‘Banana-Ball’ comes to Birmingham this weekend

June 21, 2023

WVUA 23 Sports,

By WVUA 23 Sports Reporter Juliet Brown

The viral baseball team that has taken over social media is coming to Birmingham, Ala., Friday.

The Savannah Bananas captivate fans of all ages for the fun antics that happen during a baseball game.

Jesse and Emily Cole purchased the franchise in 2016 and created “Banana Ball”, which puts an interactive twist on regular baseball. There are nine rules to “Banana Ball”:

Games last two hours
No mound visits allowed
Must stay in batter’s box; otherwise it’s a strike
To get a point on the board, you must score the most runs in the inning
No bunting but can steal first base
Must sprint to first base after ball four
Must run as fast as possible and touch as many bases as you want before all nine players touch the ball and get you out
If the two hours are up and the game is tied, there’s a showdown tie breaker where you must score to earn a point
If a fan catches a fly ball, it’s an automatic out

Another modification to “America’s Past-time” includes diving catches, requiring players to complete the catch between the legs.

In-between inning entertaining includes ‘The Dancing Banana Nanas’, and a small marching band.

The Savannah Bananas gained such a following that they created a nine month tour covering 33 cities across 20 states.

New in 2023, the team owners replaced the college summer league team in favor of a pro-challenger team branded as the “bad boys of baseball”: the Savannah Party Animals.

Players on the Bananas and Party Animals range from former MLB players to players fresh out of college. There are only two requirements: the love for both playing baseball and entertaining.

The Savannah Bananas play a pair of games this weekend in Birmingham. On Friday, the Bananas play at Regions Field at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, the team plays at historic Rickwood Field at 5 p.m.

Tickets for this weekend’s games are sold out on the Bananas’ website. As of Tuesday afternoon, resale websites like ‘Vivid Seats’ have tickets available $185.