History Made At Sold Out Iowa Savannah Bananas Game

Can't believe I got to witness this bit of history being made in Des Moines!

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If you've never heard of the Savannah Bananas, think of them like a baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters. This exhibition team has blown up on social media over the past few years for their hilarious hijinks and their strange rules for "banana ball."

Earlier this year, they set out on the 2023 Banana Ball World Tour where they would play exciting games against their archrivals the Party Animals at different minor league stadiums.

According to a press release, over the course of their tour they will be playing ball in 32 different cities in addition to their hometown of Savannah, Georgia.

"Everywhere we go we hear from fans begging us to come to their city. We are so grateful for their support and because of their passion for the Bananas and Banana Ball we knew we had to extend the tour dramatically in 2023," explained team owner Jesse Cole.

"Now we are bringing the show to almost four times the amount of cities as we did in 2022 to make sure we able to connect with as many Bananas fans as possible.” 

These games are great for people of all ages. The adults were having just as much fun (if not even more) than the kids.

And one of their recent stops was right here in the Hawkeye State at Principal Park in Des Moines. Both of the games were completely sold out and were going for hundreds of dollars on resale sites.

Luckily, I was able to snag myself a ticket and witness history being made in the state's capital city on Friday, August 25th. My mom who might be the biggest Savannah Bananas fan also flew out from Pennsylvania for the matchup.

The party started as soon as the doors opened at 5:30 PM. GA tickets were first come, first serve. So, the earlier you got there, the better your seats were. We snagged great seats right along the first base line and got to see EVERYTHING.

Players would walk right across this area by the first base line and interact with fans. They'd play games, dance, and even took pictures with people in the crowd.

There were so many fun and notable moments from the game itself.

Jackson Olson, one of the star players on the team stole the show that Friday evening. Affectionately referred to as the Savannah Bananas' "Greatest Showman" he warmed up for his at bat by hitting water balloons.

When I saw it in person, I was a bit confused...was there some sort of leak in the stadium?  After a few seconds I realized that he was just smashing some water balloons and cackled.

Earlier in the night, Olson got Bananas fans excited for a whole different reason. He made Banana Ball HISTORY in Des Moines by making the 500th trick play of the 2023 Banana Ball World Tour.

You can watch the moment down below!

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If you're ever given the opportunity to go see these amazing players in person, DO IT!

It was five hours of fun that my mom and I will never forget. Once the game wrapped up, the party continued! Right outside the stadium their traveling band was jamming out, fans were interacting with players, and every single person was dancing at some point.

My mom even got in on the dancing with some of the staff and players. She actually didn't do too bad!

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