Banana Ball – Coconuts vs Firefighters in Scranton

Over the weekend I made my way to Scranton to see the Coconuts and the Firefighters. This was a ‘oh hey this series is in driving distance and doesn’t require any PTO’ addition to my schedule (there may be one more of those this season) and I went solo. Friday morning I ran a couple of local errands and made my way to the hotel. I was too lazy to lug all my stuff in to see if my room was ready, so I ended up heading straight to the field to get a good parking spot. They gave me a close parking spot, but then I found out that the accessible entrance was up and down several GIGANTIC curbs. Luckily several very nice people (mostly wives of husbands with walkers) helped me navigate the curbs and get in line. I ended up seeing Peanut when I got in and talked to him a big about Tulsa and then went to check in for BBB only to find out I GOT A GOLDEN TICKET! It was then that I found out that the stadium area was a complete black hole for texting anyone and I somehow broke all my group chats.

After checking in for BBB I went to find some Coconuts to fill out my About Me forms I hadn’t gotten to yet and ended up finding Kaden and Jordan. Things were kind of chaotic in the plaza, so I figured I’d get more at BBB – only to find out that they did not have an elevator and we had to track down a golf cart. I ended up coming in from the bullpen via golf cart and ended up missing part of the BBB and got only 4 forms filled out – but I had a nice chat with Ashby and talked some more with Peanut and Val. I also got to meet CJ Kirwan. (I think he kind of looks like JTT) then I got to take the golf cart back off the field and the door we had initially come out of was locked back up so we had to find a different way to get me back to the concourse. What an adventure!

I sat for a bit and then it was time to check in for my 5:55 golden ticket experience! I got to go into the press box and the control room for a little tour which was really cool! As someone who wanted to be a journalist at one point it was really neat to see behind the scenes and how many different camera shots they have up in the control room at all times to choose from for the youtube feeds! I hadn’t eaten all day so I got myself a soda and some Bavarian roasted almonds since that was closest to my seat and easiest to carry.

I got a kick out of the scoreboard picking on fans before the game started – trying to get kids to do “6-7” and finding people in Bananas shirts and putting “doesn’t know what teams are playing” underneath them. (It probably IS more appropriate to wear a different banana ball team shirt to the game than an MLB shirt, but you need to be prepared for some ribbing.)

The game started right on time and the Coconuts took the first inning but the Firefighters tied it up in the second. The Coconuts took the lead back in the 3rd, and the Firefighters tied it back up in the 4th! Coconuts took the lead back in the 5th, Firefighters tied it back up in the 6th and Coconuts took the lead again in the 7th – a lot of back and forth! After the 8th the Coconuts got the equalizer point for having more trick plays and no runs were scored in the 9th making the Coconuts victorious with a 5-3 win! Dane Tofteland was the Player of the Game – he had a Sac Fly in the 1st, RBI Singles in the 3rd and 5th and an RBI Ball 4 Sprint in the 7th! There were no home runs, no fan outs and both golden batters resulted in an out in the 9th.

After the game the plaza seemed to be pretty well lit so I stuck around and got more About Me forms filled out and the players seemed to have a lot of fun with them, Armani Henderson absolutely over complicated it for himself but we had a nice chat about him being from Rhode Island and what other players were from New England.

I went back to the hotel to order some food (which took forever and a day to come!) and watch the Party Animals which started at 10:30pm since they were on the west coast!

Saturday I had debated going to the Dunkin appearance since it wasn’t too far from my hotel, but since it was raining I opted out, only to find out later that Ashby was there and I could have gotten an Ashby donut. Oh well. It was going to be raining all day so I had to debate which jacket to bring and get poncho ready. The parking attendants unfortunately did not understand I wanted accessible parking and sent me to the opposite side of a GRAVEL parking lot from the ADA entrance so that wasn’t too much fun in the rain but I made it to the ADA entrance, said hey to Peanut, checked in for BBB and was told they had a covered area that we could chill out in until the M&G which was going to be on the concourse so they wouldn’t need to figure out how to get me on to the field! Hooray! I opted out of trying to meet the players in the rain and sat undercover watching the interactions from afar until it was my turn. I had 6 coconuts left to track down and several firefighters. The concourse M&G was a bit chaotic but I did my best, missing just 1 Coconut (and I still have a couple coaches to track down). I also went to bug Ashby and get a selfie, he was the only photo I got but there were a lot of fun conversations because the players love teasing each other over their answers and drawings!

After the gates opened and things settled down, I was able to get my seat moved to ADA so I wouldn’t have to deal with slippery shoes on stairs. The game started about 30 minutes late due to a rain delay and the grounds crew needing to get the field set up after the tarp was pulled. They announced the the storm was heading “east to New York where it belongs” and the game started – the Coconuts scored 3 in the first on a Jordan Brewer 3 run HR and the Firefighters got only 1, allowing the Coconuts to take the early lead, and then the Coconuts scored 4 in the top of the 3rd but the rain started coming down much harder and sideways and a 2nd rain delay was called in the middle of the 3rd inning for another 30-40 minutes. I was glad though because the players seemed to be slipping and sliding everywhere and I was getting worried one of them would get hurt! The grounds crew made some adjustments to the field and play resumed with the Firefighters scoring 5 and taking the 3rd inning. They also took the 4th and 6th taking a 3-1 lead until the 8th when the Coconuts got the equalizer point. Coconuts then scored 3 in the 9th on Johnny Hummel and although CJ Williams gave up a couple of singles in the bottom of the 9th, the Firefighters were unable to score and the Comeback Coconuts won again, 5-3.

While it was no longer raining after the game, it was FREEZING and despite the fact that I had a hot hand in each pocket and one in my hand I was passing back and forth (because I needed a free hand for photos, priorities!) I opted to not hang around in the post game plaza – it also was about 10pm by the time things ended with the delays so I wanted to go watch The Party Animals in the hotel and defrost. Plus, I had quite a walk back to my car – but I did manage to find a path without gravel to get there at least!

It was raining again when I left to come home Sunday morning, but wasn’t too bad until I got about halfway and hit New York. Fortunately though there weren’t any delays and I made it home in under 3 hours! I am looking forward to some more Coconuts (and Party Animals!) fun next weekend at Disney. and the next weekend in Milwaukee. And the next weekend in Jersey and then a Coconuts and Firefighters rematch the following weekend in New Hampshire. Will the Coconuts get sick of me? Will I finally track down that last player and coaches? Stay tuned.