What to know about the Savannah Bananas

 

A few weeks ago I wrote about how difficult it was to describe the Blue Man Group. The same can be said about the Savannah Bananas.

The most common way to describe the Bananas is to say they are the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. Only what they do is so extraordinarily entertaining that they’ve quit calling themselves a baseball team and refer to what they do as Banana Ball.

The Bananas sold out Kyle Field months ago and will be performing/playing there next Saturday, May 2. With Texas A&M’s football stadium able to seat more than 102,000 fans, it will be the largest crowd to ever watch the Bananas play their game. The current record is a mere 81,000 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

I had the privilege of covering the Savannah Bananas when they played the Party Animals at Sugar Land’s Constellation Field in 2023. It was hilarious and wildly entertaining. It’s interesting in that there is so much spontaneity in the show, yet it is carefully scripted to fit in a two-hour window.

At Constellation Field, the team, the mascot, and Jessie Cole, the team’s owner and Top Banana, met with fans outside the gates before they opened and enthusiastically rallied the fans, led cheers, posed for pictures and essentially gave a ticket-worthy performance before the game started.

They continued to greet fans, sign autographs and pose for pictures as fans entered the stadium. Fan interaction is a huge part of what they do. In this particular game, the Bananas wore yellow and black plaid kilts. The Party Animals wore black and neon pink baseball uniforms.

Throughout the game there were skits, spoofs of popular movie scenes, and even some singing and dancing. The game was interrupted for an actual wedding at the pitcher’s mound.

The most visible of the players is Dakota “Stilts” Albritton, who bats, pitches, and fields while walking on stilts. It’s that kind of gimmickry that makes the game so memorable.

And to be sure, it is a game. The outcome is not scripted. The game even has its own rules that differentiate it from baseball. First, the scoring is different. The team that wins an inning gets a point, except the last inning where every run counts. The team with the most points wins.

There is a two-hour limit, so no new inning can be started after two hours. If a batter steps out of the batter’s box, it’s a strike. Bunting is not allowed. A batter who bunts is ejected from the game. A batter can steal first base, usually on a passed ball or wild pitch.

There are no walks. If a pitcher throws ball four, it becomes a sprint. The hitter takes off running and can advance to as many bases as he wants. Every defensive player on the field, excluding pitcher and catcher, must touch the ball before it becomes live.

Mound visits are prohibited. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out. It needs to be a clean catch with no bobbles or juggling.

The Golden Batter Rule allows a team to bring up a batter one time no matter where he falls in the lineup. Each team is allowed to have one challenge. If they win, they get to keep the challenge. The fans also get a challenge. Prior to the game, one fan is chosen to represent the fans. That person can challenge one play a night. The fan will shoot off confetti and hold up the “Fan Challenge” sign to make it official.

If the game is tied at the end of the two hours, the game goes into a Showdown Tiebreaker. In each Showdown, if the hitter scores, it’s worth one point. If they get out, no points are given. In the first round, the hitter faces the pitcher, catcher, and one fielder. If it goes to a second round, it’s just the pitcher and catcher against the hitter. If it goes to a third round, it’s the pitcher, catcher, and fielder against the hitter with the bases loaded.

When I saw the Savannah Bananas in Sugar Land, they traveled with the Party Animals as their sole opponent. Now it’s a six-team league with the Firefighters, Texas Tailgaters, Loco Beach Coconuts, and the Indianapolis Clowns getting into the mix. Next Saturday the Bananas will square off against the Texas Tailgaters at Kyle Field.

Hopefully this will give you something of an idea of what to expect out of Banana Ball. Like the Blue Man Group, it’s something you have to experience because it’s darn near impossible to describe it. I hope to see you there!