‘TikTok's Favorite Team’ is coming to West Palm Beach. How the Savannah Bananas play ball

Mike Diamond
·4 min read
Friday’s game in West Palm Beach is expected to draw a standing-room-only crowd of more than 7,500, making it one of the most well-attended events since The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches opened in 2017.
Friday’s game in West Palm Beach is expected to draw a standing-room-only crowd of more than 7,500, making it one of the most well-attended events since The Ballpark of The Palm Beaches opened in 2017.

If you like the Harlem Globetrotters, you will love the Savannah Bananas baseball team.

The “Banana Ball Tour” will be featured this weekend at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches. Friday’s night’s event is already sold out, and the one Saturday would have been if the Bananas were not forced to reschedule their night game to 1 p.m. to accommodate the Houston Astros.

So what is Banana Ball and why is it so popular?

“This is a circus, and a baseball game will break out,” said Jesse Cole, the owner of the Savannah Bananas, based in Savannah, Ga., who this weekend will be playing the Party Animals.

The Bananas have been deemed "TikTok's Favorite Team" and have more followers than any MLB team on the platform. It boasts more than 14 million views.

Fans are greeted by the Savannah Bananas as players walk into the stadium with a band leading the way. There are more than 50 promotions before the first pitch.
Fans are greeted by the Savannah Bananas as players walk into the stadium with a band leading the way. There are more than 50 promotions before the first pitch.

Since 2016, the team has enjoyed 150 consecutive sellouts in Savannah. Last year, it brought Banana Ball outside of Savannah to Mobile, Ala. More than 7,000 tickets were sold in 24 hours. The success prompted Cole to visit six cities this year outside of Savannah: West Palm Beach, Daytona Beach, Kansas City; Montgomery, Ala.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Columbus, Ga.

ESPN calls it “the greatest show in baseball.”

Friday’s game in West Palm Beach is expected to draw a standing-room-only crowd of more than 7,500, making it one of the most well-attended events since the park opened in 2017.

Banana Ball: What are some of the non-traditional baseball rules?

Baseball traditionalists will cringe at some of the rules. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out. Batters can’t step out of the box. There are no walks, no bunts and a batter can attempt to steal first base on a dropped pitch by the catcher at any point of the at-bat. There is a two-hour time limit.

Cole said he agrees with critics that the Major League game is too slow, adding: “We don’t want people to blink at our game because they might miss something. The idea is to have as little dead time as possible.”

With Major League Baseball games lasting more than three hours and attendance declining, Cole developed the rule changes to make the game more attractive – especially to young people.

Cole urges fans to arrive early for the games this weekend. At Daytona Beach on March 18, more than 2,000 people were in line two hours before the gates opened.

Fans are greeted by the team as players walk into the stadium with a band leading the way. There are more than 50 promotions before the first pitch.

“We are bringing 110 people to town. There will be a break-dancing first-base coach, a pep band, a male cheerleading team. Some players will be on stilts. We will have jugglers. It’s an entire production.”

Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite shade of yellow, even if it means painting their beard or putting on a banana costume.
Fans are encouraged to wear their favorite shade of yellow, even if it means painting their beard or putting on a banana costume.

There is a difference between Banana Ball and the Globetrotters. The Savanah Bananas don’t win every time. In fact, Cole says the Party Animals win nearly half the time.

“The result is never pre-ordained,” he said.

Many of the players have played in the minor leagues and were high MLB draft choices. Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the 75-year-old World Series left-hander, often makes a cameo appearance for the Savanah Bananas. Cole said he would have been here this weekend if it were not for a wedding he had to attend.

Cole encourages fans to wear their favorite shade of yellow, even if it means painting their beard or putting on a banana costume.

Tickets are always $20. There is no reserved seating. Tickets for Saturday’s 1 p.m. game can be bought in advance at thesavannahbananas.com. Cole said he does not expect to sell out Saturday as thousands of Little Leaguers that would have come will be involved in their own games during the day.

The Houston Astros and the Washington Nationals lease the ballpark from the county. Chris Easom, who oversees the facility, said the teams have scheduling priority, and that once the strike was settled, the Astros wanted to play their game Saturday night. The Bananas got bounced.

So is Cole upset at being forced to play second fiddle?

“It is what it is,” said Cole. “We will make the best of it.”

Cole said his organization is appreciative that the Ballpark of Palm Beaches allowed the Banana Tour to come to West Palm Beach. “Other spring training sites would not, and we are hopeful that we can return next year.”

Even with the schedule change, Cole said he expects attendance to be close to 5,000 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals played the Miami Marlins at the Ballpark of Palm Beaches on Friday night, March 18. The Marlins won 8-3 in a game that took nearly three hours. The attendance was 2,436, about a third of what the Savannah Bananas expects to draw for its Friday night game.

Mike Diamond covers Palm Beach County government and transportation. If you have a tip, he can be reached at mdiamond@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @michael06339386.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: TikTok baseball team Savannah Bananas bring Banana Ball to Florida