It seems like a story out of a book by Charles Dickens or Robert Luis Stevenson and not even the most nourished imagination could imagine something like this in the 21st century.
In an overflow of inventiveness and imagination, The Savannah Bananas give a different, very peculiar touch to the game of baseball and they are even commenting that the MLB should learn from this baseball team in the southern United States.
So crazy are their initiatives that even a burning bat has even been used by one of their players in the midst of the revelry and hubbub that each of their shows represents.
The project
Precisely there, in the depths of Georgia, the idea was born when a former college pitcher, Jesse Cole, brought together some friends with a common goal, to do something different from the traditional game of baseball.
After finishing his playing career, Cole began to reject the rules and philosophy of the traditional game and founded Banana Ball, even coming up with the rules themselves.
The perspective has always been and continues to be, to keep the fans entertained, and let them be entertained with offers that lead them to stay until the end, for this they mix baseball with circus acts and wrestling scenes.
In fact, the Bananas’ philosophy is to make baseball fun.
The rules
Some of the rules of the game are:
- If the batter leaves the batter’s box it is a strike.
- If touch is attempted, they decree expulsion.
- There are no visits to the box.
- Games are scheduled for two hours.
- Batters can steal first.
We’re talking about elements that to a certain extent take on the edge of madness but it’s fun and people follow it.
In fact, the Los Bananas account on Tik Tok has more than half a million followers.
In the games, baseball is also mixed with circus scenes and wrestling, in which the players face each other by throwing each other, pie in the face.
The project, which has been going on for six years, has become popular in a good part of the United States, and in this sense, Jesse Cole himself has assured that he will take the banana ball and its philosophy to the whole world.
Tradition
One of the best-known traditions is the presence of the kilt as a particular symbol of the club’s uniform.
A kind of ritual that is done before the matches also stands out; in which a baby is wrapped in a banana suit and launched into the sky, just like Simba and representing the search for a kind of blessing.
The Savannah Bananas also have a cheerleading squad, the Man-Nanas, a group of middle-aged, out-of-shape men.
Likewise, they have their dance team, the Bananas-Nanas, a group of women over sixty years of age.
The cast is associated with the Coastal Plain League and sells out their games every year.
It is something ingenious and innovative… another example of how far the mind of man is capable of reaching in moments so lacking in spirituality, joy, and fun.
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