truffles and bananas

Granted, that doesn't sound like an epicurean delight... or does it?

Given the price of those mushrooms, it certainly doesn't seem a likely dish for such an experimental assay.

I'm not particularly a fan of either foodstuff, so I know I would not venture to concoct either a dessert or an appetizer from those two items.

Sure, with all the chefs of the world combining unlikely comestibles in search of new taste sensations, I would not doubt that someone, somewhere, would have tried this one.

All I'm saying is this: 'tweren't I.

So, what am I talking about?

Well, this is part of it: a luncheon with the ex and Amy today!

They're down from Michigan, as I may have mentioned yesterday, and I was invited to crash their lunch engagement with Scott.

Very nice!

I haven't seen him in months!

Even nicer was that the day was warm and we dined on the sunny patio at Truffles in Bluffton.

That place was new to me, so that was a bonus... and it gives me a new entry for my tripadvisor reviews.

Very nice!

Best of all, we flummoxed the new waiter from Chicago by ordering the same dishes.

Well, not all four of us getting one item, but two of us getting one thing (the Curry Chicken Salad for me and for Jeff) and two of us getting another thing (the Pimiento Cheese Sandwich with French Onion Soup for Amy and for Scott).

How do I know that the waiter was perplexed?

He happened to mention, sotto voce, as he brought the two sandwiches, "oh, yes, this is the table where they all ordered the same things".

Very funny!

What a treat to share a leisurely luncheon with these three favorite people!

Thanks, Jeff and Amy, for treating me to this outing!

I'll enjoy the rest of my salad another day, and think of y'all as I do.

(smile!)

So, that takes care of the mushroom reference... and maybe the other as well?

After all, Scott is a big-time baseball fan, and he and I have been to some Savannah Bananas games together, so perhaps I was obscurely tying that in?

Good try, but not quite!

The local team is involved much more directly than that.

Today, Grayson Stadium hosted a sunset "coach reveal" announcement party and all the fan members were invited.

I had rsvp'ed last week, so I was there!

After all, I had to report back to Mister Willie on their latest shenanigans, n'est-ce pas?

Most certainly.

As it turned out, I reported back to Scott, too, as he missed it.

So, pay attention and don't rely on the photos alone to tell how it went down!

First, that's Bill LeRoy, my favorite catcher of all time, in the middle, with him fortuitously looking to the left as a child points.

Now turn your attention in that direction: that fellow is Eric Byrnes, the new coach for the new World Tour of Banana Ball.

The MLB left fielder is going to be perfect as the spokesman and promoter of that wacky form of baseball!

(Hold on, proof is forthcoming.)

The rightmost photograph has Bill celebrating by dancing with the Banana Nanas to KC & The Sunshine Band, as well as some other top tunes for moving to the beat...

so I was dancing, too, just not part of the line!

Now then, what was it I said about not relying on the photos for the story?

That's because this was not the order of events!

That middle picture was taken as I arrived, around 5:40.

The one on the right occurred about fifteen minutes later, as the deejay started a five-song prelude to the "reveal".

The 'first' photograph, with Eric after busting through the entry banner, and with Jesse up in the cherry picker after his opening spiel, was not taken until about 6:06 PM.

Still, it sure makes for a nice sequence, right?

I totally agree!

Oh, and I have a funny story about that, too.

I had been so excited to get to talk to Bill about the smiling bunny on his back...

you know, that photo that I have as the cover on my phone...

and which I joyfully showed to him there in front of Grayson Stadium...

and, although he recognized at once - at once! - that the photo had been taken at the final Championship game...

he knew naught of the smiley face on his butt.

Seriously.

Now, he probably thinks I'm a stalker, especially as I have the photo on my phone.

I'm not, of course... I just like the smiling bunny face.

I'm going to continue to regard it as an inside joke with Bill, too, just because.

Maybe he'll choose to regard it that way as well.

(smile!)

Now, one last funny story.

Here's the setup: that's Eric Byrnes sitting atop the pit of water in the dunking booth.

Yes, that's for real: post-sundown, with the temperature already dropped at least ten degrees from the high at lunch, the man was sitting on a lever, in his brand-new Bananas uniform, waiting to be dropped into the chilly water below his feet.

