get a name spelled wrong. Sometimes, I am rushed to write these. Keeping up with four rosters can be tricky sometimes. Thank you for your understanding.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @thepartyanimals.bananaball and YT @thesavannahbananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Championship Standings

Game Replays

Saturday night at Coors Field

Sunday afternoon at Coors Field

Saturday night at LSU/Baton Rouge

First of all, not Banana Ball related; but I want to take a moment to use my forum to make this statement. I want to express my appreciation to the NFL, Falcons, Lions and Fox Sports on how they handled Morice Noriss’ tragic injury in yesterday’s pre-season game. Yes, this is a game but we are also human. Yesterday’s fourth quarter of that game was a true testament of humanity. My thoughts are with Morice Norris and his family as well as to the entire Detroit Lions Family. Let’s move forward and get through this article.

The Party Animals know the right places to party and they sure found one at Louisiana State University, one of the nation’s top party schools. No better than to play Banana Ball with a Party Animals headliner at Alex Box Stadium on the LSU campus.

Party Animals coming in at 37-20 with a 64.9% win percentage and the #1 seed under the recently announced 2025 Banana Ball championship criteria. They are taking on the 4-13 Texas Tailgaters (23.5%), current seeded #3.

Before the game we were treated to the singing of the National Anthem by Elizabeth Burris. There were a lot of comments in the YouTube chat complementing her dress. I agree. That dress is gorgeous. Too Barbie pink for me, but she wears it well. Myself, I will take something more red (or red Michi plaid). Puffed sleeves and petticoats are just a bonus, LOL!

Triple 7 Garret Delano is starting for the Party Animals. Likewise, Christian Davis will be the starting pitcher tonight for the Tailgaters.

The first inning was pretty much 3-up, 3-down. The first trick play was a behind the back catch on a fly to center by Reece Hampton. In the bottom of the first, Christian Davis took down Jake Skole swinging.

Top of the second would start with Bret Carson flying out to Noah Fisher. Next up was LSU alum Zach Watson, who ripped off blue Tailgater uniform to show his yellow LSU uniform as #9 would hit a line drive to Noah Fisher in left, who made a spectacular between the legs trick play. The scorekeeper didn’t give the justice that Fisher deserves. They put it down as a *2 in the book, but it is definitely a *3+ in my book.1

Top of the second, two out for the Tailgaters. Travis Moniot would drop one into mid-center for the first base hit. Dustin Baber would then field a ball hit by Mac Danford. Baber would flip the ball behind his back and throw to first and was not in time. Runners now on first and second. Taylor Justus would send a fly ball out to left Noah Fisher could not field the ball scoring Moniot. Jonathan Luders to short. Sal Jacobo tried for the play at first but threw it too high. This will score Danford. Marcos Castillo gets caught swinging and the Tailgaters brings first damage with two runs that the Party Animals must now face.

Bottom of the second, Andy Cosgrove grounds to Jordan Hussein with a between the legs trick play and makes the play at first. Bryson Bloomer and Tanner Thomas would both go down looking. The Tailgaters win the point.

Animals bring in Dalton Ponce to pitch in the top of the third. In the third and fourth innings, Ponce had six strikeouts while only allowing for one hit. Christian Davis, over four innings had four strikeouts. This game is moving pretty fast.

We’re going to advance to the top of the sixth with one out and fan favorite Indy Stanley hits a solo home run over the left field wall. The Party Animals would answer with Armando Becerra also hitting a solo shot to right. The inning ends in a push. Tailgaters still up 1~0.

This game starts to pick up in the top of the eighth inning. Tre Jones will lead off for the Tailgaters. Jones gets a base hit to right and slides in for two. Jason Arendt would also get a base hit to right. Runners now on the corners. Jordan Hussein steps up. Before the first pitch to him, reliever Peter Holden would pick-off Arendt at first. Jorden Hussein would then pop to Jake Skole in right. The throw home is off line and Jones scores.

Bottom of the eighth with Brett Carson at the bump. Carson has pitched 10 1/3 innings on this 2025 World Tour, has 11 strike outs and only 2 ball four springs and an ERA of 5.23. Jason Swan lines to Jonathan Luders, who then does a little hackeysack with the ball and that’s the first out. Dustin Baber makes his entrance with this trademark chug-a-lug also lines to Luders who does yet another hackeysack. The Party Animals then goes to their golden batter, College World Series champion for LSU, Ryan Theriot. Theriot flies to Jayson Arendt in right. Brett Carson records a 54 second MPI (minutes per inning) for this frame. This is the fastest MPI this season, or is it?

Top of the ninth, the Party Animals bring up closer Drew Gillespie. Indy Stanley, on the first pitch, Jake Skole catches it in right with a tip drill trick play and gets the ball immediately back to Gillespie. Bret Carson, grounds to Jason Swan who trick plays to Gillespie covering first and Drew wants to keep going. Zach Watson, still donning the LSU Tigers uniform lines out to Jake Skole for the third out. This frame was timed with a 44 second MPI. Not only does this set a 2025 World Tour record, but it is also an all-time Banana Ball record for MPI. Gillespie set the previous record of 46 seconds in the 2024 World Tour. The Party Animals fail to score in the bottom of the ninth and the Tailgaters win their fifth game on the 2025 World Tour.

Party Animals and Tailgaters go at it again tonight from LSU starting at 7PM CT, 8PM ET. Bananas and Firefighters from Coor’s Field in Denver will be at 7PM MT, 9PM ET. Double the Banana Ball. Double the fun!! Remember to look for the Michi on the YouTube live chats as @Michi-chan Sports.

Texas Tailgaters win: Texas Tailgaters 2(4) ~ Party Animals 0(1).
Tailgaters trick plays: 4 ~ Watson (2), Hussein, Stanley.
Party Animals trick plays: 9 ~ Cosgrove (2), Fisher (2), Hampton, Skole, Swan, Baber, Jacobo.
Showman of the Game: Christian Davis ~ Texas Tailgaters

Championship seeding

When trick play counts between what is shown in the post game graphic and the official scoresheets, we will use the scoresheet values.

Please pardon if we get a name spelled wrong. Sometimes, I am rushed to write these. Keeping up with four rosters can be tricky sometimes. Thank you for your understanding.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @thepartyanimals.bananaball (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

Banana Ball owner Fans First Entertainment has released information on the upcoming Tour Championship Series which will take place at Historic Grayson Stadium in October.

The semi-final round will include two games between the #1 and #4 seeded teams and two between the #2 and #3 seeded teams. Because each team played an uneven schedule this year, the seeds will be based on the overall percentage of wins.

Going into the Denver games this weekend, the Savannah Bananas are currently 32-23. This means that they are at 58.2% for wins. The Bananas have 17 games remaining in their season. If they were to win every game (to be 49-23), their percentage would go up to 68.1%. 15 of these games will be against The Firefighters and the remaining two will be against the Tailgaters at Daikin Park in Houston.

Going into the Baton Rouge games, the Party Animals are currently 37-20, or 64.9%. They have 12 games remaining, all against the Texas Tailgaters. If they win all of their remaining games, they would go to 49-20. This would put them to 71.0%.

The Firefighters are currently 3-17, and all 15 of their remaining games are against the Bananas. If through a sign from high above, the Firefighters completely upset the Bananas over those last 15 games, they would go to 18-17 on the season, or 51.4% (at the same time, if the Bananas were to lose all of those games, . If you were able to bet on Banana Ball at Draft Kings, I am pretty sure that a futures bet that the Firefighters would sweep all 17 of the remaining games would pay a +1,000,000 line.

The Tailgaters have 12 remaining games against the Party Animals and 2 against the Bananas. If, though a miracle from God, the ‘Gaters were to win in every game, including against the Bananas, they could get up to a 66.7%, but let’s be realistic here.

From what I can see, the Firefighters have never beaten the Bananas in 10 games and they have won 3 out of the 4 games so far against the Tailgaters. If the Bananas stay undefeated against the Firefighters and let’s say they win 1 game against the Tailgaters, this will put them at 66.7% and the Firefighters would end the season at 8.6%. Even if the Firefighters win 5 of their remaining games, that would put them at 22.9% and the Bananas would be between 58.3 and 61.1% depending on how they do in Houston.

Party Animals are 8-1 against the Tailgaters, however since there has never been a Tailgaters headliner held so far, the Tailgaters have never had a home team advantage. Because of the ability to walk off and end the inning, there is definitely a home team advantage in Banana Ball. There are 6 Tailgaters home games in September. If they were to win all of them and assume they split the Houston games, the Tailgaters would have 40.7% and the Party Animals would have 62.3%.

There is also a scenario where if the Bananas sweep the Firefighters, win only one in Houston and the Party Animals win the next 9 games, there will be a dead heat for the first seed.

While we can’t call any clinches this soon, it does appear the Tailgaters will likely clinch the #3 position and the Firefighters will clinch the #4 spot. Val Perez and the Firefighters will have to up their game to try to get some wins against the Bananas to stand a chance.

Like we saw in 2023, the hot race to first is going to be between the Bananas and the Animals. Again, there are way too many variables that can happen here, we will need to address this again at the end of August.

Here is a chart that I put together. I think I got it right, but if we chart the results starting with games on or after August 9, 2025, this is pretty much how things could move along:

Now that we understand how the seeding will be done and where each team current stands and where they can potentially go, let’s discuss the actual Championship format.

During the semi-finals, the #1 and #4 seeds will play each other and likewise, the #2 and #3 seeds. Both groups will play two games. In each group, if one team wins both of their games, they move to the Championship.

But here’s the fun part (Because it is Banana Ball! It’s supposed to be fun): In the event that either group is split in the semi-finals (each team wins one game), there will be a showdown (similar to the “extra innings” showdown) that will determine which team moves ahead to the Championship. This is going to be exciting if it happens.

We have put in a message to Banana Ball to get confirmation on how the visiting and home teams will be placed.

Here are the days to remember:

• Thursday, October 2, 2025 (7PM ET): #1 seed vs. #4 seed.

• Friday, October 3, 2025 (7PM ET): #2 seed vs. #3 seed.

• Saturday, October 4, 2025 (7PM ET): #1 seed vs. #4 seed.

• Sunday, October 5, 2025 (1PM ET): #2 seed vs. #3 seed.

• Saturday, October 11, 2025 (7PM ET): Championship Game.

All games will be at Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, GA.

Games will be carried for free (as all Banana Ball games are) through YouTube. They will also be available through the TNT Sports network deal, including Tru-TV and HBO Max.

In 2026, Jesse Cole and Fans First Entertainment will be expanding to six teams and will create the Banana Ball Championship League. The BBCL should bring Banana Ball in line with other competitive sports leagues. Hopefully, this means each team having equal scheduling (same number of games and each team having the same number of home team advantages). Of course, this is just speculation on the Michi’s part. We should know in October when Banana Ball will hold the 2026 World Tour Draft.

