If you're a sports fan on social media, chances are you've heard of the Savannah Bananas. Put simply, they're trending right now. The team competes in the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer baseball league that features 15 clubs made up of select baseball players from colleges around the United States. The league was founded in 1997 and has been steadily growing in size ever since. The Savannah Bananas are now using social media trends to grab the world's attention.
If this is your first time hearing about them, read on for one of the most unusual baseball stories you'll ever hear. Here's a sneak-peek.
"Kansas City, thank you for going Bananas with us and for the weekend of a lifetime!! We love you so much" - @ Savannah Bananas
Ever think you'd see college baseball players performing synchronized dances mid-game? We didn't think so.
Here's everything we know about the Savannah Bananas
The Bananas have made it a personal goal to break down all of baseball's unwritten rules and modes of etiquette one by one. Instead of having their pitcher change his windup to throw off hitters, the manager coordinates TikTok dances for the team to perform mid-game. They wear funky outfits like skirts and hair coats instead of traditional uniforms. The bases at their home field, Grayson Stadium, are yellow instead of white. And their name is the Bananas. Does it get any weirder than that?
Right now, the Savannah Bananas organization is not one, but two teams. First, there is the original collegiate team that plays in the Coastal Plain League. Then there is the professional team that plays exhibition games in an out-of-league circuit, similar to how the Harlem Globetrotters do with basketball.
The Bananas have adopted a bold publicity strategy and it's paying off. Since their founding in 2016, they have sold out more home games than any other Coastal Plain League team. Thanks to their trendy videos and dances, they've accumulated over 2.5 million TikTok followers. Add that to their 86,300 Twitter followers, 424,000 Instagram followers, and 41,600 YouTube subscribers, and you’ll get almost three million total followers across the internet. That's almost as many as some MLB teams.
Here's the best part: ESPN+ airs Bananas games on national television. They've done so several times. In 2021, they aired several games in April and May. This season, they're back at it with games live and on-demand for subscribers.
"If you have ESPN+ you can watch the Savannah bananas. The more you know." - @ Erin
They're everywhere and their content is more than worth your time. It's not the MLB, but it sure is entertaining. Next time your team has a day off, give the Savannah Bananas a try. You just might jump on the Banana Boat.