That was the vantage point from which he answered fans' questions about his expectations and goals with his new job.

The fan would then toss a baseball at the sweet spot to try to dunk him.

Seriously.

Kyle Luigs, star pitcher for the last several years with the Bananas, now their pitching coach, was the first up.

What was the question?

I don't recall.

I was too excited in anticipation of what came next.

So, query asked and answered, then Kyle wound up for the pitch...

took a step as he would on the mound in a game...

and released the fast ball!

Nothing happened.

We all heard the smack of the leather on the designated pad, but no dunk occurred.

Seriously.

Three others followed him, each asking their question, getting the thoughtful reply, and taking their shot at the target...

each with no rewarding splash.

Eric must have thought he was getting off easy.

One of the Banana Nanas must have thought so, too, as she walked up to the sweet spot and gave it a push with her hand.

That did it!

Down he went into the water, spluttering as he rose from its chilly depths!

Hahahaha! Hahaha!

That was the end of the Q & A session!

I went on home afterward, not wanting to hang out in the chilly air for the photo and autograph session to follow his change of clothes.

The only food at this event had been popcorn and that had only whetted my appetite for something more substantial.

My lunch salad had not been the only leftover I'd brought from Truffles: I also had half of Scott's sandwich.

Now, what to have with it?

Tomato soup would fit the bill nicely, but I had none.

Well, I would make my own!

A can of diced NSA tomatoes, smashed by the potato masher...

a cup of Lactaid milk...

some Italian seasoning and a hit of olive oil...

with a pinch of saffron on top -

magnifico!

And absolutely perfect with that cheesy sandwich and Smitty's leftover ham!

Hopefully I'll remember this recipe for another time!

(smile!)

for love of a useless thing that brought joy

When he first arrived, he had a purpose: to gather information about the flora and fauna of the planet they had been sent to explore.

That mission was useful, as were the tasks assigned to him and his shipmates, and he performed them faithfully and in accordance with expectations.

Then, he discovered the game of baseball.

The others declared it "a useless thing", not a subject that would further their goals or enrich their knowledge.

And, even knowing what the others said, he disagreed and followed his heart.

Baseball - specifically, the playing of the game - brought him great joy, like nothing else ever had.

He became known to the people of Earth as Josh Exley and he played for the Roswell Grays.

He was the best hitter on the team, dinging balls over the walls routinely for home runs.

He was beloved by his teammates and adored by their fans, white and black alike.

And why was he playing on the Negro Leagues?

When he had forsaken his mission and taken up ball playing, he became an outlaw to his fellow shipmates, a person to be tracked down and eliminated.

So, he had done his homework and knew no one would seek him out as long as he stayed out of the big leagues and off the media radar.

For a while, his plan worked, allowing him to bring joy to others and to have joy in his life.

Eventually, however, he was found by the assassin, a shape-shifter like himself, after a night game in which he had scored his 61st home run and won for his team.

The assassin did not care about such useless things and plunged the pick into the back of the baseball lover's neck, the one spot for ending their lives.

And the alien known as Josh Exley did die, but not in a pile of green goo that would be expected in such cases.

No, he died in the lifeform he had adopted during this period of joy: he died as a human.

Of course I wept; I cried as though he had been someone I loved dearly.

"The Unnatural" - get the reference? - is one of my favorite episodes of "The X-Files".

I don't know if the World Series game added to the experience for me this time or not, but I do know s6e19 has one of the most cherished moments between Mulder and Scully.

It's her birthday and, to celebrate it, and to celebrate the brief time on the field of the baseball player he'd just found out about, he has her meet him on a local diamond, with a boy to pitch for batting practice... and he teaches her how to play.

And although she had never given much thought to the game, she was hooked by that first contact as her bat hit the whirling leather sphere.

Magical, just as the alien had found it to be.

Baseball - the game spread round the world by our military and our best export, ever.

Now, there's the end of this game in the World Series to watch -

more baseball, until the summer comes again.

i thank You, God.

all done, with a day left over

I even managed to see two brand-new movies this time around with my A*List, so, hooray!

