Baseball Gone Bananas
Known for its high-energy capers and bold take on the game, the Savannah Bananas baseball team has taken the sports world by storm. Team president Jared Orton shares the story behind this upstart squad that became a national sensation.
For those who may be unfamiliar, who are the Savannah Bananas?
We started in 2016 as part of a little collegiate wooden-bat summer league in Savannah, Georgia. After the previous minor league team in town closed up shop, our owners thought it would be easy to start another baseball team to take its place. We initially didn’t get much attention, though. In traditional baseball, there are just so many home games in a typical season, and it’s challenging to get people to visit something that often.
On top of that, when we decided on the name Savannah Bananas, people flipped out—we heard feedback that it was the dumbest name around and that we were even making a joke of the sport. But then we got the word out that we weren’t going to be professional; we intended to be different and make baseball more fun. That’s been our mission since day one. And we had some successes: we played in that college summer league for seven years, during which we sold out hundreds of games and won three league championships.
How did you change the game?
In 2021, we tested a new type of baseball called Banana Ball with some new players. It changes up all the rules of the sport; for example, batters can steal first base, and if someone in the crowd catches a fly ball, it’s an out. We premiered the game in Mobile, Alabama, across two nights, playing against our primary rival, the Party Animals; about 7,000 people showed up to watch. Then in 2022, we took Banana Ball on a seven-city “world tour.”
Once our leadership noticed the game was becoming so popular, we thought, What if we just go all in with it and play it year-round? So we decided to leave our college summer league at the end of 2022 and went on a thirty-three-city tour the next year, playing Banana Ball in front of half a million people. In 2024, we followed up with games in six major league stadiums, which over one million people attended.
Our game at Minute Maid Park (home of the Houston Astros) completely sold out months in advance in a single day, and there were 160,000 people on our waiting list for tickets. And now we have tens of millions of followers across our social media and play against a two more rivals in the Banana Ball league, the Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters. Seeing the game grow in these ways has been tons of fun.
That’s quite a meteoric rise. What would you say is behind this growth?
We turned baseball into a can’t-miss event. In sports, the players are traditionally separated from the crowd. But we break down that wall and make the show accessible. Our crowd isn’t just there to watch; they are there to experience a connection. Every team has a mascot, but we’ve realized that if we create a unique experience beyond that, people will keep coming back to see us.
What is your recruiting process like, given the uniqueness of Banana Ball?
Our players are multitalented, to say the least. We know that we have to recruit solid athletes; our coaching and training staffs emphasize that the game should be played well because it is a real game, even if the rules are different. If it doesn’t look clean, the crowd will notice. So most of our players have a strong baseball background, with some having played in our college summer league or for minor or even major league teams.
We aren’t just looking for athletic talent, though; the second prong of being a Savannah Bananas player is being an impressive performer on and off the field. For example, we have guys who can do backflip catches and have special walk-ups where they might sing or perform a choreographed dance. Our players know that the game isn’t actually about them but about our fans. So they make a huge effort to entertain them, sign autographs, be engaging on social media, and more.
Our head coach, Tyler Gillum, has been with us since 2018. He has a fantastic network of players he’s seen or worked with, including those who fit the mold of baseball player and entertainer. Guys also reach out to him all the time asking to play for us, so our recruiters have to perform an intense scouting and invitation-only tryout process.
What advice would you give to someone catching a Savannah Bananas game for the first time?
Do your research, know the rules of the game, and be mentally prepared for a high-energy, high-stimulus event! And get there early; before the gates even open, there’s plenty of music, magic, and other fun. Player introductions start at about 6:30 p.m. and the game around 7:00, and it’s action-packed for hours afterward.
Beyond the game itself, we’ve developed a full cast of entertainment that includes Jesse Cole—our owner, ringmaster, and Guy in the Yellow Tux—as well as a secondary announcer, known as the Young Professor, who wears crazy suits and does wrestling-style intros. Meanwhile, Jake the Magician performs tricks in the crowd and even on the field, so you never know where he’ll be. There are also trained dancers, a singing princess, the Banana Nanas (our elderly dance team), the Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad, and much more. We hope that all our viewers find someone and something to identify with here.
What’s next for the team?
We want to introduce more teams to play against and expand the Banana Ball league, improve our opportunities to tour, and get the game in front of more people. We plan to keep raising the stakes and discover the next new cool thing that our fans will love.
For more info, visit thesavannahbananas.com