If you are all about family entertainment, at a very reasonable price, then you will love “Banana Ball” as played by the now world-famous Savannah Bananas minor league baseball team. If you are a baseball purist, well this brand may not be your cup of tea. But if you want a crazy, fun, throwback night of clean family fun then this is your banana.
A minor league baseball team taking the globe by storm? Say it ain’t so, Joe! Well, in full disclosure, it’s not really baseball, at least in the traditional sense. It’s a show. Think of the Savannah, Georgia-based team as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. While playing in the Coastal Plain League, the Bananas captured championships in 2016, 2021 and 2022 even as their Banana Ball antics were gaining in popularity. This year they took their unique type of baseball to barnstorm across the country and the globe.
You cannot argue with their success. Every game is sold out and the team has more TikTok followers than any MLB team. Trying to get a ticket to a Bananas home game will drive you, well, bananas. Home opener tickets were on StubHub for over $200, and we were only able to get ours by going as part of a group that secured them months before the start of the season.
We were joined at the game by State College natives Matt and Nikki Santangelo and their sons, Marge DeLozier and Bob and Karen Snyder. It is rumored that the Bananas are in negotiations with the State College Spikes to play at Lubrano Park sometime in the future.
Why is it so successful? The philosophy of Banana Ball is actually quite simple. From the moment you enter the stands, the entertainment and the emphasis on fan activity are non-stop. A sign hanging prominently in Grayson Stadium states: “Fans First: Change the Game, Break the Rules, & Create an Unforgettable Experience!” My favorite of the nine Banana Ball rules?
- Every game has a 2-hour time limit.
- Fans can make an out: If a fan catches a foul ball on the fly, it’s an out!
So, picture this:
Walking up to Grayson Stadium, staff welcome you to the ballpark as you go through a giant inflatable gate with the words: “Welcome to the Show!” Next you have players greeting fans for photo opportunities in front of the life-size Savannah Banana logo. Then you can’t miss the man in the bright yellow suit and hat, owner (and author) Jesse Cole.
All the staff are easily recognizable with their bright yellow and blue outfits and smiling faces. You can tell they are having fun at their jobs and want to be sure you have fun as well. The Bananas Pep Band plays in the courtyard in front of the stadium entrance. All this has happened before you even get your ticket scanned.
Your tickets include all you can eat and drink passes including grilled chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, popcorn and cookies and beverages including soft drinks and bottled water. Let me repeat that: The “all-you-can-eat” benefit comes with your $30 reserved ticket! The Bananas Pep Band parades through the stands while players help their version of the Mic Man get everyone fired up and involved in the fun.
The “banana in the pants” toss is where fans try to throw bananas into the oversized pants worn by two players. Say what? We were entertained by the “Banana Nanas” (grandmother cheerleaders who can still dance up a storm), and not to be outdone, the “Banana Man-as,” who are dressed in yellow superhero outfits including a black and gold “Captain America” type shield that at the center has…a banana. They have a break-dancing first base coach and a mascot called, you guessed it, “Splits.” Even the bases and balls are banana yellow.
They do an on-field “Peel the Banana” promotion. A young fan does the “first peel,” bites the banana, and as he’s tasting it, the Mic Man asks if it is a “good or bad” banana. The youngster shouts, “It’s Good” and the crowd goes…bananas. Then there’s the Bananas Baby promotion, which is so popular it has a long waiting list. Your baby gets to be in the pregame on-field ceremony, dressed as a banana, lifted like Simba from “The Lion King” and serenaded to the tune “Circle of Life.”
During warm-ups by the opposing team, a local youth baseball player is chosen to bat against the opposition, which proceeds to throw the ball wildly around the field as the crowd cheers the youngster around the bases. As he crosses home plate the whole Bananas team picks him on their shoulders dancing and celebrating him to a roaring crowd as his family looks on. Every kid in the stadium wants to be that kid.
A designated player from each team is introduced for a weigh-in at the pitcher’s mound like a prize fight. But instead of a fight…they do a dance off. A lucky fan is blind-folded and taken to the mound where they must find “the first banana” by listening to the crowd’s instructions. Upon finding it, the blindfold is removed, and the fan throws the first banana, not a first pitch, to the catcher.
This all happened pre-game.
The PA announcer introducing the game shouts to the crowd: “Baseball fans and potassium enthusiasts.