"Ron's Gone Wrong" was my Faustina Friday flick and was actually the opposite of the message I had expected. Namely, it did not preach that parents should buy the latest electronic gadgets for their kids. Refreshing, right?

Plus, it was all about the point of being a kid: to have fun, to try new things, to meet new people and learn about others.

Come to think of it, that's the point of being an adult, too.

However, none of that can happen if the curtain of ether is always acting as a wall.

Hey, take it from a chemist: air has mass, too, just as do bricks or stones or wood.

'Nuff said 'bout that.

(smile!)

No movies over the weekend, but that's nothing new for me during the pandemic.

I've found it best to let the non-regulars, i.e., teens, have the run of the joint, especially at the AMC 11, to keep from having them "just drop by" into the screening room I might be in and disrupt my movie.

Yeah, 'nuff said 'bout that, too.

Plus, I had the pumpkin party in the countryside!

(smile!)

Tina Tuesday found me and dos de mis tres amigas in the BigD for the "Dune" movie!

Neither of them had read the Frank Herbert novel, much less the series.

Neither had seen the movie version from 1984, either, but I had... and it was bad: choppy, bad sequencing, missing plot points.

When I'd seen that earlier one, I was very current with the novels; that's been almost four decades ago now, so I was curious how much would come back to me.

Well, let me say this: the 2021 remake is fabulous.

They let you know at the start that this is only part of the story - good move.

They made sure to have all of the key scenes spoken for and a believable sequence - good.

(That was confirmed by Paul, in California, who is much more current on the story.)

The highlight, for me, concerns the casting of the two lead male roles in House Atreides.

Oscar Isaac and Timothée Chalamet were absolutely believable as the father-son pair!

They are both excellent actors, but, even more so, they bear a striking resemblance in their faces, most especially in their eyes.

Perfect!

I'll look forward to seeing it again, even though it is more than two hours long.

(smile!)

Today, after a second two-hour visit with Mister Willie, I took myself to "Free Guy" for the ninth time... just in case it's gone next week.

With my arrival to the cinema mileage at 220 220, I knew I was exactly where I should be!

Thanks, odometer, for the confirmation!

I know I'm going to have serious withdrawals when "Free Guy" isn't an option anymore.

Remember: I used all three of my A*List options on it for its first week.

Totally worth it.

Totally.

I just wish I'd seen it a few more times in the ten weeks that it's been playing...

but maybe it'll stay for a while longer!

(smile!)

Mister Willie, on the other hand, is leaving tomorrow, for sure.

He and Gloria are moving to Westerville, Ohio.

That's where her son, Kevin, lives, and he's been here for much of the month helping them go through the house, deciding what to keep, what to give away, what to lose.

I have the address and Kevin's phone number, so me and Willie will stay in touch.

The good news is the town is a suburb of Columbus... which has professional baseball!

The Columbus Clippers are a Triple-A team, so I that's a couple of steps above what the Savannah Sand Gnats were - he's going to love it!

I took him the three pages of birthday wishes from the Savannah Bananas fans, some of whom have been going to Grayson Stadium for more than two decades.

Those remembrances from the fans really meant a lot to him, especially as we took the time to try to figure out just who those folks were.

He's good with faces, not so much with names.... and he's 81 now, as of Tuesday.

Guess you have to give him that memory slippage!

Okay, time for dinner!

I had stopped for groceries after the movie.

Now that I have milk again - 

as well as tuna and oyster crackers -

you know what that means, right?

Mama's Tuna Chowder!

It's hot and fresh, so... 

gotta go!

(smile!)

shades of baseball on my lawn

On Thursday, when I finally found myself cutting this side of the front yard, I wanted something... different.

Last time, I had left it as a big rectangle that mimicked the pattern of the afternoon shade.

Time for a change!

First, I mowed diagonal stripes that bisected the front portion of the rectangle, much as I'd done in the backyard a couple weeks ago.

But then what to do?

So, I had the mower hug the tree base for a circular swing... then made it into a spiral... and here's the result!

I rather like it.

So did a little girl walking her dog with her mom.

She approved of the scattered flamingoes, too.

 

I hadn't picked up on the similarity to the green areas of a baseball diamond until today.

The Hank Aaron Championship game of the Little League World Series happened to be on tv, so I stayed to watch. 

