Baseball Takeover: Behind the Scenes of Banana Ball
A Ten News Deep Dive: Episode 637
🍌⚾️ Baseball is back, and we’re going bananas!
🤖 Robot umpires? You heard that right. Ryan and Pam break down everything you need to know about MLB’s new ABS Challenge System.
🥥🧢 Plus, Dane Tofteland, third baseman for the Loco Beach Coconuts, joins the show for a behind-the-scenes look at Banana Ball!
🤪 We’re also counting down five of the wildest things to ever happen at a Major League Baseball game.
🤔 Did you know the Savannah Bananas have a senior citizen dance crew? Tune in to learn their team name.
Resources
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-17/world-series-earthquake-giants-athletics
https://www.mlb.com/news/longest-games-in-baseball-history-c275773542
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Transcript:
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
PAM: Actually Ry, the Braves are gonna win.
RYAN: Mmmm, I’m pretty sure the Yankees will win.
PAM: Well the Braves are just a better team and–
RYAN: Sure, but the Yankees are better–
PAM: But the Atlanta Braves are the best–
RYAN: THE NEW YORK YANKEES ARE NUMBER ONE–
KAP: Pam. Ryan. Can we just pause for a second?
PAM: Of course. / RYAN: What’s up Kap?
KAP: I can tell you’re both very passionate about the sport, so let’s do a baseball deep dive.
RYAN: YES. /
PAM: Absolutely!
KAP: Also, FYI the Loco Beach Coconuts are actually way cooler than the Braves and the Yankees.
RYAN: WHAT.
PAM: Excuse me?!
RYAN: I don’t know if it’s even fair to compare the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Savannah Bananas to the Yanks and Braves…
PAM: They’re definitely in a league of their own… I’m Pamela Kirkland.
RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, it’s Friday, April 17th.
PAM: This is a Ten News Deep Dive.
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
PAM: The 2026 baseball season is finally underway and I couldn’t be happier about it.
RYAN: Except for the fact that there are ROBOTS TRYING TO TAKE OVER THE GAME.
PAM: It’s not exactly robots, but, I see what you’re saying. We had a Ten’er write in and ask us about the new Automated Ball Strike Challenge System…which could help settle a baseball argument that’s as old as the game itself.
RYAN: So here are five things you need to know about the kind of sort of Robot Umpires—
PAM: Number one: The Automated Ball Strike Challenge System is also known as the A-B-S Challenge System. It made its regular season MLB debut on opening day of the 2026 season. The ABS Challenge System is set up so players can challenge a ball or strike that the umpire calls.
RYAN: Number two: The ABS Challenge System didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s been tested and used in the minor leagues since 2021. Major League Baseball tested it during spring training this year, and it was even used in the 2025 All-Star game!
PAM: Number three: the ABS Challenge System monitors the exact location of each pitch, relative to the batter’s strike zone. 12 special cameras monitor where each pitch crosses home plate. It’s not 100% accurate, but it is close. The system requires exact inputs for each batter’s height to create their specific strike zone. All MLB players were re-measured before the season began.
RYAN: Number four: the system is pretty simple: Only the batter, pitcher and catcher are allowed to challenge a call. So after a pitch and the umpire calls a ball or a strike, if one of those three players disagrees, they can challenge the call by tapping their head.
PAM: About 15 seconds after the challenge, the correct call is displayed in the stadium and for the viewers at home. So it should move pretty fast and not disrupt the game or make them too much longer.
RYAN: And number five: Each team starts the game with two challenges. So if a player challenges a call and it’s successful, they keep the challenge and they can use it again. But if the umpire made the right call and the player’s challenge is unsuccessful, their challenge is lost. Players have argued about balls and strikes for..ev…errrrr.
PAM: So the new challenge system might seem small, but it could literally change the game.
RYAN: Gosh, I love the game. And we actually asked some Ten’ers what their favorite part is…
PAM: We got an email from a Ten’er named Jude who said, “Long-time listener here. My favorite part of baseball is playing it. I play catcher for our 11 year-old majors team under USA prime Tampa. I also love analyzing it with my two-time winning fantasy baseball team.”
RYAN: Wow Jude plays catcher? That’s so cool, I love playing but am more of a fantasy baseball player now myself, congrats on winning twice and good luck in both of your seasons!
PAM: Hey Ry, do you see what I see…?
RYAN: …are Owen and Kap talking to Dane Tofteland, a member of the Loco Beach Coconuts right now…?
PAM: I think so…
RYAN: The Savannah Bananas are one of the craziest things to happen to baseball…there’s like dancing, and backflips and crazy rules…
PAM: It’s not your normal baseball game, it’s a whole new thing... It’s BANANA BALL. Do you want to listen in?
RYAN: OF COURSE I DO!
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
Savannah Banana Intv
RYAN: Alright, that dude Dane is super cool. I can’t believe Owen and Kap got to hangout with him.
PAM: Those Savannah Bananas and Loco Beach Coconut games soun d pretty crazy…
RYAN: Yeah they do, but there has been a lot of wacky stuff in Major League Baseball.
PAM: Oh yeah, I know some, let’s do five really crazy things that have happened at a Major League Baseball game…
PAM: First up…In 1989 World Series was the Oakland A’s against the San Francisco Giants. Game three was in San Fran at Candlestick Park and less than 30 minutes before the first pitch, a crazy earthquake hit. A 6.9 magnitude earthquake shook the stadium and the city of San Francisco. The game was postponed and the World Series didn’t resume until 10 days later and the Oakland A’s would win, four games to zero.
