The Takeaway

The Savannah Bananas Play Ball


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The Savannah Bananas are an unconventional baseball team that have amassed 3 million followers on TikTok – more than any *Major* League Baseball team. This wildly popular minor league baseball franchise has sold out every home game at their Historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia since its founding in 2016. Fans come from miles away to watch the Bananas’ collegiate team in the summer, and the pro Bananas throughout the rest of the year. Those pros have become famous for their high energy, quick-paced, and quirky game of Banana Ball!

And this is not just a game, but a show, where fans, players and coaches alike dance, sing, and play. A number of sports reporters have compared the team’s fun-filled approach to the trailblazing style of the Harlem Globetrotters. Savannah Bananas games include choreographed dances during the game, iconic walk-ups, players in kilts, and sometimes even a pitcher on stilts. And of course, lot’s of banana costumes. And before the first pitch is thrown, there’s a Lion-King-themed tribute to a different "Banana Baby" each game.

We spoke with Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas-fun fact, he owns seven yellow Tuxedos and wears one to every game- and Maceo Harrison, first base dance coach and choreographer for the Savannah Bananas.

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