Savannah Bananas bringing show to The Bronx for…
The Yankees are in Boston this weekend for another essential sequence as they appear to take control of the top wild-card spot over the Red Sox in the American League (they beat the Bosox Friday night time 4-1), and maybe make one ultimate charge at the Blue Jays in the division.
But that doesn’t imply Yankee Stadium will likely be quiet.
In fact, lots of baseball followers — practically 100,000 — will likely be in The Bronx for a very different baseball expertise.
For the first time, the Savannah Bananas, the barnstorming, trick-filled staff from Georgia, will play a pair of exhibition video games in entrance of sold-out crowds at the Stadium.
“It’s been one of the most in-demand tickets we’ve had,” Tony Bruno, senior VP of Yankee Global Enterprises, said by telephone this week. “They bring a different flair to the game. It’s a phenomenon.”
One that’s introduced the gathering of largely former faculty and minor league gamers with other off-field expertise around major league stadiums this season, as properly as a handful a yr in the past.
“I know the players have some unique skill sets, with trick plays,’’ Luke Weaver said. “It’s fun to watch. It provides a different perspective of the game.”
Like others, Weaver in contrast the Bananas to the Harlem Globetrotters.
“It’s just a different way of doing things,” Weaver said. “I think it’s good for baseball, putting twists on the game..”
The reviews have been good around the nation so far.
Dakota Albritton steps up to bat during a recreation against The Firefighters at Fenway Park on July 5, 2025. Getty Images
And they’ve performed in conventional baseball hotbeds like Boston and St. Louis, but Saturday will likely be their New York debut.
“It is a big deal,’’ the team’s president, Jared Orton, said of playing in The Bronx. “We did this in Tampa [at Steinbrenner Field] in previous years and got a taste of working with the Yankees organization. This step is us growing up and proof that we can do it, hopefully, at the biggest stage.”
While the staff’s home park stays Grayson Stadium in Savannah, they’ve been taking their recreation — which is notable for its fast tempo and rule adjustments, such as stepping out of the batter’s box outcomes in a strike or if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out — around the nation for a number of years.
And although there are also dances, antics and scripted routines throughout the sport, the performs and outcomes should not scripted, which is why there’s some pushback Globetrotters comparisons.
Members of the Man-Nana crew dance during a recreation between the Savannah Bananas and The Firefighters at Fenway Park. Getty Images
“We want to entertain the fans and give them something to talk about,” Orton said of the staff, which has been in existence for about a decade. “That was the mission on Day 1: Make baseball fun. And that’s still the mission. To go from 4,000 [fans at Grayson Stadium] to 45,000 is pretty remarkable.”
And it’s not a transition that was simple, particularly as they tried to persuade major league groups to first allow them to use their spring training ballparks.
“It’s scary to open your facility for anyone,’’ Orton said. “They play baseball there every night and we’re gonna have this crazy brand of baseball, with a guy on stilts and a dancing first base coach. How was that gonna go?”
There have been hiccups at first.
The Savannah Bananas are enjoying at Yankee Stadium for the first time this weekend. Noah Ok. Murray / New York Post
“We had people ask if we needed to use the bullpens,’’ Orton said. “We had to tell them, ‘Yes, we have pitchers and catchers. We have real baseball players.’”
But they still call their pregame preparations a “rehearsal” instead of batting follow.
“That blew their minds,’’ Orton said. “But once they saw it and how we operated and met the coaching staff and the players and team, the level of care we put into the game and performance, they were all on board.”
If all goes properly this weekend, Orton hopes for more appearances both in The Bronx and at Citi Field.
Last weekend in San Diego, Hall of Famer Trevor Hoffman closed out a recreation at Petco Park and Orton promised other surprises in The Bronx.
“That’s what makes our brand more fun and unique,’’ he said. “Truly every night is something different, from the field to the stands. We never want to get stale.”
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