Savannah Bananas bring fun take on America’s pastime to Petco Park

The Savannah Bananas exhibition baseball team is bringing its way-off-base tour featuring a circus-like version of America’s pastime to downtown San Diego’s Petco Park for two games on Sept. 5-6.

Look for team owner/entrepreneur/ringleader Jesse Cole in his trademark yellow tuxedo. In 2016, he tapped into an eager fanbase that grew into a national obsession. 

Baseball purists will have to look the other way and just hop on this party bus. The Bananas speed up the game, add dance routines and allow fans to get in on the action.

Some rule variations include:

• Speed. Games last two hours. Pitchers are not allowed to step off the rubber. Batters can not step out of the batter’s box. No manager’s meetings are allowed on the mound.
• Creativity. Umpires do flips after they call a player out. Don’t be surprised to see a player wearing stilts. In the third inning, the pitcher, catcher and middle infielders do a choreographed dance routine.
• Fan interaction. Each game, one fan is allowed to protest one umpire call. And if a fan catches a foul ball in the stands, it’s an out.

Tickets for the Petco games have sold out, but are available on re-sale platforms like SeatGeek and StubHub.  

BTW: This week, we launched our annual Best of Uptown & Downtown San Diego contest, where readers get to nominate and vote on the best businesses in the area. Nominate your favorite businesses here; voting starts Sept. 12! Local business owners can also claim their business listings to use our built-in promotion tools. Questions? Email bestof@timesofsandiego.com.