This is a game of the fans, by the fans, for the fans….It’s time for Banana Ball!” There is a pre-game parade as the players take the field in what looks like a three-ring circus with dancing, backflips, tricks with catching and throwing baseballs and constant fun music in the air.
The opponent for the game was from Down Under: the Australian Drop Bears. After the pep band
played the Australian National Anthem, the home plate umpire sang the national anthem then broke into a dance routine. That was the umpire!
Both teams did a coordinated chorus line kick dance, and as 7 p.m. approached, Jesse Cole welcomed the fans. With pump-up music blaring and at Jesse’s encouragement, the crowd started cheering as he did the countdown and the fans shouted “Start the clock” as the clock struck 7. The game started at exactly 7 p.m.
As the Bananas pitcher recorded his first strikeout, a giant “K“ was brought out to him and he raised it high above his head, ran to the stands and handed it off to the fans and it was passed through the stands.
During one between-inning break, the players ran into the stands and delivered yellow roses to the loudest screaming fans. After a great play by the first baseman, the whole team ran in and did a group hug and dance to the Lion King song “Can You Feel the Love Tonight.” One of the Aussie batters came to bat with a cricket paddle, and a pitcher for the Bananas, Dakota “Stilts” Albritton, actually wears stilts when he pitches.
I was a bit surprised to see the “Family Baggage” promotion. The Mic Man said, “Every family has baggage” as he described the premise. A dad has to run from home plate to pick up his oldest kid at first base, then run to second base and pick up a younger kid, run to third base and get his wife to jump on his back and then race “home.” Another promotion is the Banana Crawl relay race. It featured fathers crawling to their kids, then the kids crawling to baby siblings, who naturally couldn’t move. The crowd roared with laughter as the Bananas players moved the finish line to the bewildered babies and Jesse shouted out “It’s our first ever tie!” I can just see the risk management folks at most stadiums having a hard time approving these skits.
The promotions are way over the top, totally choreographed and the fans loved it. They do crowd favorite sing-along songs to keep the crowd pumped up and involved. During the familiar chorus to “Sweet Caroline,” instead of singing “ba-ba-ba,” everyone sings “Ba-nan-as!” The Monkey vs. the Banana race consists of fans passing a big, inflated monkey and banana from one side of the stands to the other and back.
We even had fireworks in the form of an unwanted lightning storm that blew through. The two teams quickly combined to get the tarp on the infield while the entertainment by the Banana-Nanas and Pep Band continued during the rain delay. Jesse grabbed the microphone and shouted to the crowd, “This isn’t just any rain delay, it’s the greatest rain delay in all of sports!” The players, coaches and Jesse himself went into the stands to pass out banana-flavored Laffy Taffy.
During the rain delay, my wife and I met Zane Chavez, a catcher for the Australia Drop Bears, who played in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization in Altoona. He was so pumped to meet people who heard of the Altoona Curve, he took a selfie with us!
Even using the restroom is entertaining. At the top of the bathroom mirrors, signs say: “Use this time to reflect. You’re the top banana. Peel the love. You are a ‘Mirror-cle.’ You have A-Peel. I like you a bunch!”
The Bananas have been featured on ESPN, on CBS Morning News, in Forbes, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and hilarious and entertaining videos on YouTube and TikTok.
Jesse Cole, the owner, is the author of three books. His most recent book, “Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas,” describes his story as part Moneyball, part Field of Dreams, and part The Greatest Showman. He’s also written “Find Your Yellow Tux: How to Be Successful by Standing Out,” “Fans First, Change the Game, Break the Rules & Create an Unforgettable Experience,” and he’s in demand as a public speaker.
The Bananas don’t believe in selling sponsorships and there are no ads in the stadium. Jesse said they are making 10 times the amount of money from merchandise orders than they would have made selling sponsorships. Their revenue is evenly split between ticket sales and merchandise.
It’s even a family-oriented front office as Jesse’s wife, Emily, is heavily involved. She was the director of fun for Gastonia Grizzlies, a minor league team in North Carolina, when Jesse was the general manager and now the two have taken Banana Ball to the masses. It’s part karaoke, part concert, part birthday party, part family reunion and part picnic games.
Based on the laughs, smiles and dancing (and that was just from the adults in attendance), it’s no wonder the Bananas are such a rousing success. It has earned the moniker, “The Greatest Show in Sports.” You can watch previous Banana Ball games on ESPN+ and the Bananas YouTube page.
I hope the Spikes can work out a deal so State College can taste a slice of Banana Ball.