Banana Ball is only getting better. Myself, I am looking forward to seeing the Tailgaters when they get their home team advantage. This team has even surprised, me. I do think they will have a few more wins before this season is done.

Remember, this weekend, the Bananas and the Firefighters will be playing on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon at Coors Field in Denver. Saturday’s game will be on ESPN2. The Tailgaters and the Party Animals will be hitting the college scene playing tonight and Saturday at Alex Box Stadium at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

Remember, all Banana Ball games are available for free on YouTube. For links to watch the games, visit the Michi-chan Sports Event Schedule.

Fans first on three… 1.. 2.. 3.. FANS FIRST!

What started with “Good Morning Baltimore”, sung by the talented Princess Potassia turned out to be a wild Saturday evening in the Charm City as the Firefighters come to face The Savannah Bananas in the backyard of the Michi’s birthplace, Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore (yes, the Michi was born up the road in Towson, all those many years ago).

The Bananas would start with Kyle Luigs who has pitched over 42 innings in this year’s World Tour with 35 strikeouts, 14 ball four sprints (B4Ss) and an earned run average (ERA) of 5.53. In the first inning for The Firefighters, Liam Spence and Dalton Cornett would get on with base hit singles to start off the night. Luigs would then send Stephen Cullen swinging for the first out. Logan Lacey comes up to the dish. With a 1-2 count, Spence makes an attempt for third and was nailed down by Danny Holsey for the second out. Lacey would eventually fly out on a DR Meadows backflip trick play.

Bottom of the first, The Firefighters will start Bradford Webb, 11 innings, 11 stikeouts, 4 B4Ss and a 9.26 ERA. DR Meadows, who comes into this game with a .355 batting average would drop one left to get on, only to have it negated by Ty Jackson hitting into a Caden Green trick play double play. Dan Oberst would be caught swinging and the inning ends scoreless.

Firefighters will get a run in the second inning on a pair of B4Ss to Dakota McFadden and Ron Franklin, Jr. In the bottom of second, KJ Jackson pops up into a Caden Green tip-drill Logan Lacey behind the back double trick play (wow, that was a mouthful!).

Bottom of the second, two outs, no one on. Ryan Cox is dealt into a B4S. He attempted for second but was tagged by Noah Bridges on the slide. Coxy points to the base to appeal and the fans challenge the call. This one is very hard to call because of the limited camera angles that Banana Ball has. The view from the center field camera shows Cox’s foot touching the bag but is not clear whether Bridges’ glove was touching his leg. The high home camera view was also not clear, made more difficult because the broadcast was in split screen, the low third camera was blocked by the umpire’s leg. A part of me thinks that Cox did indeed get is foot in there before the tag. Unfortunately, the camera angles did not show anything clear for Biko or Josh to overturn the call and thus the out call at second stands. The Nanners were unable to answer the Firefighters run, so the Firefighters get a point.

Top of the third, Mason Maxwell leads off on a B4S by Luigs and Liam Spence gets a base hit single. On a 1-2 count. Spence hits to third base side field level where a fan was able to reach far out to make a bare-handed catch. There was no dispute that this was a clean catch. Stephen Cullen grounds to Danny Hosley, to Jackson Olson for the force at second then to KJ Jackson at first where the ball gets away scoring Maxwell. Bananas not able to top this and the inning goes to the Firefighters. They are now up 2~0.

Bottom of the fourth, Dan Oberst puts one just over Caden Green to get on. Kyle Jackson puts one over the head of Logan Lacey. Oberst slides into third and is called out. The Bananas challenge the call. The view from the high first angle clearly shows Oberst’s foot was firmly on the bag while the tag was still inches away.

Jesse Cole would then introduce guest player Matt Wieters who played for the Orioles from 2009~2016 and is a 4-time All Star. Wieters wound ground one up the middle off the glove of Isaac Parra bringing Obserst home. The Bananas win the inning and we are now at 2~1, Firefighters.

Top of the fifth with Corelle Prime on the mound, starts with Mason Maxwell hitting a foul ball towards left that was caught by a fan.

Isaac Parra would come up next for the Firefighters. The first two pitches were strikes and Parra was batting right handed. Right before the third pitch, he jumped quickly from a right-handed position to lefty and then he just taps the ball in what appears to be a drag bunt. Parra would beat everyone to the bag. Home plate umpire Vincent Chapman would then eject Parra from the game for bunting. Remember the Banana Ball rule, no bunting because bunting sucks. After the umpires confer with each other, the ejection was overruled and Parra is safe at first. Dalton Cornet gets on with by a B4S advancing Parra to third. Stephen Cullen grounds towards short, the ball is mishandled by Danny Hosley scoring Parra. Parra is the only run for the Firefighters in this inning.

Bottom of the fifth, two outs and Eric Jones Jr. gets a B4S off of reliever Ga’von Wray and he is able to get a second base. Malachi Mitchell will pinch run. Danny Hosley would hit out to center, bringing in Mitchell to score. Dalton Mauldin also sends one to center. This will move Hosley to third and Mauldin in first. Dakota “Stilts” Albritton is brought in to pinch hit. On the second pitch, Stilts would send a high fly ball to Mason Maxwell in right, which he caught bare handed. The inning is a push. Firefighters still up 2~1.

Top of the sixth. Joe Lytle will lead off for the Firefighters. Lytle will send down to left center to get on. Ron Franklin Jr. would send on very deep left and over with a two run jack. Three more down the order with two out, Mason Maxwell with the count full hits a foul ball towards third which was cleanly caught in the upper deck by a fan. The Bananas were not able to score in the bottom of the sixth. Firefighters now up 3~1 in points.

Things went crazy in the seventh inning for both teams. The Firefighters would get a 2 run homer by Dalton Cornett. During this inning, the Bananas would introduce Kelsie Whitmore to come up to pitch. Kelsie is a member of the U.S. National Women’s Baseball team and has played on several other teams including most recently, the new Oakland Ballers in the Pioneer League. With two out, a runner on second and a full count, Joe Lytle would hit one into the deepest part of center field. Firefighters coach Val Perez would wave Lytle home and two more runs would score on a Lytle inside the park home run.

Bottom of the seventh and the Bananas are faced with a target of four runs, five to win the inning. Ryan Cox will get on with a B4S. Robert Anthony Cruz (RAC) would hit out to deep right and we now have runners on second and third. Jesse Cole then introduces Nick Markakis who played for the O’s from 2006~2014. With the count 2-0, Markakis would pop straight up. Joe Lytle took off his helmet and held it up, apparently attempting to make a trick play by catching it in the helmet. The ball came in too hard and bounced out of the helmet and reached the ground. Since the trick play was attempted in foul territory, it was ruled a foul ball and the count is now 2-1. I don’t think I have ever seen that kind of trick play attempt before. With the count 2-2, Markakis would pop up to Logan Lacey, who misses the trick play to put Markakis. Malachi Mitchell comes in to pinch run.

Dan Hosley will pop up to Lacey who is able to catch it this time; two out. Jackson Olson would hit one to right scoring Cox. The throw from right to catcher Joe Lytle was off kilter and sent out of play scoring RAC. There was some controversy on the call because the Bananas believe that because the ball went out of play (by the Firefighters dugout), the other runners should be able to advance. They keep things as they were originally called, rummers on second and third with two out. DR Meadows bops one out to center scoring Mitchell and Olson and sending DR Meadows to third. As Ty Jackson was coming to the plate, DR Meadows would successfully steal home. The Bananas win the inning 5~4. Firefighters still up 3~2 in points.

The top of the eighth had no score by the Firefighters, but reliever Zack Phillips did hit Noah Bridges. We also must note that even with the plunk, the entire top of the eighth inning was done in only 55 seconds, a very nice MPI and the fastest of the 2025 World Tour so far. The Nanners would get the point through a Dan Oberst B4S and a base hit to left by Reece Alexiades. We are now tied at 3~3 in points as we go to the final inning.

The Firefighters, despite a B4S off of Austin Krzeminski to Liam Spence and a base hit by Logan Lacey, were not able to score in the top of the ninth. Bottom of the ninth starts with Ryan Cox with a fly out to Ron Franklin in center for the first out. Robert Anthony Cruz would then step up and on the second pitch would send it to right center over the 373 sign for the game winning solo home run. The Bananas win the game, 5~4 on points.

Special message from the Michi

After the game had concluded, Michi-chan Sports noticed multiple comments on social media that RAC’s ninth inning game winning home run had hit the head of a young girl. The family of the young girl who was hit did confirm the incident and posted a picture of the girl with Robert Anthony Cruz both giving the thumbs up. I am glad to see that she is in good spirits.

I was very deeply disappointed by the rage comments that I saw all over social media that it was the parents fault and they should have been more responsible. This was an accident and accidents do happen. Yes, they can be avoided, but sometimes the ability to respond to a literal bullet coming at you potentially at 100 miles per hour takes split second instincts. We must acknowledge here that are risks that come with setting in the front rows of outfield seats and families should be aware of. When you attend a game, you must always practice “head’s up” wherever you sit, even behind the netted areas. If you see something coming in your direction, a simple yell of “HEAD’S UP!” could save someone from injury.

I did review the video and I do feel that the person with the blue shirt and the white writing directly above the 373 sign in the front row deserves some recognition. It appears he had a glove and he was trying to stop the ball from hitting her. I may be wrong, but that was my candid observation from the grainy YouTube video that I get. Again, I wish that girl the best.

Savannah Bananas win: The Firefighters 3(9) ~ Savannah Bananas 4(9).
Firefighters trick plays: 9 ~ Parra (2), Cullen (2), Green, Spence, Lacey, Maxwell, Franklin Jr.
Bananas trick plays: 9 ~ Cox (3), Meadows (2), Hosley, Olson, K. Jackson, Cruz
Showman of the Game: Robert Anthony Cruz - Savannah Bananas

Trick play counts for both teams conflict between what was shown in the post game graphic and the official scoresheets. We use the scoresheet values.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheSavannahBananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The Party Animals will start with Brady Kais who has pitched over 28 innings, has 17 strikeouts but also has had 20 ball four sprints (B4Ss) in this 2025 World Tour with a 6.59 ERA. In the top of the first, Kais would add two additional strikeouts to that statistic. The Tailgaters send out starter Cole Kitchen who has pitched 12 innings, has 8 strikeouts and 7 B4Ss as well as an ERA of 4.38, which is noted to be the lowest on the Tailgaters. In the bottom of the first with Noah Fisher at the plate, Zach Watson would achieve a backflip trick play in left field. I note this because at Friday’s game, the Tailgaters were not able to achieve any trick plays. This is pretty unusual for a Banana Ball team. One other thing to note is that the bottom of the first had a minutes per inning (MPI) of 1 minute and 17 seconds.

In the top of the second, all three outs came from Party Animal trick plays from Sal Jacobo (tip drill to Bryson Bloomer), Dustin Baber (bare handed catch, his 89th on the season, leading the team) and Bryson Bloomer (between the legs).

