American Association SUNDAY Insider: Bananas aren't meant for everyone

 This is a topic and an idea for an Insider that has been "in the can" for quite a while. I know that this will make me look like the old man yelling at the cloud. I'm 56, so be it, I really am an old man. I am not a fan of Banana Ball. 

This is going to be all over the place. So forgive me for a choppy Insider. In 1989 or so, ESPN got Major League Baseball. In doing so, they began a series called Sunday Night Baseball. I remember it was a huge deal if your team got to play the Sunday night game, a solo standing game (once the Rangers moved indoors and quit playing Sunday night home games) that had a national audience. One last big game for the weekend. The deal with ESPN expired after last year and was not renewed. Now, the kids do not get to see a big major league matchup on Sunday night. Instead, ESPN is showing a Banana Ball game. Could you imagine a Lakers vs. Celtics matchup in the 80's not being shown in favor of the Harlem Globetrotters? 

Granted, this is not the fault of Banana Ball. They didn't strong arm their way into a TV contract. They developed a gimmick that clicked with the short attention span crowd that couldn't get into a 3.5 hour baseball game. A combo of baseball and cheap theatrics have found a niche. It started off modestly with the Savannah Bananas playing in Savannah, an abandoned Minor League town, evolved into touring Minor League parks and has them now playing to capacity crowds in Major League baseball parks and football stadium. Good on them. 

But what this has started is a ground swell of people that will watch Banana Ball and say, "they should play regular baseball more like Banana Ball". I see it everywhere. Major League Baseball and Banana Ball are two very opposite games. I was at the Wheelhouse in Sioux City after an Explorers game last season having a late dinner. Banana Ball is on TV. A player hits a home run at Fenway Park and is doing backflips while running the bases. He should've been thrilled to living so many kids dreams, but instead treats it like a comedy bit. The gap has become bigger as MLB has become so much of an analytics driven game. MLB has lost me because of that and other personal reasons. I've not attended an MLB game since 2019, but yet I have not attended a Banana Ball game, nor do I have any intention in doing so unless it was something my wife would want to see, then I'd play good husband. 

Those who know me may ask, hey Kevin, you supported the St. Paul Saints since Day 1 in 1993 when they were the hottest act in baseball. So many teams wanted to be like them. So many leagues came and went hoping to capitalize on the Saints and Northern League concept. Well, other than the occasional Minnie Minoso at bat, the Saints kept all their gimmicks to the stands, between innings and before and after games. Say what you will, but Mike Veeck would not green light any gimmick that would take away from the integrity of the game. 

Banana Ball has also adversely affected the American Association. Players have decided to retire from playing in the Association to play Banana Ball. Much like going to the Mexican League, I can't blame players for playing it. The pay is infinitely better, and when youre supporting a family, that's the bottom line. But let's not pretend that it's competitive baseball. I see with the extra teams that they keep standings, but out of every 50,000 fans that pack a stadium for Banana Ball, how many fans care about what the standings are. I don't follow it, are there players that get released if they don't play well? Not that I know of. As long as they are entertaining, they stick. At least the players that opt for Mexican League can still get noticed by scouts and they can come back and play in the American Association. If you opt for Banana Ball, you're saying you've lost all hope of making it into a Major League organization. You're retiring from baseball and joining baseball entertainment. I can't fault them in a financial way though as they will make much more money playing Banana Ball, but what happens after they're too old. They never have closure with their baseball career. I haven't seen any Banana Ball players get signed by Major League organizations. 

I was in Franklin for the Milkmen game last night. Banana Ball was being played 20 minutes away. It was a decent crowd, a good promo with VIP Morgan Wallen tickets being given away. But one has to wonder how much of a bite was taken out of the crowd with Banana Ball up the road.

And who knows what the shelf life of Banana Ball will be. Over exposure may just turn Banana Ball into just another game. How many times can you have dancing in the middle of a game before it becomes not so entertaining? I used to play in a softball tournament that included several weird gimmicks. Players ran bases in the opposite direction in certain innings. It was a bundle of laughs to see a runner start running to first then have to scramble across the diamond to try to get to third base. But after a while, everyone got used to it. Same rules, every year. Eventually it just became another tournament. Whereas 60 plus teams from all around used to play in it, it has died down to about 12. 

In the end maybe it's just jealousy on my part, me wearing my American Association cap a little too tight. I want to see this league produce top quality baseball. As the league has concentrated on making it's video product appealing to TV stations and advertisers, the league needs to put out quality baseball. If too many rookies are being relied on due to players leaving for Banana Ball, the product as a whole worsens. Throw on top of that, expansion at some point, where are the experienced players going to come from? When players leave to play Banana Ball, it leaves a big hole. I really wanted to see if the Canaries can run it back and make a run at the Miles Wolff Cup, Jordan Barth would've been a big part of that, but instead is in Banana Ball, along with a glut of players from the Association that were a huge part of Banana Ball's expansion last season.