Before the Savannah Bananas wrap up two games in Des Moines in August, team owner Jesse Cole said he plans to see how things go during their time in Iowa before deciding whether to return again .
Cole liked what he saw.
The popular touring baseball team announced Thursday that they will return to Des Moines as part of the Banana Ball World Tour, playing three games at Principe Park on September 6-8, 2024 Contest. Their game last summer.
This team was outstanding last season. After initially announcing only one game in Des Moines, the Bananas were impressed with the interest shown by Iowa State and decided to add another game to their schedule. Both dates quickly became the hottest tickets in town and sold out.
The Bananas dazzled baseball fans across the country with their elaborate dance skits, wacky rules and unusual antics. Rules include a two-hour time limit, no hitting, no stepping out of the strike zone, no hitting, and no hitting. Players can steal first base, and fans can catch foul balls (counting outs). Each round is worth one point and a tiebreaker is played to decide the winner.
In the team’s two games in Des Moines, two fans caught foul balls in the same half of the inning, the first time in franchise history. The Bananas also recorded their 500th stunt game of the summer tour and even used a drone to drop a pitch to the pitcher at the start of the inning. In a previous job, they lit up the bats and had former MLB pitcher Jack Peavey appear in a game wearing a Gold Glove.
Tommy Birch is a sports business and features reporter for The Chronicle and has been with the newspaper since 2008. He was the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sports Writer of the Year. Please contact him at [email protected] or 515-284-8468.
