We are not your typical baseball team. We take chances. We bend the rules. We challenge the way things are “supposed” to be. We are Fans First and We Entertain Always.
OUR GAME AND PLAYERS
- We play Banana Ball– the fastest and most entertaining game of baseball.
- Our players perform choreographed dances every game – Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, Mariah Carey – You name it, they’ve danced to it.
- Every game we have a 3-2-2, which stands for third inning, second batter, second pitch. These are unique in-game pre-pitch dances that have combined together for over hundreds of millions of views on TikTok.
- Our hitters’ walk-ups are legendary. Bananas may be escorted to the plate by your favorite music artists, make a dramatic entrance drenched in rain or recreating the latest TikTok dances.
- We are known for our epic scoring celebrations. From running through the crowd to performing fully choreographed dances. When we score, you never know what will happen next.
- We have the World’s Tallest Hitter and Pitcher with Dakota “Stilts” Albritton who stands 10 feet tall.
OUR CAST AND CHARACTERS
- Our owner, Jesse Cole, wears a yellow tuxedo. Not just sometimes, but all the time.
- We have the Banana Nanas (our senior citizen dance team), the Man-Nana’s, (our Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad), and the Banana Splitz (a youth dance team).
- We have the World’s only Dancing Umpire, Vincent Chapman, who will bust out the robot, hit the quan, or twerk it out on any (and every) strike three call.
- We have the World’s Only Breakdancing First Base Coach, Maceo Harrison. When you hear “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus, you don’t want to miss what happens next.
- Every game we honor that night’s Banana Baby. *Cue the Lion King opening music, spirit fingers, and the players kneeling around a baby in a banana costume.*
In October of 2015, we first arrived in Savannah as a college summer team with a goal in mind: make baseball fun and bring fans back to Historic Grayson Stadium.
For the first time, minor league baseball had left the city of Savannah after calling it home for 90 years. Because of this, we started to realize that getting fans excited for a college summer team was going to be harder than we ever could have imagined.
In our first few months, we sold only a handful of tickets. By January of 2016, just months before our first game, the team had over-drafted our bank account. Our owners, Jesse and Emily Cole, were forced to sell their home to keep the team and their dream going.
But on February 25, 2016 when we announced the team name as the “Savannah Bananas”… everything changed.
This announcement created massive attention locally and nationally, being covered by CBS, NBC, and Sports Illustrated, even being featured as SportsCenter’s “Logo of the Year”.
Despite all the attention, the team name was not liked or appreciated by most people in Savannah. We heard comments like “the owner should be thrown out of town” and “you’ll never sell a ticket.”
However, even with mixed reviews, we were finally on the map and people knew who we were.
With all the buzz, we were able to sell out Opening Night. Our fans were met with a completely unique experience including all-inclusive food, a senior citizen dance team, the first Banana Baby, and dancing baseball players.
Since our first season, we’ve sold out every single game.. From NFL and MLB stadiums across the country to our beloved Grayson Stadium, every stop reminds us where it all started.
The Bananas were a part of the Coastal Plain League, a summer collegiate league, for seven seasons.
The team won three Petitt Cup Championships during their collegiate team reign and had over 35 players drafted across the seven years of play.
In 2022, the Bananas announced that they were leaving the Coastal Plain League to play Banana Ball year-round. What is Banana Ball? Banana Ball was born out of the idea and goal of making baseball more fast-paced, entertaining, and fun.
Our organization, Fans First Entertainment, now fields six independent professional teams – all part of the Banana Ball Championship League.
You can find out more about the Banana Ball teams here.
“Bananas Foster is an official 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to Bringing Families Together. Our organization is committed to helping the whole foster care community. Advocating for everyone involved, Bananas Foster celebrates those already making a difference while inviting others to get involved so we can all help make this world a better place.” – Emily Cole
