What would the Rockies’ record be if they played by “Banana Ball” scoring rules?

Would they be better, worse, or relatively the same with some silliness added in?

The Savannah Bananas are taking the internet by storm as they criss-cross America on their World Tour. I had the pleasure of seeing them on Saturday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, and I have to say, if you have the opportunity to watch them, do it!

They will be at Coors Field on August 9-10 (though the lottery is closed).

If you can’t attend in person, you can stream their games live on Disney+/ESPN+/YouTube.

But going to this game got me thinking: Would the 10-50 Colorado Rockies have won more games if they played by “Banana Ball” rules? Specifically, how would they fare if MLB adopted Rule #1?

The Methodology

The idea is this: Teams only earn one “point” per inning if they score more runs than their opponent, and only in the last inning does every run count. So teams can’t really blow out their opponents like we saw happen many times to the Rockies in early May.

This method will show how much the runs have been clustered up, or perhaps how much they were spread throughout the game. So if the Rockies hadn’t given up, say, 10 runs in the fifth inning of the May 24 game against the New York Yankees, could they have won that game?

My hypothesis: The Rockies’ record would stay the same, but perhaps the games would be “closer.”

Now, there also had to be a few exceptions made to the rules based on the results and things that I could not change:

1. If the two teams tied an inning, I gave each one point.
2. If the game was tied at the end, I left it tied because that would’ve triggered Rule #11: Showdown Tiebreaker, and we don’t know how that would play out.
3. If a game went to extra innings, I only took into account the first nine innings.

The Results

If the 12-50 Colorado Rockies played by Banana Ball rules, they would be 14-15-33. So even if they lost all of their draws (14-48), they still would have won two more games under “Banana Ball” rules.

Interestingly, a few of the results did change. Three games turned into wins instead of losses, 14 games turned from losses into draws, and one turned from a win into a draw.

Additionally, their run differential is -65 instead of the ungodly -181. So their record might not be much better, but the scores themselves are more palatable because they weren’t tagged for all of the runs in those massive innings. The only time they were tagged for a large number of runs under “Banana Ball” rules was the seven-run ninth against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 9.

The Implications

My hypothesis was wrong, but not horribly off-base.

Yes, they won more games, but they only won two more. “Banana Ball” rules also do show how many big innings the Rockies gave up when the run differentials are 116 points apart. A loss is still a loss, but a 3-1 loss feels better than an 8-1 beatdown (like what happened on April 27 against the Cincinnati Reds).

Finally, this could also an unconventional way to implement a “mercy rule.” There isn’t one in MLB right now, but there have been plenty of arguments for one. Perhaps this could be a way to implement one without completely changing things? The Savannah Bananas do still play competitive baseball, after all, instead of purely exhibition games like the Harlem Globetrotters.

All in all, the Rockies wouldn’t be much better record-wise playing by “Banana Ball” rules, but games might be more enjoyable to watch at the very least (especially if they start doing back flips and walk-up dances).

★ ★ ★

So my next question becomes this: Who would you like to see in a Showdown Tiebreaker in any of the Rockies’ draws? Do you think that would’ve made any difference?

And finally: Have you seen the Savannah Bananas? Share your experiences in the comments!