Bottom of the third with two outs and a full count, Cole Kitchen delivers a pitch to Bronson Balholm, just barely in there. Balholm originally thought it was a ball and assumed he was in a B4S but nope, it was the third strike and the third out for the inning. It is normal for Banana Ball to rotate through their bull pen throughout the game, so Kitchen came out at the end of three. Kitchen is coming out of the game with a perfect three innings, a pitch count of 25 and an average MPI of 1:48. Very impressive numbers.

Top of the fourth. Sean Fluke, who came up in the third inning is pitching for the Party Animals and was mic’d up. On a 1-1 count to Indy Stanley, he would fly out to Jake Skole who caught the ball with the outside of his glove. The hot mic also caught something we will not repeat for which Sean was very apologetic for. Bret Carson grounds to Dustin Baber who could not hold on to the ball (Sean has some words here, but they were a bit cleaner). Mac Danford would hit a fly ball to center, Reece Hampton attempted a behind the back catch and was missed. Runners on first and second. With the count at 2-1 to Marcos Castillo, a foul ball was hit right and according to Fluke, the fan caught it in his hat. It was not considered a fan out. Again, why is Banana Ball discouraging trick plays for fan outs? Castillo would then hit it out to the shirtless Tanner Thomas in left field who had some difficulty with the ball. Carson would score easily. Danford had made a diving attempt into home, which was called safe. The Party Animals are challenging the call. The video clearly shows that Danford was able to avoid the tag on his way to home plate. This will mean a 2 RBI double by Castillo. Castillo would be left stranded.

Bottom of the fourth. Tailgaters send up Warehouse Games veteran Kollin Stone. Kollin has only pitched 3.2 innings with one strikeout, 5 B4Ss and a 12.27 ERA. Sal Jacobo would put one down in shallow center to get on first. Reece Hampton hits to deep right, Sal Jacobo goes for third. He slides in and he called safe. Tailgaters challenges the call. The broadcast booth was unable to find anything conclusive to overturn the call. My view looks like the tag did not come in time. The ruling on the field stands. Noah Fisher would fly out to left for the first out. Jake Skole flies out to deep left, Jacobo tags up to score. Andy Cosgrove goes down swinging. The Party Animals were only able to get one run, which is not enough. The Tailgaters win the inning and get the first point on the board, 1~0.

Top of the fifth, one out. Jordan Hussein lands on in deep right for a stand-up double. Zach Watson then sends one down to deep left, bringing in Hussein. Riyan Rodriguez would then strike out Nick Lopez and Indy Stanley. Tailgaters end up with one. In the bottom frame, Bryson Bloomer sends one into shallow center, Marcus Castillo would miss the behind-the-back trick play and Bloomie is on first. Tanner Thomas now up and hits one to right and hits near the top of the wall. Thomas gets to second and Bloomer advances to third. Jason Swan hits a sac fly to center to bring in Bloomer, Thomas stays at second. We are tied 1~1 with 2 out. Justin Baber takes a chug and comes up to the plate and chugs one to left center getting by shortstop Hussein. Thomas stops at third. Runners on the corners. Bronson Balholm gets the B4S, scoring Thomas and the Party Animals win the inning. We are now tied in points, 1~1.

Bottom of the sixth and the Tailgaters bring up Jimmy Strings. 6 innings, 2 stikeouts, 6 B4Ss and an ERA of 5.68. Ashton Landell comes up in the 9-hole and Srings strung him swinging. Reece Hampton hits deep right and gets a stand-up single. Noah Fisher has a “Bette Davis Eyes” walkup in a Jojo Siwa wig that suits him well. Without the face make-up, he would look super cute!! Michi approves. Despite the great walk-up, he would ground into a Mac Danford between the legs trick play to Bret Carson for the out. Jake Skole would finish the job by putting one in the perfect spot in right to bring in Hampton. Animals win the inning and they are now up 2~1 in points.

Bottom of the eighth, Tailgaters bring in Andrew Mann, pitched 9 innings with 7 strikeouts, 5 B4Ss and a 9.00 ERA. With 2 outs, Bronson Balholm would hit a grounder to Brett Carson, who tosses it to Andrew Mann who closely loses the race to first base. Balholm is on. Sal Jacobo will single to left. Runners on first and second. The Party Animals go back to the top of the order with Reece Hampton who hits a foul ball that was caught by a fan on the concourse of the stadium and ending the inning. Party Animals still up 2~1 on points.

Top of the ninth and the Party Animals sends in their closer Drew Gillespie. Drew has over 47 innings pitched, 28 strikeouts, only 8 B4Ss and an impressive ERA of 2.83. Drew Danford gets to first on a B4S. Marcus Castillo would hit into a 6-4-3 double play to clear the bases and two out. The Tailgaters last chance may be catcher Taylor Justus. Justus pops up to Dustin Baber and the game is over.

Party Animals win: Texas Tailgaters 1(3) ~ Party Animals 2(4).
Tailgaters trick plays: 5 - Danford (2), Hussein (2), Watson.
Party Animals trick plays: 8 - Bloomer (3), Baber (3), Jacobo, Skole.
Showman of the Game: Jake Skole - Party Animals

For upcoming games that you can watch for free and for some that can also be watched on Tru-TV and HBO Max, visit

https://events.michichan.com

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @thepartyanimals.bananaball (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The Party Animals will start with pitcher Garrett Delano. Delano has pitched over 64 innings in this 2025 World Tour season with 41 strikeouts and a 4.87 ERA. Zach Watson would lead off for the Tailgaters. With an 2-0 count, Watson would pop foul and catcher Andy Cosgrove was able to make a reach over the railing and into the dugout for the first out of the game.

Delano would add another strikeout on Taj Porter. In the bottom of the first, the Tailgaters start with Christian Davis, 13.2 innings pitched, 11 strikeouts and an 8.44 ERA. He will strike out Reece Hampton. Noah Fisher fouls out to a young fan who is a fan of the University of Minnesota and the Party Animals. Of course, some may question one’s loyalty or fandom to a team when you make a play from the stands against them. You can cheer on the Party Animals all the time, but it is not every day that you get the golden opportunity to not only catch a foul ball but have it also impact the outcome of the game. The first inning ends scoreless.

Top of the second, Taylor Justus would get hit by a pitch. Nelson Smith is brought in to run. Extra hitter Mac Danford would then go into a ball four sprint (B4S) advancing Danford to third even though he showed some hesitation when he reached second. With one out, Travis Moniot would line one towards Dustin Baber, who throws to first to get Moniot out but Danford would score. In the bottom of the second, the first three batters, Bryson Bloomer, Tanner Thomas and Jason Swan would each hit singles to load up the bases. Dustin Baber would hit a sacrifice fly to Marcos Castillo bringing in Bloomer. A little controversy with Tailgater Taylor Justus during Armando Baccera’s at bat. Even though Justus thinks he tagged first base, the runner was safe. This is because Justus did not actually tag first base, he only touched the “safety base”. The safety base is an extension of first base into foul territory. This base is extended to allow for a runner from home using the runners late to safely reach first base without having to come into fair territory to touch the first base bag. Despite having bases loaded, the Party Animals were not able to bring anyone else home. This inning ends up in a push and we remain scoreless in points.

Third inning for the Tailgaters. Jordan Hussein would get on with a single by way of left center. Scary moment with pinch hitter Jason Arendt. The first pitch from Dalton Ponce resulted in Arendt’s bat slipping from his hands being hurled right over Ponce’s head. Arendt would eventually get on with a B4S. Nick Lopez would get plunked. Runners now on first and second. Taj Porter would also get a B4S, which brings in two runs, still no outs, runners on the corners. Bret Carson hit one down the line to first. Jason Swan touches the right bag this time, but one more run scores. The Tailgaters would end the half with three runs despite having the bases loaded again. In the bottom half of the frame, Noah Fisher gets on with a single to right, but then Jake Skole hits into a double play to clear the bases. Andy Cosgrove flies out to left to end the inning. Tailgaters get the first point in the game.

Bottom of the fourth, 2 out and a runner on second with a 1-2 count, Dustin Baber hits a foul ball that the Tailgaters may think was caught by a fan. They decide not to challenge it and the game goes on. Baber would eventually go down swinging. The fourth inning was scoreless.

In the top of the fifth with Blake Benson on the bump, he delivers B4Ss to Bret Carson and Taylor Justus. Runners now on the corners with one out. Mac Danford would hit one out to center scoring Carson. The Party Animals would answer through a B4S from Rodrigo Sanchez to Reece Hampton. Noah Fisher could come up to the plate. A failed pick-off by Taj Porter would advance advance Hampton to second. Fisher would end up with the B4S bringing Hampton home. Sanchez would then successfully pick-off Fisher at first. The inning ends in a push.

The Party Animals would score in the sixth through a B4S to Jake Skole off Briain Trepanier. Bryson Bloomer would hit into deep left for a stand up double. Skole was held at third. Jason Swan would hit one into shallow center to bring in Skole and they walk off the sixth inning. The game is tied at 1~1.

The seventh inning starts with Nate Tellier who strikes out the first two Tailgaters. Jonathan Luders would fly out to right to end the half. In the bottom of the inning with John Reid pitching for Texas and two out, Reid would plunk both Sal Jacobo and Reece Hampton. Noah Fisher would roll one under the glove shortstop Jordan Hussein scoring Jacobo giving the Animals another inning. They are now up 2~1.

Top of the ninth, Drew Gillespie on the bump. Jordan Hussein flies out to Noah Fisher in left. Gillespie would the strike out Zach Watson. Nick Lopez would ground to Jacobo, who trick plays it to Jason Swan to put the icing on the cake for the Party Animals.

Party Animals win: Texas Tailgaters 1(5) ~ Party Animals 2(4).
Tailgaters trick plays: 0.
Party Animals trick plays: 4 - Hampton, Baber, Swan & Jacobo.
Showman of the Game: Jason Swan - Party Animals

For upcoming games that you can watch for free and for some that can also be watched on Tru-TV and HBO Max, visit

https://events.michichan.com

Game Replay

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @thepartyanimals.bananaball (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Banana Ball comes to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a game that I would have otherwise attended, but my spouse had their birthday on the 2nd and they don’t like attending ball games (that’s why I went to the Nats Park game instead). This game was carried nationwide on the ESPN networks.

The Bananas will start with Noah Niznik, 5-0 record, 18 strikeouts and a 3.24 ERA going into this game. For the Firefighters, Liam Spence leads off and taps one in the infield, KJ Jackson would hustle and beat the throw to first. A ball four sprint (B4S) brings on Dalton Cornett and Spence advances to third. Logan Lacey flies to left into a Robert Anthony Cruz (RAC) backflip catch; Spence tags up to score. Dakota McFadden also picks up a B4S which brings in Isaac Parra, who was pinch running for Cornett. Stephen Cullen would hit one out to very deep right, Reece Alexiades tries to express mail the ball to Ryan Cox who was just not ready. McFadden would come all the way from first to score the third run for the Firefighters.