Partly was because I'd seen Kyle Petty's show with the Georgia baseball legend; partly was because I'd heard Willie talk about it, and it was lunch time for me.

As he'd said, it really was good baseball.

I had tried to call him, to see if he was tuned in for the 3 PM game, but didn't get him.

For this game, Michigan was pitted against Hawaii, playing in Pennsylvania.

In that first inning, a Michigan lad knocked a home run with a man on - how exciting!

Those were the only runs they made.

Hawaii didn't score until the third inning, and that one run was all they got.

But what great pitching and fielding on both sides!

So, Michigan won, and they'll play against Ohio tomorrow.

Jeffrey versus Jeffery... lol!

That just came to mind as the bfe was asking questions about the ex at our dinner.

Isn't life funny with its wacky coincidences?

(smile!)

dream made real, in iowa, with kevin

The two guys giving comments throughout the game had him in the booth with them for the 4th and 5th innings.

Kevin Costner, back in Iowa more than three decades after making the movie, "Field Of Dreams", now just a regular guy there to watch a Major League Baseball game with his wife...

amid the other 7998 fans there with them, and the millions, including me, watching the game on their televisions.

I was overwhelmed.

So many memories I have of walking on the movie diamond, sitting on the movie bleachers, standing in the outfield and breathing in the scent of warm cornsilk on a hot summer day...

that remains, and will ever be, a crystallized moment for me.

I'm sure he could say the same, having had those same experiences while making the film.

And, now, so can these few thousand sitting in the seats of this new diamond, built over the last two years to MLB standards, still surrounded by cornfields, still under an enormous wealth of sky.

That's right, this regulation stadium is the actual playing field for the pros, but the little leaguers and others were happy to still be able to walk the bases and play a game of catch over on the smaller diamond.

The edge of left field on the movie's site is about 150 meters from the rightmost edge of right field on the game site.

Between the two?

Corn, rows and rows of corn, with paths through all of that summer feed corn for folks to walk from the parking lots at the movie site to their seats in the new stadium.

Those that won the lottery to purchase seats might even have been able to grab them on the movie-style bleachers set up along the edge of left field.

Those would most likely be Iowa residents.

They would be more accustomed to the view, perhaps, of no towering buildings looming nearby, of no lights shining everywhere one looked, of nothing but sky, as deep and wide as any ocean, as far as the eye could see.

They would be more accustomed to the silence soaking the air, with the lack of traffic noises and sirens and car horns serving as distractions to the action on the field.

They are the truly fortunate ones...

in case the modern world might have made them forget.
Every person there tonight, including all the ballplayers from the big cities of Chicago and New York City, were able to experience that magic for themselves.

Every person there tonight was able to slow down the pace of life, to marvel at the stars above, to breathe air that whispered of summers in their youth, before work and the responsibilities of adulthood intervened.

By the top of the 8th inning, every muscle in their bodies would have been relaxed and their minds free of worry as they watched a baseball game under that heavenly dome of sky.

Every hit was a home run, or so it would seem, as ball after ball arced into the surrounding 12-foot tall stands of corn, with those balls lost to the dirt at the base of those stalks.

And what a magnificent game it was!

There weren't many hits, of course, but the few that occurred were, indeed, home runs, with those batters bringing in those who had been walked.

The score was exciting, with a good amount of the right kind of stress, with a good amount of belief that either team might win...

but, in the end, Chicago was victorious.

What classic baseball, taking it down to the bottom of the ninth inning to seal the walk-off finish with a two-run homer!

A classic baseball game... 

just as it should be, on a field full of dreams.

(smile)

I'm so thankful to have been there, on THE Field of Dreams, and to have been here, in my living room, watching as they played on this new one.

i thank You, God.

DEEP as opera: heard!

What a grand view I had for this third, and last, evening in the rotunda of Telfair Academy!

(Thanks, Katie and Olivia, for D-13!)

I was very excited about "Song", as I knew several works from the youth at DEEP were to be featured... and I do so love their insights!

Of the fifteen pieces performed, five were from four of those middle-school students!!!

The poetry from Lincoln Davidson and Madeline Pelli was transformed into a musical triptych, painting a poignant picture of hope for better days and easier nights.

