Banana Ball comes to Milwaukee; a look at franchise’s history

It all started when the Savannah Sand Gnats announced in May 2015 that the team was leaving its home at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia, as the New York Mets Class A affiliate moved to Columbia, South Carolina.

That opened the door for Jesse Cole and his Fans First Entertainment company as the former Wofford College pitcher saw an opportunity to fill the baseball void in Savannah after the Sand Gnats departed.

The meteoric rise of the Savannah Bananas as one of the most successful sports and entertainment franchises in the world started in 2016 and continues to grow.

The Banana Ball League brings two of its teams – the Party Animals and the Loco Beach Coconuts – to American Family Field in Milwaukee for games Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7.

Here’s a look at the history of the Savannah Bananas and Banana Ball:

November 2015: Fans First Entertainment holds an event in Savannah to announce it’ll field an expansion team playing at Grayson Stadium in the Coastal Plain League, a summer college league that expanded to 16 teams.
February 2016: After input from fans in a Savannah Morning News poll, the name of the Savannah Bananas is revealed. The other finalists were the Ports, the Seagulls, the Anchors and the Party Animals, a choice that would come into play later.
June 2016: The Bananas host their first game at Grayson Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 4,000 fans in a loss to the Lexington Blowfish.
August 2016: The Bananas go on the road to Hampton, Virginia, and beat Peninsula to take a best-of-three series, 2-1, and win the Coastal Plain League championship. The Bananas broke the CPL season attendance record with more than 90,000 fans attending games at Grayson Stadium. The team sold out 17 of 25 games in that first season and have sold out every game since.
2018 season: Tyler Gillum takes over as the manager of the Bananas.
June 2020: The first official game played under Banana Ball rules is played at Grayson Stadium. The concept had been developed with unofficial games dating to 2018.
March 2021: The Bananas Premier Team, a professional squad playing by Banana Ball rules, faces off against the new team on the block in the Party Animals, in games at Grayson Stadium.
August 2021: The Bananas win another CPL championship with a series win over Morehead City.
March-May 2022: The Bananas Premier Team, coached by former Major League star Eric Byrnes, takes a tour of seven cities, playing 14 Banana Ball games.
August 2022: The Bananas win their third Coastal Plain League title over the Wilson Tobs.
August 2022: The Bananas announce they’re leaving the Coastal Plain League to focus on expanding Banana Ball and hold games throughout the country.
August 2022: ESPN+ airs five-part documentary “Bananaland” and, in 2022, Banana Ball made its television debut with six games, one aired on ESPN2 and the others on ESPN+.
2023: The Bananas hold 80 games across the country, including stops in Cooperstown, N.Y., the home of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Another stop was at Franklin Field in Franklin to three sold-out crowds.
May 2024: A third team joins the Banana Ball fray as the Firefighters are added to the league, joining the Bananas and the Party Animals.
2024: The Bananas’ popularity continues to skyrocket with their “World Tour” as they sell out MLB venues like Fenway Park, where they played the Party Animals in front of a crowd of 37,000 on June 8. They also sold out games at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.; Houston’s Minute Maid Park; Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park; and Cleveland’s Progressive Field.
March 2024: Former Major League star Roger Clemens, a seven-time Cy Young Award winner, pitches for the Bananas in a game at Minute Maid Park.
2025: The World Tour expands to NFL and college stadiums as the Bananas make trips to Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium and at Clemson Stadium, where a crowd of 81,000 came for an April game with the Party Animals. The Texas Tailgaters team also joined the Banana Ball League.
November 2025: Jackie Bradley Jr., a former Milwaukee Brewers outfielder, is taken with the first pick of the Banana Ball Player Draft by the Indianapolis Clowns, a new team in the Banana Ball League. Bradley is the first former MLB player to take on a full-time role in Banana Ball.
2026: The Indianapolis Clowns and the Loco Beach Coconuts join the Banana Ball League with the Bananas, Party Animals, Texas Tailgaters and the Firefighters. They’re playing 190 games this season in a tour that’ll visit 45 states and 75 stadiums.