Who The Heck Are The Savannah Bananas Coming To Buffalo?

Buffalo baseball fans have hit the jackpot! The legendary Savannah Bananas will be gracing Buffalo with their presence for three exciting exhibition games in the summer of 2024.  

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The massively popular baseball team is coming to Sahlen Field July 5th-7th, and the lottery to score tickets is now open through the end of the year. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on some, you’re in for some wild times in downtown Buffalo. 

Buffalonians familiar with the Bananas and their on-field antics are thrilled with the news. But if you’re never heard of the Savannah Bananas before, you might be wondering why everyone is freaking out.

Keep reading to see why the Savannah Bananas coming to Buffalo is a huge deal, and why you’ll want to get in on the ticket lottery ASAP.

Who Are The Savannah Bananas?

Bananas owners Jesse and Emily Cole started the team in 2016 with the goal of making baseball fun and creating “the greatest show in sports.” And boy, did they succeed. Every game they play at their home field of Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia is a circus, filled with crazy costumes, wild stunts, and tons of fan interaction.

Most Savannah Bananas fans would describe them as the “Harlem Globetrotters of baseball,” which is a fair comparison. But the Bananas actually have another thing that makes seeing them even more special than your average baseball game.

Banana Ball Rules

The Savannah Bananas play by rules unlike any other baseball game, in order to amp up the action on the field. They call it "Banana Ball," and the rules are as follows:

• Every inning is worth one point. The team that gets the most runs in an inning gets a point (except for the last inning, where every run counts)
• Games have a 2-hour time limit
• If a batter steps out of the box, it’s counted as a strike
• If a batter bunts, they’re ejected from the game
• No mound visits to the pitcher are allowed
• Batters can steal first base on any pitch
• When a batter is walked, every player on the opposing team must touch the ball before the ball becomes live, allowing the batter to advance to as many bases as they can
• If a fan catches a foul ball, it's counted as an out
• If the game is tied at the end of 2 hours, they’ll go into what’s called a multi-round “Showdown Tiebreaker”
• Each team is allowed to challenge one on-field ruling, and coaches must throw the game's challenge “prop” on the field 
• 1x per game, a team can put any hitter into the lineup to bat into any spot

Why Are The Savannah Bananas Coming To Buffalo?

Thanks to TikTok, word has spread about the Savannah Bananas quickly, and fans in awe of their viral videos (like the one below) were clamoring to see them in action.

However, due to their immense popularity, there’s a massive waiting list to get tickets to one of their games.

Instead of trekking all the way to Georgia to watch them play, the team has gone on several exhibition tours over the years, bringing Banana Ball to ballparks all over the country - and Buffalo is lucky to be a stop on their 2024 Banana Ball World Tour.