This (Non) Sporting Life: Baseball But With Bananas

This past Saturday, Andrea and I made our inaugural 2026 visit to the Burmil Park Communal Bath Tub Swimming Pool for the summer season.

It was, I suppose, a nice day for it.  The weather was hot but not too hot.  Some of the kids and worse still some of the adults were a bit too boisterous for me.   

It interfered with favorite pool activity: standing there. 

I can't swim so mostly, I just... stand there.

Occassionally, if I'm feeling frisky, I will bob.

After several hours of too much sun and... standing (& bobbing!), I was ready to crash on the sofa of the Fortress of Ineptitude for some televised entertainment.

I chose... sports! 

Really? Me? 

Welcome to This (Non) Sporting Life, a blog post about sports written by a guy who does not know or care much about sports.

And I chose to watch a sporting event? 

Yes.  Yes, I did.

And the sporting event in question was Banana Ball.

Which is baseball.  But with bananas. Sort of.

Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) has six teams: the Savannah Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters, the Texas Tailgaters, the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns.

Saturday Andrea and I watched a match between the Bananas and the Clowns.  

Whenever a player for the Clowns came up to bat, I could say "Hey! Who's this clown?" and it was not an insult.

The flagship team for the BBCL is the Savannah Bananas. They started off as a garden variety minor league farm team but moved into exhibition games a few years ago.

The Bananas have yellow uniforms and the team owner shows up at games in a bright yellow suit.  

They have player who wears stilts.  

There's a lot of nonsense.  

The Bananas and all the teams in the BBCL are committed to their bits.

The Clowns have a mascot, Peanut the Elephant, who is also a pitcher.

The Firefighters dress in fire fighting themed gear. 

The Party Animals are known as  "gayest team in baseball" for their theatrical routines heavily influenced by queer and drag culture.

All the teams have choreagraphed dance routines, comedy bits and specialized musical bits when batters approach the batter's box. 

Back flips and trick plays are part of the game play.

Here's a nice feature about banana ball: it can't last indefinitely.

A game last 2 hours plus whatever it might take to finish the last inning.   

There are other rules that are unique to Banana Ball and those are provided in the bonus below.

I'm not going to make watching Banana Ball games part of my regular TV watching habits but it was a fun diversion that helped me decompress after the trauma of the Burmil Park Communal Bath Tub Swimming Pool.

And I think I would like to see a Banana Ball game live if they come anywhere near the Fortress.

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BONUS FEATURE!

How the Hell Do You Play Banana Ball?!?!?

Listed below are the 13 rules that make banana ball more than just another baseball game! 

1. Games are won by points, instead of runs: the team that scores the most runs in an inning gets one point, except in the final inning when every run counts as one point. The final inning may be earlier than the ninth inning, due to the time limit noted below. When the home team has scored enough runs to "win" any inning other than the final inning, the inning immediately ends.
2. There is a two-hour time limit; no new inning may start after 120 minutes have elapsed. Once an inning starts, it is played to completion.
3. Batters cannot step out of the batter's box. Doing so results in an automatic strike.
4. Batters cannot bunt. Doing so results in an automatic ejection.
5. Batters can attempt to steal first base at any point during their at bat, including on passed balls or wild pitches.
6. Walks are replaced by "ball-four sprints". After ball four, the batter and all baserunners are allowed to advance as far around the bases as they can while the ball is sequentially thrown to all of the fielders other than the pitcher, starting with the catcher. The ball remains dead, with the all runners not liable to be put out, until the four infielders and three outfielders have each touched the ball. This often results in the batter-runner advancing to second base on the sprint, and baserunners advancing multiple bases, often scoring.
7. No mound visits are allowed. Once a pitcher is out there, they're on their own. No pep talks from Daddy.  
8. Foul balls caught by fans on the fly are counted as outs.
9. Ties are broken by a "showdown tiebreaker", an abbreviated extra innings format. Each team's half-inning during the showdown ends with any out, or run scored by the batter—if the batter puts the ball in play, he must attempt to score. A batter who draws a walk advances to second base, with the hitting team allowed to send a new batter to the plate. The same happens if the batter is hit by a pitch. At any point during the showdown, a home run hit over the outfield wall immediately ends the game in favor of the batting team. If the game is still tied after a showdown round, another showdown round is played, until there is a winner. Scenarios differ by showdown round: In showdown round 1, each team selects a pitcher and hitter to face off, with the defense fielding only their pitcher, catcher, and a single fielder. In showdown round 2, the fielder is eliminated. In showdown round 3 (and later), the fielder returns, but each half-inning starts with the bases loaded, and each run scored counts as a point. This also affects the ball-four sprints or walks given up: as walks or sprints are added during this time, runners are added in for either the home or away teams, with 3 consecutive walks/sprints determining the walk-off victory by the home or away team.
10. Each team is allowed to challenge certain calls by the umpires: whether a ball was fair or foul, whether or not a runner was tagged out (at home plate or on the basepaths), and whether a ball was caught or not. A team retains its right to challenge until they lose a challenge, after which they may not challenge any calls for the remainder of the game. The fans can also challenge one play per game, as determined by a fan who is chosen to initiate the challenge. Challenged plays are reviewed by the broadcast team, who relay their ruling to the umpire.
11. "The Golden Batter Rule" – One time in a game, a team may send any hitter in the lineup to bat in any spot. The goal of this rule is so a team can have their best hitter hit when the game is on the line.
12. "The Equalizer Point" – If the visiting team has more trick plays than the home team after eight innings, they get an extra point before the ninth inning.
13. "The Designated Fielder Rule" – Similar to the Golden Batter rule, but on the defensive side: any team can, once in a game, send one extra or bench player to field in replacement of an active player.