Firefighters start with Austin Temple, 0-2 but with 9 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA. DR Meadows would hit a lead-off single into center to get the action started. Dan Oberst would go into the left center pocket to score Meadows. Ryan Cox gets on with a B4S bringing in Oberst. Malachi Mitchell comes out to pinch run. With Corelle Prime coming up to bat, a pick-off attempt was made by catcher Dalton Cornett. The ball was thrown to first, but Stephen Cullen was not quite ready for it. The ball made it to right field moving Mitchell to third base. A Corelle Prime B4S would bring in Mitchell, The Bananas would also get 3 runs and push the inning.

Very interesting play in the top of the second. Ron Franklin on base from a stand-up double and is now on third due to a Noah Bridges pop fly to a tip drill tag up by Alexiades. With Franklin on third, South Trimble would pop one to right center. Both Alexiades and center fielder DR Meadows would converge close by. Meadows goes through the motions of catching and throwing to catcher Bill LeRoy, but it was actually Alexiades who caught the ball and threw it to LeRoy who caught the ball behind his back and Ron Franklin is wondering what the hell just happened.

In the bottom half, Eric Jones would fly out to our resident magician South Trimble caught the banana ball with his hat and made it “disappear”.1 I do love that in Banana Ball, catching in the hat is OK. Huge no-no in MLB. No runs scored in the second.

The introduction of local Baltimore talent started with the evening’s Bananas Foster family presentation. Tori Briody of Bananas Foster was joined by Kyle Van Noy of the Baltimore Ravens, who as a child, went through the foster care system. The Bananas Foster segment is always one of my favorite reasons to watch a Banana Ball game. Group hugs just do that to me.

August 15 will be the Michi’s Heinz 57th birthday (yea, I am THAT old). This year, I have decided to conduct a Facebook Fundraiser to help support Bananas Foster. Please visit my fundraiser on Facebook and please help support the great work that Bananas Foster does to raise awareness of and to provide assistance to the foster care community. There are about 400,000 kids in foster care. Please show your love!

Top of the fourth, Ryan Kellogg comes up to pitch for the Bananas and the first pitch to Caden Green was caught by a young fan who reached over the railing on an upper deck to make the snag.

Bottom of the fourth, Corelle Prime hits to third base, Logan Lacey gets the ball behind the back but overthrows to Stephen Cullen. Malachi Mitchell would come in to pinch run. With RAC at the plate, Mitchell would attempt to steal second, the throw from Dalton Cornett to Liam Spence was ruled an out. Mitchell kept nodding his head “no, no, no, no". The Bananas challenge the play. The call was upheld. Mitchell did not make the bag at the time of the tag.

In the middle of the fifth, Baltimore Bananaland was treated to a performance from Towson’s very own All Time Low.

We have been scoreless as we go into the bottom of the sixth inning. First, the Bananas introduce legendary manager Buck Showalter who spent 9 seasons with the Baltimore Orioles. I personally remember him from his time at the, what was then, as the brand new Arizona Diamondbacks from 1998 to 2000. The Bananas give him the first base coaching spot. I do not expect him to break dance.

In the inning, Corelle Prime would get on base from a trick play missed by Firefighters center fielder Ron Franklin. Prime ends up on second and Malachi Mitchell comes in to pinch run and would eventually steal third. To redeem himself from the TPM, he would make a diving catch to snag a RAC fly ball sent to left center. Bill LeRoy picks up the B4S, bringing in Mitchell and giving the Bananas the first point of this ball game.

Top of the seventh, runners on first and second with two out. Dakota “Stilts” Albritton would come in to face Dakota McFadden. On the 1-2 count, Stilts would plunk (hit by pitch) him to load the bases. Stephen Cullen would then pop up to Jackson Olson to end the half and strand three on board.

Bottom of the seventh and Eric Jones leads off with a stand-up double out to deep left field. Jackson Olson would then hit one long out to left, getting over the head of South Trimble. This will bring Jones home and the Bananas win the inning. They are up 2~0 on points.

In the eighth with 19:42 on the clock, the Bananas come out for “the world’s fastest” inning. Kyle Perry is now pitching without taking any warm-up tosses. With one out and a runner on first, Ron Franklin Jr. would ground to Ryan Cox who fields it between the legs tosses it to Jackson Olson to get the force at second but then the throw from Olson to Eric Jones at first was not in time. This would be Ryan Cox’s 150th trick play on the 2025 World Tour.

Bottom of the eighth, no out, The Bananas introduce pinch hitter/guest player Adam Jones. Jones played on the O’s from 2008~2018 and is a 5-time all-star and 4-time gold glove winner. He would pop up in the infield to a Caden Green behind-the-back trick play. The inning would end through two fly outs by Kyle Jackson and Reece Alexiades. Despite the Adam Jones introduction and “Yellow”, 7:03 remained on the clock. This is no longer a concern as we go into the top of the ninth with the Bananas still up 2~0.

Top of the ninth for the Firefighters started with Logan Lacey as the golden batter. He would pop up to Bananas pitcher Danny Hosley. Hosley would then catch Liam Spence looking. Dalton Cornett would then ground into a Kyle Jackson trick play to end the game.

Savannah Bananas win: The Firefighters 0(3) ~ Savannah Bananas 2(5).
Firefighters trick plays: 4 ~ Trimble (2), Franklin Jr., Green.
Bananas trick plays: 14 ~ Cox (4), J Jackson (3), Prime (2), Olson (2), Cruz, Alexiades, Meadows. Ryan Cox, 150th trick play on the 2025 season.
Showman of the Game: Ryan Cox - Savannah Bananas

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheSavannahBananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

As the Michi has spent her life trying to spread derby love, it looks like Jesse Cole has been spreading a lot of BANANA LOVE!

Fans First Entertainment just recently inked a deal with TNT to air all remaining Bananas headliners on and after August 16, 2025 until the end of the season on Tru-TV and on HBO Max. This is a significant outreach and should hopefully attract more fans to the sport.

The games will still be available on YouTube. Jesse has been pretty firm about that where it comes to these TV deals. During the times when Banana Ball was on ESPN, it was making some impressive numbers. I do feel that the penetration of Tru-TV is lower than that of ESPN, but still, it’s a lot of eyes and a lot of opportunities to watch.

In addition to the all of the headliners, the package includes five Banana Ball Tour Championship games from historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah on October 2, 3, 4, 5 and 11.

In 2026, Banana Ball will creating the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) and will expand from four to six teams, including the Bananas.

In my last article, I spoke of the milestones that Jesse was achieving. Just this past weekend, it was The CW. I was wondering how he was going to outdo himself.

The Michi sends her congratulations to Jesse and Emily on this great deal. You should be proud of what you have achieved.

Fans first on three… 1, 2, 3…. FANS FIRST!

On Sunday, FFE has achieved its latest milestone. For the first time, a full game was carried for the first time over terrestrial (antenna) television with Banana Ball’s first ever game airing on the CW Network. I have not yet seen any ratings data from the presentation but it will be interesting to see. Anyway, the premiere of Banana Ball on terrestrial television is the latest in Jesse’s milestones that further widen the reach and awareness of the greatest show in sports. Congratulations Jesse and the entire team at FFE for this milestone.

Normally, I do not watch the games live. The time when east coast night games air is during my family time and its one of the few times of the day these days when I am not sleeping that I am not watching something that is relevant to the work that I do. Sunday day games though, I can usually catch live, and Sunday was no exception. I am no longer in Arizona. I am now living near Salisbury, MD and located about 120 miles south of Philadelphia.

As the game got started, I was starting to hear thunder boomers here on Delmarva and already had fears that it may impact the game further north in Philly. But from what I could see, the weather looked fairly good up there at “start the clock!” time. This will come into play later on.

The Bananas send up Kyle Luigs to pitch in the first inning. The ‘Gaters would bring in the first run on a fielder’s choice by Taj Porter. In the bottom of the first with Cole Kitchen starting. With two outs, Ryan Cox hits an infield single to bring in Kyle Jackson. An infield fly to shortstop Jordan Hussein would end the inning in a push. No one scores.

Drama in the bottom of the second. Lead-off batter Eric Jones Jr. grounds to Jorden Hussein who makes a wild through to first. Jones overruns the base and attempts to return to first. Meanwhile, catcher Taylor Justiss picks up the overthrown ball throws it back to Travis Moniot covering first. The Tailgaters are wanting to challenge the call because they claim that Jones made an attempt to go to second after the overrun. There was a debate if it could be challenged. Biko and Josh in the BTV took a look at the replay anyway. From their observations and what I saw in the frame by frame video was that even though his foot crossed the line while turning around to go back to first, there did not appear to be intention to go to second. Perhaps we need a second opinion from Lindsay at Close Call Sports. The outcome of the “challenge” was that there was no issue. The call stands and Jones stayed on first base. It was charged as a trick play missed on Jordan Hussein. Jackson would advance to second on a Dan Oberst single and eventually make it home on a Ryan Cox infield single. Bananas win the inning.

The Bananas would pick up a run and a point in the third inning on a ball four sprint from Cole Kitchen to Kyle Jackson

During the top of the fourth, remember that rain that I had mentioned here in Delmarva? It has made its way to Philly. Fans are seen putting on the plastic and Corelle Prime has been having difficulty keeping a grip on the wet ball. The game plays on. Tailgaters would not score. Bottom of the fourth, Dalton Mauldin in for Super-Reece would get on with a 2-base ball four sprint off Jimmy Lewis with the rain really coming down. With Mauldin on second and one out Ryan Cox steps up. Dancing home plate umpire Vince Chapman stops the game and we are going into a rain delay. In Banana Ball, an official game is called if either they get through to the middle of the fifth inning or at least one hour has been burned off the clock. The clock stopped with 1:08:42 remaining.

The tarp would eventually get pulled back up, Princess Potassia would sing a cute rain delay song and about 20 minutes after Vince Chapman stopped the game, we are back to Banana Ball. Ryan Cox would hit out to right field, Mauldin gets the wave and comes in to score. Bananas win the fourth inning. The Bananas are up 3-0.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Gaters would come out strong. With Correlle Prime pitching, Marcos Castillo lays one out into deep center for a stand-up double. Jordan Hussein would ground towards left past Ryan Cox. KJ Jackson’s tag attempt at third hit Castillo in the face. He was called safe, but the play is being challenged by the fans. As Castillo made the slide, his helmet fell forward and was loose. Jackson’s tag on actually on the helmet, which was dislodged at the time of the tag. The call stands. Runners now on the corners, Nelson Smith sends one out to right, scoring Castillo, who can now get a well-deserved break. Runners on second and third, no out, Nick Lopez flies out to Alexiades in right. Jorden Hussein tags and scores from third. The Tailgaters would eventually end the half inning with 2 runs. The Bananas would not pick up any runs in the bottom frame and now we are 3-1 in points.

