Saturday, May 27, 2023

An Evening with the Savannah Bananas!




Last December while driving the Silver Bullet across country we stopped for a few nights in Las Vegas.  Our ultimate destination was California for a family Christmas celebration.  

Ben met us in Las Vegas and rode with us the rest of the way to California.  When he arrived in Las Vegas he told Beth and I that we all had to be on the lookout for some Savannah Bananas players. They were in town promoting their “World Tour”, which would be passing through Vegas in May.  They had a promotion going to give away tickets to the first person who saw them and mentioned their Twitter post about the event. 

Later that afternoon while walking around downtown Ben said “there they are”!   They were dressed in their traditional yellow baseball uniforms and also easy to recognize because of “Stilts”, the world’s tallest baseball player.   No one had won the  promotion yet and with some hooting, hollering and high fiving, Ben was presented two tickets to their May 20 game in Las Vegas.  

Ben winning the tickets back in December 

If you’re not familiar with the Savannah Bananas, they are baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters.  Their popularity is skyrocketing as evidenced by a ticket waiting list of over half a million people.  Additionally according to a recent article I read, their TikToc account has more subscribers than the top seven Major League Baseball teams COMBINED!

Ben won two tickets.  When their awesome fan experience team learned there were three of us wanting to attend, we suddenly had three tickets.  In a cleverly worded email they said “you can’t leave momma at the hotel”.  Not only did we have tickets, we were Very Important Bananas!   This gave us early admission, a swag bag and a “ meet and greet” with the players, all of whom were very skilled athletes and exceptionally friendly.   I really enjoyed visiting with one particular player.   Bill “Spaceman” Lee, a former Red Sox pitcher (and member of the Red Sox Hall of Fame) that is 76 years old, making him the oldest player by several decades.  I enjoyed talking with him about spring training in Winter Haven, Fl as well as great ballparks past and present.   With a big smile on his face, he told me that he’s having the time of his life playing with the Bananas.   

VIB’s!

                                               Meet and Greet with players before the game 

  Part rodeo clown (really) and pitcher with a lot of trick pitches! 

                                                         Me and Bill talking baseball!

                                                       Stilts!  He had a nice hit in the game

  
We didn't have to leave Momma at the hotel!

Honestly trying to describe the entire experience would be impossible.  From beginning to end (even during the rain delay) it was nonstop entertainment that had me laughing so hard a few times that I had tears running down my face.  The evening with the Bananas and the Bananaball experience was incredible.  We’re looking forward to adding our names to the ticket waiting list with hopes of spending another evening with the Bananas somewhere down the line!

                         It’s not everyday a batter gets escorted to the plate by Vegas show girls

  On field dance off between the Bananas and Party Animals

                  Silts at bat, catcher in a tutu and umpire calling balls and strikes from between the catcher’s                                                                    legs….Bananaball!

Party Animals played the last half inning shirtless. They won the game and celebrated by jumping into                                           the pool just beyond the outfield fence…..Bananaball!