This Savannah Bananas Rule will Never be the same... just in time for the Tour Championship!

Savannah Bananas Announcer Biko Skalla gave us some insight on a recent rule change that will have an impact on the Playoffs and Tour Championship for Banana Ball!

May 24, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Dancing umpire Vincent Chapman encourages the crowd before the Savannah Bananas took on the Party Animals for a game of Banana Ball at Huntington Park on Friday evening. / Barbara J Perenic / USA TODAY NETWORK

There are a few rules that make Banana Ball distinct from Baseball. The best part is, these rules evolved over time and still do to this day. We interviewed Savannah Bananas announcer, Biko Skalla to give us an inside look on a recent rule change that will have an important impact for the Playoffs and Tour Championship.

This rule is the Challenge rule allowing each team to challenge a play during the game and even allowing a fan to challenge the play which is a fun twist. But, what was the shift? Well, they actually changed who is in charge of making the final decision to let the call stand or overrule it.

Question #1: Can you take us into the old  Challenge process where the broadcasters make the final call?

Biko: "There was 60 seconds to overturn or uphold the call on the field. Broadcasters needed a unanimous decision to overturn a call and it had to be clear and obvious evidence that the umpire’s decision was incorrect live. Our broadcast producer would send the call down to the game’s director of entertainment who would relay the call to the umpires."

Biko will be joining us on our podcast for one of our post-game livestreams during the playoff race on October 3rd:

Question #2: Same Question, but with the new process

Biko: "Same rules apply but now two umpires watch the play back on a monitor on the field and make the call themselves."

Question #3: Why now? Is this in preparation for the league next year?

Biko: "Yep you nailed it, we just can’t have broadcasters making these calls when it is a league and we need to test this process before we get there. I also did not want to make any calls in the Tour Championship, just for the Pandora’s box that that could open, so I was pushing for this to happen before we get to October."

Question #4: Do you have a favorite moment with you & Josh calling a challenge? Or anything funny that happened?

Biko: "Oh boy, probably overturning a few fan-caught foul balls that were originally not ruled catches. If we had the evidence to do it, that always warmed the heart because I know how cool of a moment that is for the fans. And outside of that, just any obvious calls we got to make. Those always felt great haha."

Question #5: Are you relieved to not have the pressure of making these calls anymore? Or will you miss it?

Biko: "I am more relieved than anything but I will also miss it. It’s just such a cool and unique opportunity we had to try and make sure calls on the field were right. But it is very relieving to not have anymore to do as well haha."

I love how Banana Ball is open to continual change to give what is best for fans! Take the playoffs for instance, this is the natural evolution of the sport to continue to give fans what they want. My co-host and I will be going live during the playoff race to discuss these games along with special guests like Biko Skalla! Our Podcast is the Banana Breakdown Podcast designed to bring you everything you need to know about Banana Ball!

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Thank you Biko for taking the time to break down this update to the Challenge rule! You can follow Biko for more of his content here!

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