The sixth inning was scoreless but in the top, Indy Stanley would hit a foul ball off of Andy Archer into the upper deck behind home plate which was cleanly caught by a fan.

Top of the seventh. Jonathan Luders grounds to Ryan Cox, the Glove Magician with a trick play to Eric Jones to get the first out. That was Cox’s third trick play for the game. Jason Arendt would ground to pitcher Andy Archer with an easy play at first. Two out. Jordan Hussein sends one deep to the left field wall for a stand up double. Zach Watson would send one to center to score Hussein. Nick Lopez flies to center with a DR Meadows cartwheel catch to finish the side. Tailgaters get one run.

Bottom of the seventh. Rodrigo Sanchez comes up to pitch for Texas and gives back to back ball four sprints to Reese Alexiades and Ryan Cox. Malachi Mitchell comes in to run for Cox. Runners on first and third and no out. Three pitches in on Bill LeRoy, Sanchez makes a very wild pitch behind the back of LeRoy. Alexiades will come in to score and Mitchell advances to second. We are now tied at 1 for the inning. Rain is starting to come down again. Bill LeRoy would fly out to Indy Stanley in right. Mitchell does not advance. Eric Jones now up. With a 1-1 count, Sanchez delivers another wild pitch, this one far outside. Mitchell advances to third. Tailgaters shift to a 5-man infield. Sanchez delivers yet another wild pitch far outside easily bringing Mitchell home. Bananas win the inning and now are up 4-1 in points.

Top of the eighth. Taj Porter with a broken back grounder, fair towards first. Eric Jones picks it up and makes the first out (Jones never left the box). Taylor Justiss goes down on strikes off Gage Vorhees. Indiana Stanley hits one to the 401 sign in center and was able to hustle for a triple. Travis Moniot loses his bat on the second pitch, grounds to KJ at third, to Eric Jones for the third out. That was the fastest inning of the day at 1 minute and 59 seconds.

Right after the “Yellow” ritual, the Phillies’ ground crew brought back out the dreaded tarp. Banana Ball President Jesse Cole comes out on the field in his now wet yellow tux to announce that due to the rain and expected thunderstorms coming in, the decision was made to end the game at the middle of the 8th inning.

Savannah Bananas win: Texas Tailgaters 1(4) ~ Savannah Bananas 4(6).
Tailgaters trick plays: 3 ~ Justus, Mann, Castillo.
Bananas trick plays: 8 ~ Cox (3), (remaining with 1:) Alexiades, Olson, KJ Jackson, Cruz, Jones Jr.
Showman of the Game: Ryan Cox - Savannah Bananas
(We note that the end of the game graphic conflicts with the run count and the trick play summary on the official scorecard. We base our stats on the official scorecard.)

Next weekend (8/1~2, 2025), the Bananas and Firefighters will be going to Baltimore to play two games at Camden Yards. August 2 is my other half’s birthday and they are not a baseball fan, so I will be spending it at home (plus, Nats Park is more convenient for me to get to from here on Delmarva). The Party Animals will be headlining against the Tailgaters in St. Paul, MN at CHS Field for a two-game set.

We’ll see you then! Time to get out of my banana yellow and back into the red plaid. Good night Bananaland lovers!

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheSavannahBananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Video Replay

The Bananas will start with Noah Niznik on the bump. Zach Watson will lead off for the Tailgaters in the first. On the second pitch, Watson sends one out towards the left field foul pole. Bananas broadcaster Biko Skalla noted that some hands went up in the stands suggesting a foul out to a fan. The call on the field was a foul ball. The Bananas decided to challenge the call. When I reviewed the video (and yes, I can look at it one frame at a time as it was delivered over YouTube), I could not even see the ball. It appears the only angle they had was the high third base camera. No one could see it. Not Biko and Josh and not the Michi. The ruling on the field stands as a foul ball, thus wasting the Bananas’ challenge for the rest of the game. Watson would eventually get caught looking recording the first out of the game. Nick Lopez would fly out to center fielder DR Meadows for a behind the back trick play. A Taj Porter single would then get offset by a strikeout by Mac Danford to end the half.

Bottom of the first, DR Meadows who grounds to shortstop Jordan Hussein, who’s throw to first baseman Bret Carson was not in time, and the ‘Nanners have a lead-off hit. Ty Jackson would hop one to center and got on. Runners now on first and second for Dan Oberst. Oberst grounds to Hussein, Hussein to Jonathan Luders to get the force and second, back to Hussein, between the legs trick play to Carson, but the throw was high. One out with a runners on the corners. “Superman” Reese Alexiades comes to the plate. In a total little league kind of play, Oberst takes off from first and gets caught in a pickle. Meanwhile DR Meadows steals home from third, slides in and beats the throw. Bananas win the first inning.

Top of the third. Watson would ground it to Kyle Jackson at third and then to Jackson Olson covering second. Olson would catch the ball to make the the force play and then he would drop the ball. Hussein was called safe. Olsen and shortstop Ryan Cox were insisting that the force was made first and the runner should be out. While the clock was ticking, there was confusion on the field. The Bananas used their challenge in the second pitch of the first at bat of the game. The fans stepped-up to challenge the call. The question was whether Jackson had full control of the ball at the time when he put his right foot on the bag. My review showed that he did have control as the ball was firmly in the glove. Biko and Josh agreed and the call was overturned. Before the game, the fan representative was interviewed and she had stated she was previously a fan representative for a game at Fenway and in that case, she was successful. Well, I guess she’s now 2 for 2.

Between the innings, fans were treated to a hot dog eating contest between two of the Man Nanas (competing together) and the 17-time Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest champion, Joey Chestnut. The challenge is to see who can eat the most “banana dogs”1 within three minutes. While the eating contest is taking place, there’s a Banana Ball game being played at the same time. The contest is taking place in fair territory. This can get interesting. One minute into the contest, Chestnut is up on the dad-bods 5~4. Two minutes in, Chestnut is up 9~6. It’s not looking very promising for our Man Nanas. Final score in the contest, Joey Chestnut 14 ~ The Man Nanas 8. They interrupted an at bat with a 3-0 count on Bret Carson in order to crown the winner. Only at a Banana Ball game would you see this. Carson would eventually pop up to a Reese Alexiades tip drill trick play in right to end the inning. Only Banana Ball.. Only Banana Ball.

Now, back to the ball game part of this article. Top of the fifth, the Bananas send up Jared Donalson to the bump. After striking out Marcos Castillo (who was the Dunkin Donut hitter, meaning fans will get free donuts), Jonathan Luders would hit one into right center, missed by both Alexiades and Meadows for a stand-up double. It was scored as a trick play missed on Alexiades. Jorden Hussein would ground out advancing Luders to third. Zach Watson would wait it out for the ball four sprint that would bring home Luders. Nick Lopez would get on with a single. Taj Porter hops one to Alexiades in right who then bullets the ball non-stop to Bill LeRoy preventing Zach Watson at the plate. It was called out on the field, but the Tailgaters are challenging it. There was no clear evidence to overturn the call. Remember, Banana Ball uses their broadcasters to determine the challenges. They don’t have the luxury of the MLB Replay Center in New York at their disposal. Top of the fifth ends with the Tailgaters getting one run.

Bottom of the fifth. Dan Oberst hits one to deep right field off the glove of Indy Stanley and Oberst gets in with a stand-up double. James Taubl would deliver back to back ball four sprints to Reese Alexiades and Ryan Cox (who was escorted to the plate by Philadelphia Eagles’ head of security, “Big Dom”) to bring in Oberst and Alexiades, respectfully. Bananas win the inning and they are now 2~0 on points.

The Bananas brings up Dakota “Stilts” Albritton to pitch to switch-hitting Travis Miniot who hits into a between-the-legs trick play by Ryan Cox, the glove magician. The Bananas Corelle Prime would get on through a ball four sprint by Joe Sperone. Malachi Mitchell would come in to run and then “Flash” would get gunned down trying to steal second. Sperone would deliver another sprint to KJ Jackson who was able to pick up two bases. Eric Jones would line one down third, gets snatched up by Travis Moniot who nails the out at first. KJ advances to third. Bill LeRoy comes to the plate. The first pitch goes wild bringing KJ home and the Bananas win the inning. They are now up 3~0.

Top of the 7th,Bret Carson would send one to deep right and Alexiades shows us why they call him “Super Reece”. Marcus Castillo would get a stand-up double from a trick play missed by left fielder Ty Jackson. On the second pitch, Jonathan Luders would foul out to a fan. Jorden Hussein would then ground into a Jackson Olson between the legs trick play and we go into the stretch.

Bottom of the seventh and the ‘Gaters bring Brian Trepanier to the bump. Bill LeRoy, who never got his full at bat because of the sixth inning winning wild pitch comes back to the dish and then dishes one out over the right field wall for a walk-off home run. Bananas are now up 4~0 in points.

Let’s go to the bottom of the eighth and we have double eights coming to the plate. Bret Carson, who had been playing first and extra hitter now comes to the mound. As a pitcher, he has pitched 8.2 innings on this World Tour and has a 3.12 ERA. Jackson Olson, the original number 8 would ground to center to get on first. Jesse Cole then introduces another number 8, former Phillies player and 4-time Gold Glove winner, Shane Victorino. Shane grounds infield center, Jonathan Luders attempts a behind the back trick play, it misses Jorden Hussein and Victorino is on. Three at bats later, Super Reece (Alexiades) is not just super with the trick plays, but also with the bat. On a 3-1 count, Super Reece has the right launch angle, speed and all of that scientific stuff we say at the Home Run Derby to bang a three run jack to right. Bananas are going into the ninth inning up 5~0.

In the top of the ninth with one out, Tre Jones would fly to left center, DR Meadows attempted a back flip trick play that was missed and he gets to second. Two batters later, Bret Carson is back in the batter’s box. Carson flies to left, Ty Jackson attempts to make a diving catch and could not hold on to the ball, this brings in Jones. Tailgaters finally get one on the board. With two out, Marcos Castillo would fly to right field. Alexiades would catch it and the ballgame is over.

Savannah Bananas win: Texas Tailgaters 1(2) ~ Savannah Bananas 5(8).
Tailgaters trick plays: 8 ~ Hussein (5!), Carson (1), Stanley (1) & Luders (1).
Bananas trick plays: 7 ~ Alexiades (2), Cox (2), Meadows (1), Ty Jackson (1), Jones (1). Cox gets his 500th career trick play.
Showman of the Night: Reece Alexiades - Savannah Bananas

Bananas and Tailgaters play at Philadelphia again for an afternoon game starting at 3:30PM. This game will be carried on nationwide broadcast television on The CW network.

In Norfolk, at the final Firefighters headliner for the year, The Party Animals had a big 5-run sixth inning. Bryce Bloomer of the Party Animals, as well as Logan Lacey and Stephen Cullen for the Firefighters each had three trick plays. Party Animals sweep the Norfolk series.