"I Lay Myself To Rest", "A Voice", and "I Dream Of A World" had been set to music with the help of Patrick Vu (who had helped do the same for an artist in svf-8.)

The middle piece, paraphrasing a classic riddle as "if a man shouts in an empty house, does anyone hear him?", nearly brought me to tears.

In its entirety, that trio of songs reminded me of classic works from Elvis Presley ("If I Can Dream") and others, speaking to a human need for unity and connection to others.

That trio was performed by Chad Sonka (with his lovely baritone), Sara Zoe Budnik, and Melanie Spector (both sopranos). 

Heather Jones performed "Worthless", another that wrenched at my heart, written by middle-school student Ella Zipperer and set to music by Dave Ragland.

Why did it affect me so?

The child was being regarded as nothing, absolutely nothing, for only being "100 pennies" instead of a dollar bill.

Wow.

The fourth student appeared on video, having not only composed "Blessed By The Best" but also set it to music and performed it - quite enthusiastically, too!

I just have to believe Louis Armstrong would have loved that one as much as I did!

Positive perspective and faith in God - oh, yes!

Maybe living in a pandemic, still, has made me even more sensitive to such issues.

I just know it's been like a dream to be attending concerts again!

Maria Zouves even performed two pieces, "Sinevi Stin Athina" and "Floghera", plus there was Jonathan Walker-VanKuren with "I Found A Woman" and the fabulous "Landscape 1: From A Train", in which the piano captured the sound of wheels on a rail very well!!!

Even so, with all this wealth of poetry in the air, the performances I was most drawn to were the two solos from Mariano Gladić for "Cancion al arbol del olvido" and "Los pajaros perdidos".

And just what would be my reason for that?

He sang them to me!

He looked straight at me - practically dancing in my seat, feet tapping, hands at work with my invisible piano - and sang to me that he would not think of me at the tree of forgetfulness, and that he realized I had been his only love among all the lost birds.

He did, he most assuredly did!

How blessed am I by the Best?

i thank You, God!

And now the blessing that is this day continues - the Chicago White Sox are playing the New York Yankees at the Field of Dreams, a place etched into my heart... and I get to see it for free on tv!

i thank You, God!

swing, and almost a miss

I almost didn't go to that game.

My 5-game package of tickets were done, as of July 28.

For me to go to the Championship game, I'd need a ticket.

So... to buy one, or not, that was the question earlier this morning.

Then, at 1 PM, FOX had aired a special about the MLB @ Field Of Dreams game - that was to be a reality on Thursday, August 12!

The White Sox would finally be playing the Yankees, there in Dyersville!

It was even a regular season game for Chicago, so it counted for stats!

Would I be able to see it?

 

After I pulled myself together - hey, every time I see anything about that magical place in Iowa I tear up and sob - still - I did a bit of research.

Was the game to be aired on the local FOX network?

Yes, yes, it was!

Was the game to be free to view?

Yes, yes, it was!

Most excellent, plans for my Thursday evening! 

Well, shouldn't I see if tickets were still available for the CPL game at Grayson?

So, I checked on fb on the Bananas' page.

Incredibly, tickets WERE still to be had!

For real???

So, I checked the Bananas' website, to verify.

Yes, yes, that was for real...

so, I texted Scott to see if he would be there, and he said "Yes!"

I bought my ticket at 5:18 PM for the 7 PM game.

Just think: if I had not, I would have missed out on Bill LeRoy's smiley butt!

That would have been a real shame!
(smile!)

Right place, right time...

because of an unexpected television show about the magic of baseball.

i thank You, God.

bananas win the cup! bananas win the cup!

Yes, they did, just as they had in 2016, their very first year in Savannah!

The Coastal Plains League Petit Cup will reside here, on the Savannah Bananas' turf, until the Championship games next year.

I hope I get a chance to see it again!

The team had a December gathering after that first time, so fans could bask in its glow... much like we basked in the glow of these fireworks tonight!

Rather looks like an ice cream cone, doesn't it?

How appropriate for summer!
 

I'm so thrilled to have shared this last official game of summer with my dear Eagle Scout!

