An hour and a half prior to opening of Las Vegas Ballpark for a Savannah Bananas game against the Savannah Party Animals, fans were lined up outside. Jon and Braden Akin were among them and ready to wait out in the rain in order to secure themselves seats for this fixture.
Since Jesse Cole launched the Bananas two years ago, their exhibition baseball team has quickly taken off. Playing “Banana Ball,” their fan-focused, entertainment-heavy brand of baseball draws crowds while adding new twists into an ancient sport like baseball. Home games for Grayson Stadium’s Bananas can be found in Savannah but this year they embarked on a 33-city, 22-state world tour which sold out stadiums along the way!
When the team arrives in a city, it brings with them 2,000 banana suits for fans to wear during games – leading many to line up outside of stadium before gates open to claim their costumes and receive free food and gear from them as a thank-you for being early.
The Bananas also employ some unique rules when playing their baseball games, such as an unusual scoring system that rewards teams with points for innings won instead of just runs scored and no walks being permitted. Cole says former MLB players often contact him about making guest appearances and performing routines during breaks between innings for entertainment purposes – something Cole describes as the Banana Nanas who provide performances during break between innings!
As part of his routine, Bananas pitcher Dakota Albritton stands on stilts for most games he pitches or bats while wearing them – to the delight of fans everywhere! Dakota earns some of the greatest crowd responses during each time at bat or pitching!
Though initially unfamiliar with playing baseball in its purist sense, Y’alls quickly adjust to Bananas’ quirky atmosphere and take note of early highlights, such as one Bananas player catching a foul ball in the stands with their back turned; or one Party Animals shortstop fielding a groundball by placing both hands behind his head before throwing out a runner at first base.
But for fans of both Bananas and Party Animals alike, what really stands out is improvisation and energy; this was evident when one of Bananas players, nicknamed Drew by fans, caught a foul ball in the outfield on his knees before flipping it back towards the crowd to record an out. As soon as this occurred, excitement ran high across the field – as did an ovation for this stunning feat of athleticism – truly capturing that nostalgic feeling from childhood when baseball wasn’t so focused on balls versus strikes, pitch counts or wins and losses but rather simply about fun and athleticism!