Party Animals win: Party Animals 4(10) ~ Texas Tailgaters 2(2).
Party Animal trick plays: 7 ~ Bloomer (3), Jacobo (2), Baber (1), Hampton (1)
Firefighters trick plays: 7 ~ Lacey (3), Cullen (3), Spence (2), Green (1) and Dearman (1).
Showman of the Night: Dalton Ponce

The Firefighters will be back on the Savannah Bananas headliner show next weekend (8/1~8/2) at Camden Yards in Baltimore. Sorry, the Michi will not be there for this one, even though it is semi-close. Friday night’s game should be on ESPN and Saturday night’s on ESPN2.

The Party Animals will be headlining two shows in St. Paul at CHS Field against the Tailgaters on 8/1~8/2.

Catch games live and time shifted on the respective team’s YouTube Channel.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheOfficialFirefighters (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The Firefighters started with Austin Temple with a 2.70 season ERA. The first inning will start with Reece Hampton hitting into a Stephen Cullen trick play at first backed up by Temple. Noah Fisher’s bat went flying towards third, but Logan Lacey still managed to pull the trick play to get him out at first. Temple would then catch Dakota McFadden looking to end the frame. Bottom of the first and the Animals would bring up Bret Helton, who has pitched 71.2 innings during this World Tour with 13 ball four sprints and a 4.40 ERA. With two outs in the bottom, he would get another ball four sprint with Logan Lacey at the dish, but a strikeout to Dakota McFadden would prevent from scoring. No score at the end of one.

An amazing play in the top of the second. Andy Cosgrove on first from a ball four sprint and Jason Swan out looking. Tanner Thomas grounds to Isaac Parra who managed to tag Cosgrove midway between the bases and still was able to get a between the legs trick play over to Stephen Cullen for the force at first to end the half. In the bottom of the second, Stephen Cullen would hit a lead off single to get him on board. South Trimble was brought in to pinch run. Caden Green would then send one down the line left, Tanner Thomas who was mic’d up at the time could not get it home in time scoring Trimble. Firefighters win the inning.

Bottom of the fourth, Liam Spence would go right and get on base. Dalton Cornett was next up and on the first pitch, the ball was fouled down the right field line and was allegedly caught by a kid in a Party Animals jersey. The ruling on the field was a fan out. Val Perez, coach of the Firefighters challenges the call. It was determined that he caught the ball, but it bobbled on his glove and he caught it the second time. The call was overturned and the at bat goes on.

OK Bananaland, I have an issue with this one. I understand when a catch is not “clean” because it hits a railing, the ground or touches another fan before it is caught by the fan. What if I was in an open walkway area and I had a glove on and I was able to do a perfect Ryan Cox tip drill trick play and caught it cleanly afterwards, would that not count? If a fan has touched the ball and that ball does not touch anything or anyone other than the fan and the fan brings the ball in, it should be a fan out. Even if they bobbled it. It’s still a clean catch in my opinion. Jesse, we need to fix this for next season.

Cornett would hit one out towards left center, past Sal Jacobo to Reece Hampton who sends it to Bryson Bloomer to get Liam Spence at third. Cornett would make it to second. Logan Lacey would get a ball four sprint off of Bret Helton bringing in Cornett. Firefighters win another inning. They are now up 2-0.

The Party Animals would get their first point on the board through an Andy Cosgrove single and doubles by Tanner Thomas and Bryson Bloomer to score two runs. The Firefighters could not answer it and now we are at 2-1 Firefighters.

In the top of the sixth with a 3-2 count, Reece Hampton get a Matt Wolf somersault wind-up which he would hit foul. He would then get a ball four sprint off of Wolf taking him to second with Sal Jacobo on third. Noah Fisher tags up to Ron Franklin scoring Jacobo. The frame would end on an Andy Cosgrove foul out to a fan. A joint effort by South Trimble and Liam Spence in the bottom of the sixth would push the inning. We are still 2-1, Firefighters.

OK. We are ending the sixth inning with 38:44 left on the clock. This will become relevant, I swear!

Top of the seventh inning, 36:00 on the clock and Jason Swan up for the Party Animals. Bounces one towards left, gets by Logan Lacey and Caden Green and Swan slides into second. Bryson Bloomer would go into a ball four sprint off of Marshall Shill brings in Swan. Dustin Baber bounces to Isaac Parra who tags Bloomer and then overthrows to first base. Bronson Balholm would go into a ball four sprint. Balholm stops and first and Baber at third. Runners on the corners. Sal Jacobo hits one out to right bringing in Baber for the second run. The half would end on Reece Hampton popping up to Logan Lacey. We are going into the seventh inning stretch with 26:34 left on the clock. The Firefighters were unable to answer those runs. We are now tied at two points.

Time check at the end of seven — 0:19:27

Back for the top of the eighth — 0:17:26 on the clock. Jake Skole doubles and Jason Swan singles out to right to bring in Skole. Party Animals bring up six at bats. We go into the middle of the eighth — 0:08:37 on the clock. Out of the inning break, we are at about 0:07:25. Remember, this is the bottom of the eighth, not the ninth. Joe Lytle goes to deep right and gets on second. 0:06:56 and now South Trimble. With a 1-1 count, Trimble swings and loses the bat towards third. Bryce Bloomer hurls it back to him (kids.. do not try that at home!). Liam Spence gets a ball four sprint off of Brady Kais scoring scoring Noah Bridges, who came in to run for Lytle with two outs.

0:02:36 on the clock. Liam Spence with a full count hits it to right down the line and it was called foul. There was a fan challenge. The ball looked clearly foul here. The foul call was upheld.

0:01:25 on the clock and a ball four sprint. Noah Bridges comes in to score. We are tied in runs for the inning. Remember, we are at 2~2 in points. Two outs and Dalton Cornett comes up to the dish with 53 seconds left on the clock. Cornett hops to Brady Kais who was not able to glove it. This inning is still going. Logan Lacey comes up to the box with 24 seconds remaining. With a 1-1 count and two on, Kais starts his wind-up, the clock runs out. This is the first time in quite awhile we have seen the time run out and the first time for a Firefighters headliner. With a 2-2 count, Lacey pop up to Tanner Thomas to end the inning.

When the clock runs out during an inning that is not the ninth, that inning is considered the final inning and every run counts for a point. With that, we go to showdowns with the score tied at 3~3.

But let me make one thing clear. If Kais was able to strike out Spence instead of a sprint, this game would have gone to the ninth inning, regardless of the fan challenge. The fan challenge shaved a just over a minute off of the clock. Tanner Thomas caught the third out 59 seconds after time had expired. If the fan challenge was not called, this game would have gone to the ninth inning even with the ball four sprint to Spence.

In the first round of showdowns, it will be Jake Skole batting for the Party Animals, Ben Dum on the bump and Noah Bridges in the field. On a 1-2 count, Skole would hit out to right field and was able to make it all the way around. The Firefighters send up Joe Lytle to hit off of Drew Gillespie with Jason Swan fielding. Lyle would send it towards left field making the walk off. We are tied.

Second showdown brings up Reece Hampton with Dum remaining on the bump. Reece successfully walks it off on the second pitch. Firefighters bring up Logan Lacey. Gillespie remains on the mound. Lacey walks it off. We are still tied after the second round.

In the third round, Bryce Bloomer comes up, still with Dum and Bridges for the Firefighters. Bloomer goes to left field for the grand slam walk off. Animals up 9~5. Firefighters bring up Dalton Cornett. Gillespie and Swan remain. The ball does not leave the infield. Swan easily tags Ron Franklin between first and second and the Party Animals win in three showdowns.

Party Animals win: Party Animals 9(6) ~ Firefighters 5(4) SD3.
Party Animals trick plays: 3 ~ Thomas, Baber & Jacobo.
Firefighters trick plays: 7 ~ Cullen (3), Parra (2), Spence (1) & Lacey (1).
Showman of the Night: Jake Skole - Party Animals

As this article is being released, the Firefighters are playing their third and final game in this Norfolk series and the last Firefighters headliner of the 2025 World Tour. Also, the Savannah Bananas are in Philadelphia to take on the Texas Tailgaters. Both games are on their respective YouTube channels. The Bananas game is also being carried on ESPN.

Sunday will have second game in the Bananas vs. Tailgaters series from Philadelphia. This game will be at 3PM EDT and will be the first ever Banana Ball game carried on over-the-air broadcast television. Look for it on your local CW Network station.

Jesse keeps saying this game gets better every day. Friday night’s game proved that. It’s only going to get better! This Michi says keep watching the 2025 Banana Ball World Tour: exciting baseball, trick plays, interesting entertainment, and most importantly… FANS FIRST!

Oh by the way, dancing kid was still in the aisle for the start of the third round. This game went long. He looked burned out. Great job kid. You have a future. I wonder how many followers he has now? Good night.

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheOfficialFirefighters (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The first three innings were all about the Party Animals. In the first, Garret Delano would start on the bump for the Firefighters and Party Animal Reece Hampton would lead off with a strikeout. With two outs, Jake Skole would single to center followed by a Andy Cosgrove double to bring pinch runner Mark Smith to score the Animals’ only run. In the bottom of the first, The Firefighters would go three-up and three-down with back to back to back trick plays by Dustin Baber, Jason Swan and Sal Jacobo. Party Animals win the inning.

In the second inning, Bryson Bloomer knocks one down the line left, sliding into second. 1-1 count with Dustin Baber at the dish, Bloomer attempts to steal third. The throw from catcher Dalton Cornett to Logan Lacey was missed allowing Bloomer to steal home. In the bottom, Dakota McFadden flies out to center fielder Reece Hampton. Liam Spence lands one in shallow right to get on first. He would get picked-off at first to end the frame. Party Animals win this winning.

In the third inning, a stand-up double by Sal Jacobo and a single by Noah Fisher puts runners on the corners. Delano would then strike out Jake Skole, his fourth K on the night. Andy Cosgrove grounds to shortstop Caden Green who throws to first baseman Stephen Cullen off the bag and misses the tag scoring Jacobo. With runners on first and second, Jason Swan grounds another one to Caden Green who dives to prevent from going to the outfield. Bases loaded. Tanner Thomas rolls one into center scoring two more. Bryson Bloomer would line even another one to Caden Green who catches it to end the frame. Animals have 3 runs on the inning. In the bottom Stephen Cullen would get on first but then was caught stealing. A fly out to right by Caden Green and a strikeout to Mason Maxwell by Bradford Webb would end the inning and the Party Animals would win another one. They are up 3 points with the Firefighters yet to score.

In the bottom of the fourth, Noah Bridges would get on by a tip drill trip play missed by Bryson Bloomer. South Trimble gets on a Sal Jacobo trick play missed. Runners on the corners with no outs. Logan Lacey pops up to Reece Hampton in center. Trimble tags up to score the inning winning run. Firefighters finally get a point to answer the three racked up by the Animals already.

