On a night where it had rained hard all day long, the Indianapolis skies were finally clear for the Savannah Bananas to finish up a three-night stand in Indianapolis, taking on The Visitors.
Over the last three years, the Bananas have taken the sports world by storm, with their videos going viral. The team came to Indy last year for a multi-game weekend as well and it sold out so it was no surprise when they announced another stop on this year’s Banana Ball World Tour.
The Bananas can best be described as the Harlem Globetrotters meets the movie BASEketball and the day started with pregame entertainment.
The Bananas Marching Band marched and played around the outside of Victory Field, entertaining fans eagerly waiting to enter the gates to enjoy the game.
Once the entertainment started inside the stadium, the Man-Anas- the Bananas “Dad Bod” male cheerleading squad stood on top of the dugouts, dancing and throwing bananas into the crowd while members of the Bananas team served as emcees.
After Princess Potassia warmed the crowd up more with a Bananas-themed Taylor Swift parody, it was time for the pregame parade where the Man-Anas, Princess Potassia, the marching band and players marched down the third base line to take their positions for starting lineups, which included an appearance by the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders.
The game started with explaining the rules of Banana Ball and was followed up by the “First Peel,” where a young child stood at the pitch mound with owner Jessie Cole, ate a banana and told Cole whether the banana was good, or rotten.
Once that was done, both teams decided who would have the first at-bat by each member of the Bananas and the Visitors doing handstands- the team to have the last standing member would bat first.
The mid-inning games were exactly what you’d expect from the Bananas- a blindfolded crawl to find a golden banana, “Grandma Gladiators,” a 10-way newborn baby relay crawl race, a dad-bod bodybuilding contest and a sing-along for the crowd where the winning section won golden beads.
During the seventh inning stretch the Bananas and the Visitors recognized and honored the first family to take part in the Bananas’ foster family program- Bananas Foster, which the organization launched during their stop in Indianapolis last season.
The in-game antics were exactly what you’ve seen on TV and social media and did not disappoint. From the dancing umpires, dance breaks during at-bats, music that didn’t stop during at-bats, Dakota Albritton on stilts, Alex Ziegler balancing random items on his face, players doing flips while they caught flyballs, and a line-dancing a player to first base after being hit by a ball.
They even surprised a Visitors player with being the Dunkin Donuts Batter of the Night where, if the batter struck out, the entire crowd would win a free donut from Dunkin Donuts.
The umpires and players weren’t the only ones dancing and entertaining fans, with their base coaches dancing throughout the game as well.
In the end, the Savannah Bananas put on more than just a baseball game. The game is an experience for the entire family- even if you’re not a fan of baseball or sports, there’s something for everyone. While it is a novelty game, at the heart, it’s still baseball but they also make you forget about that at time.
If you haven’t seen the Savannah Bananas live yet, make sure to check their website for upcoming games and tour dates as it’s an experience you’ll never forget.
-Reggie Edwards
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