Who Are the Savannah Bananas and How To Get Tickets?

Thumbnail: Savannah_Bananas_mascot by baseballmapper (CC BY-SA 1.0)

Who Are the Savannah Bananas?

The Savannah Bananas were founded in 2016 and originally competed as a collegiate baseball team in the West Division of the Coastal Plain League. The Bananas won three Petitt Cup championships (2016, 2021, 2022) in the all-wood-bat Summer League for college players recruited from around the country.

Based in scenic Savannah, Georgia, the Savannah Bananas developed a unique and entertaining “Banana Ball” style of play and left the CPL to become a barnstorming exhibition team, much like the Harlem Globetrotters did in basketball, facing partnering touring teams with entertainment the focus as opposed to wins, losses, and titles.

In 2021, the Bananas unveiled the One City World Tour in Mobile, Alabama where they sold out two nights to combined crowds of more than 7,000 fans in Hank Aaron Stadium.

In 2022, the team expanded their “world tour” to 14 games and six cities with most of the contests coming against their exhibition rivals, the Party Animals. All 14 games were sellouts and a star was born. Like the Washington Generals are to the Harlem Globetrotters, the Party Animals play foil to the Bananas.

In 2023, the Bananas implemented their new exhibition-only status and increased the number of games on their “world tour” to over 80 games.

The current Bananas 2024 “world tour” includes games in six Major League Baseball (MLB) ballparks, including Nationals Park in Washington DC; Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas; Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts; Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia; and Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio in their first nationally televised game (ESPN).

The 2024 Banana Ball World Tour began on February 8 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa and will continue until October, when the Bananas will play their final game of the season at loanDepot Park in Miami. This will be followed by a ‘Bananaland at Sea’ cruise from October 14 to 18.

The Savannah Bananas are owned by author Jesse Cole and his wife Emily. The Head Coach is Tyler Gillum and the Director of Chaos is Eric_Byrnes, a former MLB player who played for five MLB teams including the Oakland Athletics and Arizona Diamondbacks. The team’s mascot is Split.

After visiting Savannah and Grayson Stadium, the Coles fell in love with the Savannah Sand Gnats. When that minor league team left the city in 2015, the Coles then created the Savannah Bananas in February 2016 and announced the team’s name after a contest to name the team. And “Banana Ball” was born.

The team’s new rules included a two-hour time limit for games, no visits to the pitcher’s mound, and if games were tied after nine innings of play, a one-on-one showdown to determine the game’s winners.

Here are the addresses for the Savannah Bananas website and social media accounts:

• Website: SavannahBananas.com

• Bananas Twitter (𝕏): @TheSavBananas

• Instagram: @thesavbananas

• YouTube Channel: The Savannah Bananas

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Where Do the Savannah Bananas Play Their Home Games?

The Savannah Bananas play their Home games at Grayson Stadium (Historic Grayson Stadium, capacity 5,000), located at 1401 East Victory Stadium, Savannah, Georgia. The stadium broke ground in 1925, was built in April 1926 at a cost of $140,000, and has been renovated three times in its history (1941, 2009, 2024). The stadium is owned by the city of Savannah.

Besides the aforementioned Sand Gnats (1984-2015) and Bananas (2016-present), the ballpark has been home to many teams, including the Savannah Indians, the Savannah Athletics, the Savannah Redlegs and Reds, the Savannah Pirates, the Savannah White Sox, the Savannah Senators, and the Savannah Braves.

The Bananas have sold out every game they have played since 2016, so getting tickets for this entertaining exhibition team—who played an entire game in kilts in 2023 on Saint Patrick’s Day in Sugar Land, Texas—can be tricky, but at TicketX, it can be done.

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Who Are Savannah Bananas Players to Watch?

The Savannah Bananas have a number of talented and entertaining players to watch on their roster including IF Jackson Olson, IF Dalton Mauldin, IF/C Eric Jones, Jr, IF Robert Anthony Cruz, C Bill Leroy, and P Zack Phillips,P Andy Archer, OF DR Meadows, and IF Ryan Cox, the league leader in Trick Plays (184).

