Backflips, break dancing, TikToks — and a ‘Showdown’: Savannah Bananas wow Durham crowd

When Savannah Bananas President Jared Orton described the Bananas’ extra inning “showdown rule” as chaotic and exciting, he wasn’t kidding.

The last time the Banana Ball World Tour played a Showdown was more than a month ago, but that streak ended Friday, to the delight of thousands packed into Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

Free baseball. Free Banana Ball.

“I’ve missed those, they’re ultra-competitive,” Bananas player Danny Hosley said. “They’re a blast when we get to do them, and they kind of remind me of that competitive fire you get from playing regular baseball, which is awesome.”

The Banana Ball concept is designed to eliminate tie games, Orton said, though it doesn’t always happen. The final inning rule of “every run counts” is supposed to create this grand finale that ends the game on a storybook note, regardless of whether the Bananas or Party Animals — the Bananas’ traveling opponent — win.

So, what is the showdown?

The Showdown Tiebreaker is broken into three rounds, while one team hits, the other has a limited number of players on the field.

If a player scores, they get one point, but if a player hits a home run over the outfield wall, it’s a walk-off win.

▪ Round 1: Pitcher, catcher, and one fielder vs one hitter

▪ Round 2: Pitcher and catcher vs one hitter

▪ Round 3: Pitcher, catcher, and one fielder vs one hitter with bases loaded

“It really is super rare, because we make the last inning count,” Orton said. “And we just wanted that last thing to be like, anybody could win in a do or die moment.”

Friday, fans remained attached to their seats. Most hadn’t left since they first arrived nearly three hours earlier. Nobody wanted to miss the nonstop action.

The Bananas survived the first part of the Showdown at the plate, the score holding at 3-3. Then, Charlotte-native Eric Jones Jr. called game — one fly ball into center field to score the game-winning run in his hometown state, with his family and friends in town.

“It was the best,” Bananas right-handed pitcher Christian Dearman said. “The whole crowd got so amped up that we even blew the speakers out. So having it so loud was awesome.”

Orton said Friday’s game was a pretty “moderate” level game of Banana Ball, but there were still a few wacky moments. He was surprised to see the number of shirtless players throughout the game, but loved the fans’ interactions during the whole spectacle.

And while plenty happened during the two-hour game, the expected antics began before a pitch was thrown. Pregame traditions, including the “First Peel” and the Banana Baby were all honored. There were backflips, break dancing — and plenty of TikToks.

Two fans even caught foul balls — one on the Party Animals side, and the other on the Bananas side. In Banana Ball, those count as outs.

“It happens to us a lot as Party Animals,” Party Animal’s infielder/right-handed pitcher Chase Achuff said. “But tonight we actually had a fan catch one for us, and we don’t really see that often.”

Fans received flowers, took photos, photobombed videos and danced like nobody was watching. The players interacted with fans the entire game, high-fiving them, throwing extra balls over the netting and dancing around. It felt like a giant party. And coming together to sing Coldplay’s “Yellow” during the sunset made it feel like family.

“Win or lose, it kind of makes the whole thing better,” Achuff said. “Everyone’s telling you, ‘great show.’ They don’t care about a missed play or a strikeout, they just care about how much fun they’ve had at the game.”