Drama in the top of the fifth. Noah Fisher grounds to Caden Green through the legs and over to first caught behind the back by Stephen Cullen but was called safe because Stephen Cullen had his foot off the bag and never made the force play. A Fan Challenge was made and the original call was upheld. Singles were then made by Jake Skole and then by Andy Cosgrove, who brought in Noah Fisher. Two more runs will score on a Noah Fisher ball four sprint delivered by Dakota McFadden. In the bottom of the fifth, despite a single by Dakota McFadden, it was not enough an the Party Animals win their fourth inning.

Bottom of the seventh, Ron Franklin Jr. sends one to left to get on base. Dalton Cornett will steal first on a Nate Teller wild pitch. Runners now on first and second. Teller would pick up two strikeouts and then Liam Spence would hit one to right center bringing in Franklin to win the inning. This sends Bo The Beaver into a celebration. Firefighters are now down by only two.

Bottom of the eighth, Joe Lytle would get on courtesy of a Brady Kais ball four sprint. A single by Stephen Cullen and an RBI double by hitting one deep left center to the warning track. This will win the inning. Firefighters are now down 4-3.

In the ninth, Sal Jacobo was the only one to get on for the Party Animals. In the bottom of the ninth, golden batter Dalton Cornett would get on first by an error, but it was not enough. Party Animals win 4(8) over the Firefighters 3(3). Party Animals with 6 trick plays (half of those in the first inning alone) and the Firefighters with two. Andy Cosgrove was declared the Showman of the Night batting 3 out of 4 with 3 RBIs.

The fun continues tonight (July 25, 2025) at 7PM with the second game in this series between the Firefighters and the Party Animals. Also tonight at 7PM, the Savannah Bananas will take on the Texas Tailgaters at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Both games will be streamed live on YouTube.

DON’T MISS IT!

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheOfficialFirefighters (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The Bananas, with 601 team trick plays on the season is starting tonight’s game with Kyle Luigs on the hump. Jesse Cole has the fans start the clock and we are on the way. Luigs would start the game striking out Reece Hampton. Bryson Bloomer rolls one into center field to get on base. Bloomer would eventually steal second. He leads the tour with 22 stolen bases. Andy Cosgrove would hit into a ground out trick play by “Glove Magician” Ryan Cox, advancing Bloomer to third. This is Coxy’s 136th trick play on the tour. A ball four sprint to Noah Fisher brings Bloomer home to record the first run. The Animals’ inning ends as Jason Swan fouls out to a fan.

In the bottom frame, the Animals start with Sean Fluke. Despite a Dan Oberst single, the Party Animal defense including trick plays by Sal Jacobo and Dustin Baber would prevent any runs and the Party Animals win the inning.

The second inning went scoreless despite a Ty Jackson triple in the bottom half.

Third inning, top of the lineup for the Party Animals. Reece Hampton nails one out to deep to right center for the second triple in this ballgame. Bryson Bloomer would fly to left field with a Robert Anthony Cruz back flip trick play. Reece tags up to score. With two out, Jesse Cole introduces two time All Star Lance Lynn who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, including in their 2011 Championship season. With a 2-1 count, Jason Swan would pop up to Ryan Cox who gets the third out with a tap off the glove trick play.

Bottom of the third, Danny Hosley gets a ball four sprint off of Party Animal reliever Dalton Ponce, then Jackson Olson hits to right to get on board. Malachi Mitchell will come in to run for Olson. DR Meadows would get on, thanks in part to a Bryson Bloomer error. Bases are now loaded. Dan Oberst grounds to Sal Jacobo who runs to the force at second and then misfires the throw to first sending the ball into the Bananas’ dugout. Hosley and Mitchell score and the Bananas win the third inning. We are now level at 1.

Top of the fourth, Kyle Perry comes in to relieve. Tanner Thomas would ground to Jackson Olson who makes a between the legs trick play to first for the out. Justin Baber would single to right. Bronson Balholm gets on with a ball four sprint putting runners on the corners. DH Mike Vivacis, fielder’s choice to bring in Baber. Sal Jacobo base hits to center, runners on first and second. Reece Hampton, ball four sprint with the last pitch being wild. Two more runs will score. A ball four sprint to Bryson Bloomer would bring in Hampton. The Party Animals would end up with 4 runs. In the bottom of the fourth, the Bananas was not able to get any traction, ending the inning on a foul out to a fan. Animals win the inning and they are up again, 2~1.

It was really nice to see Joe Buck, the son of legendary Cardinals play-by-play announcer Jack Buck. Jack Buck was to St. Louis what Vin Scully was to Los Angeles. I spent a good chunk of my childhood listening to Dodgers games on the radio and the play-by-play announcers, such as Jack Buck and Vin Scully had a unique way of bringing magic to the ears through their describing of the game at those times when either the game was not on TV or when you just decide not to watch, but just listen. This is power that radio can provide and no video streaming service could ever replace that experience. I hope the medium lives on after this Michi becomes worm food.

Top of the 5th, Dustin Baber on first, Tanner Thomas on second and two out. Reliever Corelle Prime, trying to pick off Thomas is thrown wide left of Ryan Cox, center fielder DR Meadows picks it up and throws directly home and Eric Jones Jr. tagged Thomas, avoiding the run and making the third out.

Bottom of the sixth starts with Dakota “Stilts” Albritton leading off. On the second pitch, he would put one up the middle, Justin Baber to Sal Jacobo with the delayed trick play to Jason Swan for the easy out.

Bottom of the seventh. Reese Alexiades singles to center, Malachi Mitchell comes in as the designated runner. Ryan Cox grounds to Sal Jacobo who makes a tag on Mitchell. Cox is safe at first but Mitchell was called out. This prompted a fan challenge on the Mitchell tag. The call was upheld and Mitchell was definitely out.

When I review these videos for these reports, I can review them frame by frame and I know that BTV does not have the luxury of the MLB suite of replay camera angles. But in this case, I am having a hard time seeing the tag on the several angles I looked at. I think Mitchell was just too fast. Just sayin’.

At the end of 7, the Party Animals are still up in points, 2~1 with 13 and a half minutes left on the clock.

In the top of the 8th with two outs including a foul out to a fan, Bananas pitcher Andy Archer was relieved by Cardinals saves leader Jason Isringhausen who played for the Cards from 2002~2008, including the 2006 World Series team. On the first pitch, Bronson Balholm would hit a line drive to Jackson Olson to end the frame.

Bottom of the 8th. Eric Jones Jr. goes down on a Bryson Bloomer trick play. Danny Hosley would hit one to deep left field and will stop at second. Jackson Olson hits into another Dustin Baber trick play, his 84th on the tour. Hosley moves to third. Two outs and DR Meadows would send one to right field bringing in Hosley to win the inning. We are going into the final inning tied at 2 points a piece.

Top of the 9th after “Yellow” (no scandals tonight). Austin Krzeminski comes in to close for the Nanners. Mike Vivacis would get caught looking and then Jacobo and Hampton go down in order.

Bottom of the 9th. Drew Gillespie comes up to pitch for the Animals. On the first pitch, Dan Oberst hits to left center and bounce into the bullpen for a ground rule double. Oberst would advance to third on a Kyle Jackson ground out to Sal Jacobo. The Bananas would then send Kyle Jackson back up again to the plate as their golden batter. Before a pitch could be thrown, Gillespie makes a pick-off attempt on Oberst that was misdirected. Oberst steals home to win the inning and the game for the Bananas.

Party Animals 2(6) ~ Savannah Bananas 3(4). Another game where the winning team has fewer runs. It still says a lot for the Party Animals. A team that I feel is just as good, if not better than the 2025 Bananas. Both teams had 10 trick plays on the night.

Next up: The Party Animals goes to Norfolk, Virginia to Harbor Park Stadium for a three game Firefighters headliner July 24~25~26. The Bananas will go to the home of the Phillies, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia where they will take on the Texas Tailgaters for a two game set July 26~27.

This will be the last time in the regulation season that the Bananas and Party Animals will meet up. This game was a reschedule from a weather cancellation in April. You may see them together again in the Championship Series in October.

So there you go. We will have a four-day long weekend, loaded with Banana Ball and fans first fun. We will also have roller derby, Warehouse Games and other fun stuff to watch. Please remember to follow the Michi-chan Sports page on Facebook.

This Michi is loving every moment of this and I hope you take some time to indulge in this magical thing we fangirl over here called Banana Ball.

We’ll be back this weekend. Remember: 1, 2, 3, FANS FIRST!

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheSavannahBananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

The Bananas start with Noah Niznik on the mound. The inning starts with a trick play out to Reese Alexiades. Then Robert Anthony Cruz (RAC) would do his own trick play in left off of Armando Bacerra. With two outs, Andy Cosgrove would hit one out to left for a double and Noah Fisher would get a single out to right bringing in Cosgrove. Bryson Bloomer would then hit one out to right field for a two run homer bringing the Animals to 3 runs for the inning. In the bottom of the first, the Animals would start with Garrett Delano. On the first pitch, DR Meadows would hit a foul ball to left which was cleanly caught by a fan. A strikeout to Reese Alexiades and a ground out to Ryan Cox would end the inning for the Nanners and the Party Animals pick up the first point of the game.

Bottom of the second, RAC would reach first on a ball four sprint and advances to second on a wild pitch to Kyle (KJ) Jackson. On the second pitch, he would hit out to shallow right center bringing RAC around for the inning winning run. Game now tied at 1 point each.

Top of the fourth inning starts with Noah Fisher leading off with a double, followed by a pair of trick plays by DR Meadows and Jackson Olson. With two outs, Jason Swan would pick up a ball four sprint scoring Fisher; then Bronsom Balholm picks up a sprint to score Swan. Dustin Baber would hit a double out to right to bring in Balholm. The half ends on a trick play by DR Meadows, his second on the night. The Party Animals has set the bar at 3.

After some “Hey Baby” and a very happy daughter, we move to the bottom of the fourth. After Jackson Olson flies out to center, DR Meadows would hit to shallow left which one umpire called foul and the other fair. They would give Meadows second base, but that was challenged by the Party Animals. My view of the replay from the high home camera angle shows the ball right on the line, which would be a fair ball. The two BTV camera angles were not able to show anything to overturn the call. Dan Oberst would then foul out to a fan in the third deck. Reece Alexiades would reach first on a trick play missed by Jason Swan bringing Meadows home. Dalton Mauldin, pinch hitting for Ryan Cox pops a fly to right to end the inning. With three runs, the Party Animals wins the inning and they are up 2~1.

Bottom of the fifth, Robert Anthony Cruz would pop up into a Jason Swan trick play. Kyle Jackson would knock one out to right to get on first. Corelle Prime would then knock one to deep left to win the inning for the Bananas. We are level again at 2~2. Stilts was brought in to pitch in the sixth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, Eric Jones Jr. and Jackson Olson will get on through a pair of trick plays missed to Reece Hampton. A DR Meadows RBI to center would bring in pinch runner Malachi Mitchell to win the inning. Bananas now up 3~2.

