Everybody knows the Savannah Bananas baseball team, but they are quite a different team when the summer rolls around. Every summer, the crazy team from Savannah plays in the Coastal Plain League with a roster full of college players rather than professional guys.
Success and the Bananas go hand-in-hand, as they just won their second straight Petitt Cup in the CPL. In their seven years of existence, they have made the playoffs every year and have won three titles. The Bananas are what every collegiate summer league team dreams to be.
Recapping the 2022 CPL Season
The Savannah Bananas had it all; yes really, they had it all. From a dancing first base coach, to a marching band, to a soldout crowd with over 4,000 fans wearing banana costumes, to banana-flavored beer, they really do have just about anything you could imagine.
The thing about the Bananas is that you should expect the unexpected when you walk through the doors of Historic Grayson Stadium. It is a unique experience going to one of their games as the stadium fits less than 5,000 people, but everyone there loves the color yellow.
From the moment the season began, the Bananas were rolling. With the most All-Stars from any other team, and their head coach Tyler Gillum also being the coach of the Wast All-Stars, the team was filled with the best of the best in the CPL.
After finishing the regular season in first place in the West division of the CPL in both the first half and second half, the Bananas had the home-field advantage in the semifinals. They faced their Georgia rival (and the only other CPL team in the state) the Macon Bacon in the first round of the playoffs. Only four out of 14 teams make the Petitt Cup Playoffs.
With multiple players getting drafted to MLB (which is very uncommon in the CPL) the Bananas were heavy favorites against the Bacon. They played over 20 times against the Bacon, only losing three times. To no surprise, the Bananas won in two games as they made their way to the finals.
Now at this point in the season, the Bananas were basically playing their B roster. A lot of their stars left for the MLB or back to school, but their dominant pitching and ball-smashing continued against the team in the West. With the coveted Petitt Cup on the line, Savannah went up against the Wilson Tobs.
Simply put, the Wilson Tobs were no match for the pesky Savannah Bananas. The three-game series did not go the distance and the Bananas swept the entire postseason. They earned the title for their third time and in back-to-back seasons.
You can either love what the Bananas do or you can hate them, but what they are doing for baseball is great. They want to make baseball fun, and I think we can all agree they are doing a good job of that.
What is to Come?
Banana Ball will be back in no time. ESPN and the Savannah Bananas have partnered for their games to be on your TVs this year. The Banana World Tour is coming, and who knows what to expect out of Jesse Cole and the rest of the funky bunch.
With the insane success of the Bananas worldwide, rumor has it this may be the last game as a collegiate summer league team. They make far too much money from Banana Ball, and that is their focus.
Will the Bananas go back-to-back-to-back next year in the Coastal Plain League, or will the team in yellow focus solely on the professional scene?