Yes, Scott is great fun, as he loves baseball even more than I do, and knows more about it, too!

He had a bag of good-luck, game-winning, pistachios for me, as he did for others around us.

Maybe that made a difference tonight.

Maybe not.

He was at last night's second game of the CPL championships, and the Bananas lost to the Morehead City Marlins at that one.

This game was definitely different than that one.

Sure, the same two teams were on the field - the home team sporting classic yellow pants with white tops, the North Carolina team in blue tops that matched the wrapper on Nabisco Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Sure, most of the same players were on the field as had been for that game, with the exception of the pitchers.

And that last thing is a deciding factor, as it almost always is.

I forget how many pitchers were on the mound tonight, but it had to be some kind of record for the year!

Over and over, the visitors changed ball slingers to try to keep the Bananas at bay.

As this series will attest, their efforts were for naught.

Over and over, as time progressed and the sky shifted its color palette from day tones to night hues, the bases filled with Bananas!

Over and over, the Bananas brought men across home plate, triumphantly cranking that diamond wheel around to victory!

As for the Marlins, they managed to load up the bases, too, threatening a grand slam just as the home team had.

No grand slams for either team tonight, but such a lot of runs were scored!

Sixteen pairs of feet successfully came across the plate over the three hours-plus of playing time.

Yes, sixteen runs, with three for the Marlins, and a whopping thirteen for my boys of summer.

I am so happy for them!

I am especially happy that several of our multiple-year Bananas are going out as champions in this, their final year of play.

Coach Gillum even awarded them Championship Belts!

Rings are such an MLB thing, but great, massive belts, like in wrestling, well, that is just perfect for these collegians!

Thanks, Scott, for being there to not only save me a seat, but to give me good company!

Thanks, my boys of summer, for giving me baseball along with the circus!

i thank You, God, for the gift of all, including perfect weather!

How very blessed to have this during a pandemic year!

sure gonna miss this boy of summer

This is him, right here.

I'm talking yet again about Bill LeRoy, naturally.

He's my absolute, all-time, favorite of the Savannah Bananas.

Sure, I tend to be partial to catchers, I do.

I like for a man to have a good tush, right?

When I first started coming out to Grayson Stadium with Reggie and Sam, with Jeff up in the booth, it was partly for the rear view.

(Get my pun? Such a sweet little joke!)

Even before I met him, up close and in person, he was Number 1 with me.

(Hey, that's a little joke, too, as that is the number on his jersey.)

I like that he's from Georgia, too, like me.

I like that he has a great sense of humor.

And I love that he is such a team player!

I know this was his last season with the Bananas.

He's been part of the team for four years.

As a college boy of summer, that means he graduated this year and won't be eligible for CPL play in 2022.

That'll certainly be a shame!

At least he'll be able to play in the off-season Breakfast Bowl, like some of the other Bananas that are now playing for the Big Show.

I'll have to be sure to come for those games!

I hope he'll still be wearing this same uniform.

There's a big smiley face on his butt!!!

For all I know, it's been there all along and just haven't been in the right seat to enjoy it... but I doubt it.

For all I know, he may not even be aware it's there, but I'm guessing he does!

I only saw it because Scott got us good seats -

and lefty Hunter Shepherd made the umpire shift over, so full view was granted of Bill's backside -

and I could swear that smiley face was real!

Right here, it even has a huge, open-mouth, grin!

Then again, maybe it's just an illusion from my perspective in the grandstand, and my penchant for firm tushes...

but I say that smile is right there!

As for me, right place, right time!

i thank You, God!

Now, back my attention goes to the game...

last bananas in july for me

With no Mister Willie alongside, per his doctor's orders, I was up by the Shark again, but on my feet this time.

No kilts for me tonight, but plenty of four-legged friends - it was Bark In The Park!

This time, the focus was on those canines which are part of the Savannah Police force - bravo!

What else did I spy with my little eye?

Jacob, in his cowboy hat, and Bruce, in his Man-Nana outfit, keeping company and chatting at the stairwell!

As for the fleeing Pep Band on the field, that was pure serendipity giving me an extra cool photo!

I went down at the end of the second inning.

I had photos to share with Jacob and Bruce, from two weeks earlier.