After 72 Banana Ball World Tour exhibition games in 2024, Savannah had a 42-26 record, so the fruit-inspired baseball team isn’t as dominant as the Globetrotters but is just as entertaining.

Former MLB stars Hunter Pence and Josh Reddick played for the Bananas in 2023 and 16-time WWE world champion John Cena had an AB for the Bananas in 2024 in Tampa but he struck out trying to minimize his strike zone to draw a walk to get on base.

So how much do Savannah Bananas players make? According to Glassdoor, the pay range for a player on the team is between $41,000 and $69,000 per year. The players receive an average base salary of $35,000 and around $17,000 in other money that may come from things like cash, stock bonuses, commission, tips, and/or profit sharing.

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Who Are the Savannah Bananas Opponents?

While the Globetrotters battle their rivals, the Washington Generals on the hardwood, the Bananas usually play two teams in their barnstorming exhibitions, the Firefighters and their main rivals, the Party Animals. Led by P Drew Gillespie, P Bret Helton, slugger Jake Skole (10 HR), OF Reece Hampton (9 HR), INF Jake Achuff (6 HR), and OF Tanner Thomas (6 HR), the Party Animals had a 32-37 record after 69 games.

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What is the Savannah Bananas Upcoming Schedule?

The Savannah Bananas have several games on the upcoming schedule in September and October and you can find cheap tickets for those games here at TicketX. You can download the team’s schedule using this link.

Here is the Savannah Bananas schedule for the rest of their current world tour with TicketX links provided in the specific game dates:

• Friday, September 13—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Saturday, September 14—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Sunday, September 15—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Saturday, Sept 21—vs. Party Animals, Citizens Bank Ballpark, Philadelphia, 7 pm ET

• Thursday, September 26—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Friday, September 27—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Saturday, September 28—vs. Party Animals, Grayson Stadium, Savannah, 7 pm ET

• Saturday, October 12—vs. Party Animals, loanDepot Park, Miami, 7 pm ET

After the final on Saturday, October 8, the Bananas will be offering a unique four-day cruise on the Norwegian Jade from Friday, October 14 through Tuesday, October 18 called Bananaland at Sea from Miami to Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas.

To book your reservations for Bananaland at Sea, you can use this link. Both the Bananas and Party Animals will be on the cruise which will feature round-the-clock entertainment, special activities, and opportunities for attendees to strike up conversations with the Bananas and Party Animals.

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How to Buy the Cheapest Savannah Bananas Tickets

Although all of their games are sold out, Savannah Bananas tickets can be found on the second-hand market here at TicketX, starting as low as $177.56 on Friday, September 13 at Principal Park in Savannah. Ticket prices for Savannah Bananas games always vary depending on location, date, and the laws of supply and demand, and with just a handful of games left on the team’s schedule—two at MLB ballparks—these tickets are hard to find.

With games only left in Savannah, Savannah Bananas Philadelphia, and Savannah Bananas Miami, tickets are a hot commodity right now, but shop on the TicketX desktop and mobile website to find the low prices. First-time users can get an additional 10% off using this special September promo code.

TicketX Promo Code: September 2024

Get 10% off your first ticket purchase on TicketX with our Exclusive Promo Code for September 2024. Get tickets to see Usher, The Savannah Bananas, P!nk and more in person this September!

To get on the waiting list for Savannah Bananas tickets, you can use this link.

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Where Can I Find Savannah Bananas Merchandise?

Anyone can wear merchandise from MLB teams, but if you want to sport some of the unique Savannah Bananas merchandise, check out the Banana Ball Store where you can find things like a Savannah Bananas jersey, a Savannah Bananas hat, hoodies, gloves, bucket hats, and Banana Balls.

The teams the Bananas play on the annual world tours, the Party Animals and the Firefighters, also have their own official merchandise stores for fans of those teams.

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