“Look, we do play better because of the fun.”

titles in 2016, 2021 and 2022.

A professor at Georgia Southern performed a research study that suggested players’ performances improved while playing for the Bananas, largely because they were having more fun.

“Seeing it broken down like this, it was like, this is special… Look, we do play better because of the fun,” Cole said shortly after the study was released. “Anyone who is against all the craziness we have in our ballpark and all the high jinks, well, it actually works.”

With confidence building, the team created a fast-paced entertainment-only spinoff called “Banana Ball” that wouldn’t count in the standings. The first Banana Ball game was played in the summer of 2020 after two years of experimenting.

Banana Ball has nine rules:

Win an inning, get a point; it’s essentially match play, where runs don’t carry over from inning to inning

Two-hour time limit

No stepping out of the batter’s box

No mound visits

Bunting is not allowed

There are no walks; if a pitcher throws ball four, the batter can sprint around the bases until every defensive player on the diamond touches the baseball Batters can steal first; the ball is always live

If the game is tied after two hours, it goes to a showdown tiebreaker with a pitcher, catcher and just one fielder on the field to retire the opposing hitter.

And here’s the rule that ought to keep fans from ever looking at their phones: If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out.

“It’s outrageous,” Cole said.

The Bananas played 30 games of Banana Ball in 2022 and sold out every game, convincing the Coles to fold the collegiate team after the season and turn the franchise’s full-time attention to altering the sports landscape. They hired two teams of players to field the Bananas and their counterpart, the Party Animals. Some of the players were holdovers, but the Bananas found a handful more, thanks to a wacky tryout process in which they cared more about personality than baseball skills.

Their ace, Kyle Luigs, is a former Jacksonville State University pitcher who had a 2.75 ERA for the Bananas in 2021 but now often pitches wearing a cowboy hat and a kilt. Recently, he lit a ball on fire just before throwing a pitch.

They also have Dakota Albritton, who showed up to tryouts on stilts and has become an online sensation.

“All these (minor league) teams have better baseball players than us,” Cole said. “We’re focused on having the greatest players and entertainers coming together. It’s really different.”

Their first manager was Bay Area native Eric Byrnes, the colorful former Oakland A’s outfielder and MLB Network analyst.

One of their first high-profile players was one of the quirkiest players in MLB history: Bill Lee, who was known as “Spaceman” during his 14 seasons in the majors. The 76-year-old lefty pitched relief in Banana Ball last summer, and a video of Lee entering a game from the stands after chug- ging a fan’s beer went viral. He suffered a cardiac episode while warming up for a game later in the season but was back on the team when the tour kicked off in February.

Georgia native Dakota Albritton, here warming up before a game in Kansas City, Kansas, last season, showed up to Bananas tryouts on stilts and has become an online sensation. Albritton stands nearly 10 feet tall and has the largest strike zone in baseball.

Other former big leaguers, such as former Giants pitcher Jake Peavy and former A’s outfielder Josh Reddick, have made surprise appearances.

The Bananas also employ a cast of entertainers and characters that travel with them, prompting some comparisons to a local circus.

“One of my fears is becoming the ‘Harlem Globetrotters of Baseball,’” Cole said. “I have a ton of respect and admiration for the Globetrotters. They changed the game of basketball in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. But for us, I am more interested in being The Grateful Dead, where every single night, they’re doing a completely different set.” the field who are dancing, doing tricks. So that aspect of it is not something that’s ever going to come to minor league baseball, because we’re developing professionals who are trying to make it to the big leagues.

“But are there going to be aspects of things they do between innings that we can figure out how to delve into? I don’t doubt it.”

The Giants already employ in-game entertainment options, including the highly-popular “Beer Batter” that cuts the cost of adult beverages at the concession stand in half for 15 minutes, if a designated opposing hitter strikes out, a promotion even the San Jose players enjoy.

Dan Runsler, a former San Jose Giants pitcher and the team’s current pitching coach, “told us, ‘hey, I got shelled once, but I struck out the beer batter twice, so I went home laughing and happy that night,’” said Giants’ vice president of marketing Matt Alongi.

The San Jose stop will be the smallest venue on the Bananas’ tour, but it’s a win-win stop for both organizations. The Giants had a good working relationship with folks who had worked with the Bananas, and it was too exciting an opportunity to pass up.

“I think they’re a fascinating entertainment option,” said Taylor, the Giants’ GM. “They’ve found a way to manipulate the game of baseball to make it incredibly entertaining for the non-baseball fan while maintaining basic parameters of a baseball game. ... To see it up close and personal from an operational standpoint will be fascinating.

“I think everybody on staff is going to be learning from the Bananas the night they’re here, including me.”

The big question: What can minor league baseball operators learn from the Savannah Bananas?

“The biggest draw of the Bananas is the fan engagement with the players,” Taylor said. “One of the things that makes the Bananas go is you have players on

The idea is the same: Engage the fans. Get them invested. Get them involved.

The Bananas are making history, too. The National Baseball Hall of Fame requested a baseball from the Banana’s first game of this year’s tour.

“We did ask for the first yellow ball used in a Banana Ball game as we look to document the rise of the Savannah Bananas as a phenomenon in baseball and their unique approach to the game,” said Jon Shestakofsky, the VP of communications and education at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Don’t be surprised if you see the Bananas soon at big league parks, too. Cole said he is already fielding calls from MLB teams who want to host Banana Ball in their stadiums.

“I mean, MLB will never change,” he said. “They’ll always have the greatest baseball players in the world. I believe that. But Banana Ball is a game that can be something truly special for a younger generation.”

And the young at heart.

Find out more at https://thesavannahbananas.com.