ATLANTA — The Savannah Bananas are going to need passports with Banana Ball going international for the first time in 2027. The Savannah Bananas and five other teams in their barnstorming style of rollicking baseball entertainment have scheduled stops in Canada and Mexico next year. Banana Ball also will be played in 23 Major League Baseball stadiums and 10 football stadiums in 2027, owner Jessie Cole announced Thursday. Cole told The Associated Press he couldn’t have imagined the popularity of Banana Ball when he launched the Savannah Bananas in 2016. He added five teams for the 2026 schedule. The original idea was to generate fan interest for baseball at historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia. “We were just starting to sell tickets and trying to get off the air bed we were sleeping on,” Cole said. The 2027 schedule announced Thursday night on ESPN2 includes stops in Monterrey, Mexico, on Feb. 5-6, and Tijuana, Mexico, on Feb. 12-13. The Banana Ball schedule also includes Aug. 14-15 dates at Rogers Centre in Toronto and two visits to Winnipeg — Aug. 26 and Aug. 28. “This was 10 years in the making,” Cole said of the international dates. In 2023, the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, opened an exhibit for the Savannah Bananas. The exhibit was recognition of Cole’s success attracting younger fans who enjoy such shenanigans as a pitcher throwing the ball while on stilts and outs being counted when a fan catches a foul ball in the stands. On June 26, Banana Ball will add another tweak at Notre Dame Stadium when two baseball fields will be positioned on opposite corners of the football facility, with teams switching fields every inning. The goal is to allow every fan to have a close view of the action. Cole also announced Disney has produced a film documenting the growth of the Savannah Bananas and Banana Ball. The film will debut at Atlanta’s Truist Park on June 12. Including minor league stadiums, the 2027 Banana Ball Championship League tour will visit 79 stadiums across 74 cities. Cole expects the tour to draw an estimated 4.3 million fans. ___ Charles Odum, The Associated Press