The seventh inning got very interesting. The Bananas would bring in reliever Ryan Kellogg to take over for Jared Donalson. Dustin Baber flies out to left, Sal Jacobo gets on with a single to right. Reece Hampton would strike out to Kellogg and Becerra would single to right. With two on and two out, Jesse Cole announces the guest pitcher, two-time Gold Glove winner Adam Wainright, who played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2005~2023. Wainwright would face Armando Bacerra who rolls one to right and gets on base. We now have two on for the Animals. Wainwright then faces Andy Cosgrove that flies out to DR Meadows glove tip trick play, 102 for the DR this year.

Bottom of the seventh went 1-2-3 for the Bananas, but what happened afterwards is what everyone is still talking about. The Bananas are always known for jumping on trends and memes, and then capitalizing on them with Bananaland grace. With the recent story about the CEO who was caught with their mistress at a Coldplay concert, we saw the Man Nanas on the kiss cam and then it cuts to.. wait! WHAT!!! PHARTY AND PRINCESS POTASSIA!!! Say it isn’t so! Once our lovely princess noticed the jumbotron, she did not want to have anything to do with it!

Despite all of this, we still have a Banana Ball game to finish. Top of the eighth, Noah Fisher flies out to left, Bloomer Bottom of the 8th, after RAC pops out to Reese Hampton, Bryson Bloomer hits into a Kyle Jackson/Eric Jones double trick play. A double to right would put Tanner Thomas on base, but the inning would end with Jason Swan flying out to right fielder Reese Alexiades.

Bottom of the eighth would start with a RAC fly out to center with a spectacular catch made by Reece Hampton. Kyle Jackson would come on a ball four sprint. Corelle Prime takes one out to right center to get on base. Runners on first and second. Eric Jones Jr. sends one to right to load up the bases. With the inning winning run 90 feet away, Bill LeRoy grounds to Bryson Bloomer who takes the force at home. Two out and bases still loaded. Jackson Olson would then get hit by a pitch to give the inning to the Nanners. Bananas now up 4~2 points.

Top of the ninth, the Bananas have Danny Hosley on the mound and strikes out DH Bronson Balholm. Dustin Baber would ground one to the glove magician Ryan Cox, who pulls “the professor” to get Baber out at first. This is Coxy’s 135th trick play on the season. With two out, Noah Fisher comes in as the golden batter and grounds to Jackson Olson, between the legs trick play to Eric Jones to end the half and the game. Bananas win.

Bananas are now 27-23 on the season and the Party Animals are 32-19. The Bananas had a total of 16 trick plays and the Animals had 3. DR Meadows was declared the Showman of the Night with, among other things, 4 trick play.

The Bananas and the Party Animals take to Busch Stadium again tonight (July 19, 2025) starting at 7PM CDT (8PM EDT) for another great night of Banana Ball action. Let’s see if they can outdo the off-field “action” that took place at this game. And to Princess Potassia, you are still my favorite princess and I still believe in you.

I spent way too many hours writing this one today. It’s almost game time again! I guess I could only end this with modifying one of my old roller derby slogans and say…

Good day Bananaland!

All screenshots: Fans First Entertainment. YT @TheSavannahBananas (fair use).

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Game Replay

Rain and nearby thunderstorms would also impact Sunday night’s game between the Savannah Bananas and the development team, The Visitors. This was originally the game that was scheduled for last Thursday. This is also the first Banana Ball game played in Historic Grayson Stadium on a Sunday night. Finally, just after 8PM on a Savannah Sunday night, the Young Professor led the 5,000 people in Grayson to say the words that everyone on both the YouTube and K Club chats had been waiting to hear for the past couple of days…

START THE CLOCK!

The Bananas start with Kyle Luigs. Peyton Chatagnier and Jordan Brewer would get single base hits out to left. Dalton Reeves would then bounce one towards second baseman Jackson Olson who (without touching it) kicked the ball to shortstop Ryan Cox, then to Corelle Prime for the 4-6-3 double play. Luigs would strike out Ashby Vining to end the top. The bottom of the first would start for the Nanners with D.R. Meadows hitting back to pitcher Brett Sanchez tossed it between the legs to J.D. Urso to get the trick play out. We are scoreless after 1.

Bottom of the second, Ryan Cox leads off with an infield single that could not be handled by Lukas Cook. Malachi Mitchell in to pinch run. Robert Anthony Cruz would get hit on the first pitch to him from Sanchez. Runners on first and second. Eric Jones Jr. would hit a base hit out to left, loading the bases for Danny Hosley. Hosley would sac fly out to center bringing in Mitchell for the inning winning run. Bananas up 1-0.

Top of the third, Tyner Hughes starts with an infield single. Ryan Kellogg would come into relieve Luigs. Patrick Baggett would hit into a Ryan Cox fielder’s choice trick play getting Hughes at second but not in time for Baggett at first. This is the glove magician’s 130th trick play in the tour. Top of the order and Peyton Chatagnier would bang one out to left center bringing in two runs. This is Chatagnier’s second HR this season. Jordan Brewer would then get on with a ball four sprint and then the DH Ashby Vining would hit the second homer of the inning out to center bringing in another two. Bottom of the third and Connor Harris now in to pitch, delivers a strikeout to Jackson Olson. D.R. Meadows would reach third on an Ashby Vining missed glove tip trick play. K.J. Jackson would pop to center bringing Meadows home. I would not be enough and the Visitors win the inning. The rain was very visible during this inning.

In the top of the fifth, a single by Jordan Brewer, Dalton Reeves being plunked and Ashby Vining getting on from a Ryan Cox trick play missed would load the bases for the Visitors. A ball four sprint to Brian Dansereau would bring them all three of them in. A glove flip trick play by Dalton Mauldin will end the frame. In the bottom, a lead off double out to right by Robert Anthony Cruz would be followed up by an RBI single by Danny Hosley bringing RAC home. It would not be enough and the Visitors win another inning.

In the sixth inning, the Bananas would pick up another point after back to back ball four sprints by Bradley Wilson to K.J. Jackson and Dan Oberst. This ties up the points again at 2 each and it will stay that way until the end of the 9th inning. In other words, showdowns! In the second showdown with just the pictcher and the catcher, the Bananas K. J. Jackson hits out to right center sealing the victory for the boys in yellow. On his way around the bases, Jackson started to strip off his Bananas jersey showing a Visitors undershirt as a tribute to his beginnings in Banana Ball playing on the developmental team.

Final score: The Visitors 2(7) ~ Savannah Bananas 4(4) (SD2). The Visitors had 3 trick plays and the Bananas, 15. Kyle Jackson was declared showman of the night.

This is the final game this season for the Visitors. They will continue to be back in development, but facing the Bananas was the ultimate test of their development. As we saw tonight with jacks from Peyton Chatagnier and Ashby Vining, there are many hopefuls coming up and especially with six teams and the Banana Ball Championship League coming in 2026, the names you read about tonight could be the ones that will make the headlines next year.

The Bananas are going to Busch Stadium in St. Louis to take on the Party Animals on July 18 and 19. These are make-up games from earlier this year. This will also be your last chance to see the Bananas take on the Party Animals until the Championship Series in October.

Additional credit: official scoresheets from Josh Talevski (X: @JoshTalevski)

Official Replay Video

As last night’s show between the Savannah Bananas and The Visitors was cancelled due to lightning and heavy rain, fans from Bananaland had only one game to focus on. The Firefighters headliner against the Texas Tailgaters at Carlilon Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Stadium in Salem, Virginia, just outside of Roanoke.

The first inning starts off like it should, a Zach Watson fly to left center into a Noah Bridges glove tip to South Trimble trick play. This is the Firefighters’ 75th trick play in their short season. Taj Porter would then get hit by a pitch and then used his “hobby horse” to get to first base. But it was not enough to score and the Tailgaters strand two. Bottom of the first, South Trimble gets the first hit off of Kollin Stone, but then Dalton Cornett hits into a classic 6-4-3 double play. Stone then punches out Logan Lacey ending the inning, scoreless.

Second inning for the Tailgaters starts with Brett Carson and on the second pitch off of Austin Temple, he fouls out to a fan. Temple would then strike out Jason Arendt. Taylor Justus would ground into a Caden Green trick play to end the frame. That is Green’s 12th trick play on the season. Bottom half of the second starts with a ball four sprint to Joy Lytle off San Fernando Valley boy Cole Kitchen. Dakota McFadden grounds to Taj Porter, who opted to not go for the double play advancing Lytle to second. Mason Maxwell got a base hit out to center and runners are on the corners with 2 out. Caden Green pops out to Zach Watson and we are still scoreless after 2.

The game went scoreless in the third inning but there was a nice foul out to a fan by Zach Watson while the fan was holding a baby. In the fourth, the Firefighters would put the first point on the board on a ball four sprint to Stephen Cullen off of Cole Kitchen scoring Joe Lytle. Firefighters now up 1-0.

We move to the top of the seventh. Firefighters bring in reliever Ga’von Wray. Indy Stanley leads off with a double. Travis Moniot would then get plunked to put runners on first and second. A ball four sprint to Mac Danford brings in Indy Stanley and the Tailgaters are on the board. With no one out, Bret Carson will then fly out to Noah Bridges bringing in Moniot. Tailgaters with 2. A Taylor Justis foul out to a fan (the third one of the game) will end the frame. Bottom of the seventh with Stephen Cullen on second and Mason Maxwell on third, Ron Franklin bangs one into center off Joe Sperone denying the Firefighters a tying point.

Top of the eighth, Marshall Shill on the bump for the Firefighters. Tailgaters Jonathan Luders gets on through a hit by pitch. Jorden Hussen will then single to center putting two on. Zach Watson would then fly out to Maxson Maxwell in right, advancing the runners. The Nick Lopez, another Southern California native, hits one to the right field scoreboard for a three run homer. Travis Moniot would then hit one out to right center for a single. Mac Danford would send one out to right center bringing in Moniot. The Firefighters were not able to score any runs so we are tied going into the final inning, where every run counts.

We move to the bottom of the ninth. Firefighters bring up Logan Lacey as their golden batter who draws a ball four sprint off of John Reid. Caden Green is brought in to pinch run. Noah Bridges then steps to the plate. Bridges bombs one to deep center. A two run home run to win the game for the Firefighters.

Final score from Salem: Texas Tailgaters 1 point (6 runs) with 3 trick plays ~ The Firefighters: 2 points (5 runs) with 11 trick plays. Noah Bridges is the Showman of The Night.

The Firefighters and Tailgaters will both have a bye week. The Firefighters will headline three shows against the Party Animals on July 24~26 in Norfolk, Virginia at Harbor Park Stadium. The Tailgaters is going to the Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia for a Bananas headliner.

With three fouls out to fans.. this game was truly FANS FIRST!

Official game replay video