Yes, real prints, that could be held in the hands as reminders of a treasured time!

I'd dropped off prints for Jesse, Dakota, and the Coach at the front office on my way in.

I love being able to share the love for Mister Willie!

As for that photo above, I had moved to the right field area in front of the beer loft.

I was still on my feet, as I had been since the start of this incredibly slow game.

After two hours, with the game still in the 4th inning, I headed outside, to sit on a park bench.

That worked beautifully!

By the time I reentered Grayson, quite a few folks had left and the sun had started setting.

(I even snagged a banana Moon Pie on my way in! Shhh... it's a secret!)

The game was only in the bottom of the 5th.

That's okay, though.

I was finally able to have a seat... and what a seat it was!

My cherry seat, finally!

And this time, during the Salute to the Troops in the 6th inning, I even got a handshake and a "Thanks for your service" from a roving Banana! Wow!

Then, in the seventh inning, the game really livened up!

The bases were full of Bananas!!!

That's my favorite of the bunch, Bill LeRoy, on first, with all waiting to see if lucky number 7 can knock one over a wall for a grand slam!

GRAND SLAM! GRAND SLAM!

I shouted that over and over, to no avail.

Still, a good inning!

Top of the 8th and what happened?

Pitcher change, that's what!

Not only did the bases get loaded with Bacon, but the Macon team even got a free run as the pitcher walked the next man!

But, hold on, there... it gets better!

GRAND SLAM! GRAND SLAM!

I shouted that over and over, and, yes, I was cheering on the visitors!!!

A good play is a good play, it doesn't matter which team makes it, right?

And guess what?

My impartiality was rewarded!

The next batter hit a triple!!!

Here we go with the first run over home plate...

 

then came the man who had been on second base,

coming on in for the second run off that hit...

followed closely by the guy from first!

Three runs from a single play!

Not quite a grand slam, but pretty close!

Minutes later, that tall cool dude who'd swung that mighty bat came home, too!

Five runs in that one inning for Macon, bringing their total to seven, versus the eight runs for the Savannah Bananas in this home game.

And just who was that batter?

Livan Reinoso, the third-base Bacon man.

Magnificent!

Maybe next year he will be a Banana?

That would be grand!

Yes, this has been an "over the moon" evening!

(Get the joke? About getting the Moon Pie?)

(smile)

no kilts for mister willie!

No, no, my dear, those were absolutely a special surprise for me!

No, today was most definitely the fourteenth, not the seventeenth, but St. Patrick's Day in July had to come three days early at  Grayson Stadium.

The Savannah Bananas didn't have a home game on the 17th... plus, they know I love kilts!

And what a treat it was, too, from the very start, with Coach Gillum on horseback, leading the men in their charge onto the diamond from the center field gate!

That's him in that last photo, too, spurring the boys on, in his lovely boots!

The center left is our first man up for the game against the Blowfish, taken from our cherry seats behind home plate.

The center right is my man, catcher Bill Leroy, taken from our new vantage point in the picnic area, after a bathroom break in the seventh inning.

What's up with the "we" and "our"?

Well, I already told you that Mister Willie was with me!

It's right there in the title of this post, silly rabbit!

The Man in the Yellow Tuxedo made extra sure the 4000+ fans in the house knew that this was a special occasion and who the honoree was.

In the first frame, he introduced Willie Smith, Jr., to the crowd...

in the next, Mister Willie is cheering him and his words, in humble gratitude...

with a culmination of Willie saying "Play ball!!!" as the crowd cheers him on!

i thank You, God!

This was Willie's first game in two years and it was better than any medicine anywhere.

As I told my first niece, I witnessed his love of baseball, and his love of being in this ballpark, dropping ten years from his face!

These folks are all Banana staff who wanted their photo taken with him.

That's Mark "the Shark" Ediss in the first one, greeting the man before going into his Pit.

The other folks are all new to me, but the young woman on the right, Dakota, is one who calls and talks to Mister Willie often.

As for Devon Ashton, the one who assisted us with setting up this game and our special early entry and the choice seats, I don't have a shot with her.

I'll have to see about rectifying that situation when we return for the July 28th game.

As for that leprechaun... I would swear he winked at me!

