Power outage spoils fun in West Sacramento as famous Savannah Bananas end California tour

Power issues spoiled the fun as the famous Savannah Bananas ended their West Coast barnstorming tour Saturday night at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.

A sellout crowd enjoyed the wildly entertaining brand of baseball the Bananas have popularized on the internet with viral videos of twerking umpires, choreographed walk-up songs and elaborate on-field celebrations.

Former San Francisco Giants All-Star Hunter Pence arrived on a motorized scooter to make a surprise appearance for the Bananas in a 2-1 victory over the rival Party Animals. A Bananas pitcher, wearing a yellow cowboy hat, threw a runner out at first base while doing a handstand before the game ended early because of a power outage.

The Bananas are an exhibition baseball team founded in 2016. They play their home games at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia. They concluded their road trip in West Sacramento after making California stops in Rancho Cucamonga, San Jose and Fresno.

The Bananas have some unusual rules. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out. If the batter bunts, he gets ejected from the game.

The Bananas have a pitcher who throws on stilts. During Thursday’s game in Fresno, a Party Animals batter made a shirtless entrance from the stands to the sounds of Tupac’s “California Love.”

The Bananas competed as a collegiate summer baseball team in the Coastal Plains League for years, winning three Petitt Cup championships in 2016, 2021 and 2022. However, following the 2022 summer league season, they announced they were folding their collegiate amateur team and adopting their alternate style of “Banana Ball,” providing a similar fan experience to the Harlem Globetrotters.

The Bananas have 173,000 followers on Twitter, 1.8 million followers on Instagram and 7.3 million followers on TikTok — 6.2 million more than the New York Yankees.

Here are the Banana Ball rules, as explained at thesavannahbananas.com:

Rule 1: Win the inning, get the point

Every inning is worth one point. The team that gets the most runs in an inning, gets a point for that inning, except for the last inning, where every run counts.

Rule 2: Two hour time limit

You get the idea. No new inning can be started after 1 hour and 50 minutes. In the last inning of the game, every run counts.

Rule 3: No stepping out

If the hitter steps out of the box, it’s a strike.

Rule 4: No. Bunting.

Bunting sucks. If a hitter bunts, they are ejected from the game.

Rule 5: Batters can steal first

On any pitch of an at-bat, the hitter can try to steal first base. This can happen on a pass ball, wild pitch or any time the hitter chooses.

Rule 6: No walks allowed

If a pitcher throws ball four, it becomes a sprint. The hitter will take off running while every defensive player on the field must touch the ball before it becomes live. The hitter can advance as many bases as they want. The ball does not have to touch the catcher or pitcher.

Rule 7: No mound visits allowed

Let’s keep the game moving. No mound visits from the coach, catcher or any other player at any time. Hype your pitcher up from afar if needed.

Rule 8: If a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out

Why not let the fans get in on the action? Whatever you do, just don’t catch a Bananas foul ball.

Rule 9: Showdown tiebreaker

If the game is tied at the end of the two hour time limit, the game will go into a Showdown Tiebreaker. In each Showdown, the hitter must score. If they score, it’s worth one point. If they get out, it’s worth no points and it’s called a Showdown Shutdown.

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.

In this Final Showdown, every run counts as a point. If no team has won after three Showdowns, they will continue with bases loaded and one fielder until one team has won.

If at any point a home run is hit over the outfield wall, it’s a walkoff win and the game is over.