RYAN: And stealing second…In 1957 the Philadelphia Phillies played the New York Giants. Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn hit a foul ball into the stands… and it hit a fan named Alice Roth right in the face and broke her nose. They paused the game as they attended to her. And they put Alice on a stretcher to carry her off, and gameplay started again. And then Richie Ashburn hit ANOTHER foul ball and it hit Alice Roth AGAIN, this time breaking a bone in her knee! The good news out of that is that Roth was okay, and Richie Ashburn visited her in the hospital and they became friends. And Roth’s son would eventually become a batboy for the Phillies.
PAM: Ry, that one hurt just hearing about it…Alright on third… In 2019 when the Reds played the Giants in Cincinnati at Great American Ballpark, there was a 20 minute game delay because of…BEES.
RYAN: BUTTERFLIES?!?
PAM: No, Ryan, just bees. The swarm of bees set up shop near home plate and then eventually went into the stands. Oddly enough, it’s not the first time it’s happened at a Reds-Giants game… In 1976 a swarm of about 5,000 - 10,000 hit the San Francisco dugout and forced a 35 minute delay.
RYAN: Okay that’s not much better. It’s still freaky freaky though. This next one wasn’t exactly a delay, but it was the longest MLB game, ever. In 1984 the Chicago White Sox played the Milwaukee Brewers. The game started on May 8th, and they played 17 innings and the score was tied at 3-3. They stopped the game at 1am bc of an American league rule.
PAM: They restarted the game the next day and in the 21st inning, the brewers hit a three run homer…but the White Sox managed to tie it back up in the same inning. And finally, in the 25th inning, Harold Baines hit a walk off dinger to win the game for Chicago. The game lasted 25 innings over two days and was eight hours and six minutes of play.
RYAN: And last but certainly not least, the looniest of them all. The Toronto Blue Jays celebrate Loonie Dog Night, where hot dogs cost a single loonie, which is a Canadian one dollar coin. But this year, they only charged .77 cents per hot dog, in honor of their 1977 inaugural season. Well fans went CRAZY and set a new record when they ate more than 100,202 hot dogs in a single game.
PAM: That is…so many hot dogs. Though, Blue Jays fans set a record in 2025 by eating 826,308 loonie dogs in one full season.
RYAN: Yeah, that whole list was all bonkers. I think maybe I should try a Coconut Banana Ball game instead…
PAM: And last but certainly not least, let’s go to our Trivia Master, Owen.
OWEN: I can’t stop talking about Banana Ball, so I’m obviously putting it in the trivia…The Savannah Bananas are known for their dancing, and they have a few different dance teams. But what is the name of their senior citizen dance team?
Is it…
The Banana Nanas
The Banana Grandpas
The Bananahhhh I’m too old to dance OR
The Banana Bread Ready Dancers
Alright Ten’ers, did you guess it? The answer is…A! The senior citizen dance team is known as the Banana Nanas and some might say they have the best moves in the game. There’s also the Man-Nana’s who are the Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad and the Banana Splitz who are the youth dance team. And to be honest, I love them all!
INT. TEN NEWS STUDIO
PAM: And that was our baseball–
RYAN: –AND banana ball–
PAM: –Deep Dive. What do you think Ry, should we hit a Loco Beach Coconuts game?
RYAN: Ummm, yes, but I’m pretty sure the Savannah Bananas are the best.
PAM: Coconuts.
RYAN: BANANAS!
PAM: Well before we get tickets, we should probably give Ten News Snaps out…
RYAN: But first, here’s a quick note for the grownups.
<AD BREAK>
RYAN: Time for Ten News Snaps!
PAM: A Ten’er named Alice left us a comment on Spotify and said, “This is my favorite podcast ever. I can never understand what the grownups are talking about and this podcast makes it fun and enjoyable to listen to.” Awww, thanks Alice, we’re so glad you enjoy it! (OR ADLIB PAM). She also said, “Shout out to Ryan, I LOVE LEGO too. I built a landline phone, a camera, a bunny, Dobby from Harry Potter and the Knight Bus. What legos have you built? Also I would love an episode about space and aliens. 10/10 love this podcast.” Wow, thanks again, and we’ll look into a space and aliens deep dive, thanks for the suggestion!
RYAN: WHOA. Those are some epic builds, Alice! I haven’t made any of those so I am very impressed. I recently built the LEGO Nintendo Gameboy, the botanical mini orchids and I’m either going to build the Tuxedo cat or a big Mario Kart set. Alice and Ten’ers, what should I build next?!
PAM: And two extra notes for the grown-ups, you can now get ad-free versions of our episodes when you join the Ten’ers Club on our website.
RYAN: And if you want to help support the Ten News, you can make a tax-deductible donation at the link in our show notes. The whole team thanks you for your support!
PAM: “The Ten News” is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts, and part of the Airwave Podcast Network.
RYAN: The Ten News creative team is gonna play Banana Ball in the office, so don’t tell Kap and includes Tracey Not a Crooks, Adam the Great Bambino Bernard, Brian Not Ryan Douglas, the Duke of Earl Davis and Carson Not So Harry Potter. Big thanks to Owen, Not Slowin Down for Anybody. And a huge thanks to Dane Tofteland for stopping by!
PAM: Our Production Director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our Executive Producers are Donald Albright, Albright, Albright! and show creator Tracy Takes the Leeds Kaplan. I’m Pamela Kirkland.
RYAN: And I’m Ryan Willard, thanks for listening to the Ten News.