How magically delicious!

 

And here we have Bruce Revis, joyously reunited with Mister Willie!

I had just said his name three times to Willie, wondering where this Man-Nana might be, when suddenly, like Beetlejuice, he was RIGHT THERE!

These two have spent games together since before I knew Bruce's name.

I think that may have come about during the summer of 2009, when I was attending solo.

That was also during the MLB Single-A Sand Gnats' reign.

When the Bananas came to town, the two were still up there at Mister Willie's seat, cheering and talking baseball.

How wonderful that they still can do so after a year of pandemic!

And how truly blessed am I to have been here for this moment in time!

Mister Willie had spoken to photographer Nick, not long after we got set up in the picnic area, and asked for a baseball.

The next thing we knew, Coach Tyler Gillum came striding up with a special gift: not just a baseball, but one autographed by the team!

Wow... that brought a tear to the old man's eye, not for the first time tonight.

For many of these years that I've been at games in his company, whether we're sitting together or apart, Mister Willie has known my camera would be out and snapping pictures.

He has asked me why I did that, and I've always responded that I take the photos for my enjoyment, as a keepsake of the game.

Of course, the true reason is to capture moments like this, with his hearty voice telling the batter to "Put the wood on it" or "Give me the long ball", to make those real and not illusion.

Documenting what has happened allows me to better relieve it again, as I have done here.

Thank you, Sam Johnson and Thomas Houston, for your encouragement of my entry into the blogosphere.

And, i thank You, God, for such a wonderful night, sharing the breath of baseball, one more time, with this man.

shark said 'strange situation'

I don't know why the Shark Pit had taken over one of the party boxes, but it had, and there he was as I happened by.

I was sitting to his right, on the top row of bleachers in the grandstand, almost directly behind home plate.

This was near game's end, and I was looking to see if the Ring Dude was above the visitors' bullpen so I could alert Kyle.

He sat beside me, as the last attendee with the three-row birthday group, and it was his first time with Bananas, so I was trying to make sure he got all the bells and whistles.

Anywho... just what did the emcee mean by that phrase?

I had to take a photo or I never would have believed it.

So, the man about to tag home was on base already, then the man running behind him got four balls, which, in the real world, means he would get a 'walk'.

But, Banana Ball rules held sway for this game and that meant a 'walk' didn't exist and he had to run instead.

Namely, he had to run the bases, being sure to tag up each one, while the visitors tried to get him out... and ignored the other man.

The man with the four balls was allowed to stop at any base he wanted, but he had to be running.

So, did that mean he came in after the other man for a second run?

No, that's not a Banana Ball rule.

The other man scored a point - not a run - when he touched the plate and, coincidentally, also ended that half of the inning.

It didn't matter if there were no outs or one out or two outs at that point in time.

If home plate was achieved during the 'strange situation', it was time to move on to the next half-inning and let the other team have a turn.

This particular shot was taken in the second inning, with the Savannah Bananas getting the 'point', which was good, as I think the Catawba Valley Stars probably thought they'd stepped into a "Twilight Zone" episode.

I sure did.

The home team went on to score twice more in later innings.

The visitors got the hang of it - or, perhaps, were allowed to share in the fun - and managed to get 'points' via the four-ball 'strange situation' in two innings, one of which was the 9th inning, giving the Bananas a walk-off victory.

Even though the tarp had been on the field until almost 6:30...

even though the infield had to be worked up with more clay several times...

even though the game didn't start until 7:45...

it was all over within the two-hour time limit stipulated by Banana Ball rules. 

The game ended at 9:29 pm.

Two minutes later, I snapped this photo.

The Banana boys had this huge flag that they were carrying as they went for their victory lap around the field.

I had my camera on 'zoom', trying to get a shot, then a little boy had grabbed the netting and set it wiggling.

I tried to wait patiently for the net to stop and it did, just as they neared me...

click!

And I just love this photograph.

Serendipity, to the rescue.

Right place, right time.

During that top half of the ninth, I had moved from my seat in the grandstand to the picnic tables along the third-base line, to make sure I could enjoy the post-game fireworks.

Little did I know that this was what I'd been waiting for during this exhibition game.

i thank You, God.