Baseball With Mass A Peel: The Savannah Bananas
One of the hottest games in all of sports right now is Banana Ball: A fast-paced, fun and, at times, downright goofy version of baseball played by the Savannah Bananas and their three traveling teams of victims — I mean, opponents.
The Bananas are wrapping up their 2025 Banana Ball World Tour with two games at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park on Sept. 19 and 20. Here’s a look at the Bananas and the variety of baseball they play:
Straight From The Produce Section: The Bananas
“It’s crazy ’cause it was just this ‘what if’ idea,” says Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole.
The Bananas were founded in 2016 to replace the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League, which had departed for Columbia, South Carolina.
The Bananas found immediate success in the SAL, but Cole and his associates had ideas on how to make baseball a little more exciting and to speed up the game. In 2018, they came up with an alternative set of rules for an exhibition game held at Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Fans loved it. A big moment for the Bananas was when they played Banana Ball at Boston‘s Fenway Park in 2000. “I stood there and looked out at 4,000 fans,” Cole said, “and I didn’t see any yawning— you know any fidgeting. I didn’t see any people leaving.”
“One, two, three strikes, and the Savannah Bananas are out for the inning,” wrote Hallie Milstein and Mary Alice Russell for Southern Living magazine. “Rushing back to the dugout, one yellow-clad player springs into a backflip, landing effortlessly on his feet, and accepts a pat on the back from his 10-foot-tall teammate (elevated by a pair of stilts). This isn’t a typical baseball game.”
Just part of the spectacle at a Savannah Bananas game is pitcher Dakota Albritton who plays atop a pair of stilts, making him 10 feet, 9 inches tall. One has to wonder about the size of his strike zone when at bat.
There was some confusion, though, when some fans didn't understand whether they were buying tickets to another Banana Ball fun fest or to an actual regulation baseball game. After splitting the difference for several seasons, the Bananas announced in 2022 they were folding their collegiate amateur team and playing only Banana Ball from then on.
The 2025 Banana Ball World Tour consisted of 107 games with the Bananas themselves playing in 73 of those games. The tour visited 40 cities in 25 states, playing in major and minor league stadiums plus a few college venues. The two games in Seattle will be followed by two season-ending games in Houston on Sept. 26 and 27.
A Dozen Things To Know About Banana Ball
-
Every Inning Counts
Instead of teams accumulating runs for crossing home plate, each inning is worth one point to the team that scores more runs in it. However, in the final inning, the rules revert to usual baseball rules: Every run scored counts as a point.
-
A Two-Hour Time Limit
Games are limited to two hours. No new innings can start once the game's elapsed time reaches 1 hour and 50 minutes.
-
'1-on-1 Showdown' Tiebreaker
If a game is tied after the time limit expires, then that tie is broken with a pitcher vs. hitter "showdown." Each team selects a pitcher and hitter to face off, with the pitching team having only the pitcher, catcher and a single fielder during the first round of the showdown.
-
The Fans Are In Play
If a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out.
-
The Golden Batter
Once per game, a team can substitute any player in the lineup to bat in any position.
-
No Bunting
The Bananas consider bunting to be boring. A batter who attempts a bunt is ejected from the game.
-
No Stepping Out
Batters are not allowed to step out of the batters box. If he does, it's an automatic strike.
-
No Visiting The Mound
Coaches and players are not allowed to visit the pitcher on the mound.
-
Batters Can Steal First
A batter can steal first base on a wild pitch or passed ball at any point during their at-bat — not just a third strike.
-
No Walks Allowed
Instead, Banana Ball features the "ball-four sprint." After ball four, the batter can sprint around the bases. The ball must be thrown to the catcher and then to all the fielders — other than the pitcher. Only after every fielder has touched the ball can the runner be put out.
-
An Ad-Free Home Stadium
The Bananas noted how advertising has proliferated inside baseball stadiums and decided not to subject their home fans to that in Savannah's Grayson Stadium. "We believe that Bananas fans deserve an ad-free experience," said Bananas owner Jesse Cole in 2020.
-
Banana Ball Is Growing Into An Entire New League
So far, there have been four teams: the Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters. Two new teams are expected to be announced next month for the 2026 season.
The Savannah Bananas' Other Routines
"Every game we have a 3-2-2," the Bananas website says, "which stands for third inning, second batter, second pitch." These pre-pitch dances pull in millions of viewers on TikTok.
These dances have become a core part of their games, with numerous routines being practiced and performed by the teams in each game.
"Our hitters' walk-ups are legendary," the Bananas' website says. Here, shortstop Ryan Cox is escorted to the plate by pitcher Andy Archer.
The Bananas are now playing on ESPN and in sold-out stadiums. Here, you can see they were very hoppy to play in front of a huge crowd in August in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.