COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The Savannah Bananas and their opponent, the Texas Tailgaters, are getting ready for the largest Banana Ball game.
Despite Friday’s rain, the teams prepared to bring Banana Ball to Aggieland for the first time in its history. Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole said this experience was about giving the fans something they have never experienced before.
“Every decision we make is for our fans, and they’ve been with us,” Cole said. “We looked at how do we bring this to this part of Texas in front of a lot of people and create something people have never seen before — we talked to Texas A&M, and they were excited about creating a special moment, so they reached out and we said, let’s do it.”
The Savannah Bananas have played games ranging from the smallest in Banana Ball history, with 1,000 fans at Navasota High School, to what will be the largest at Kyle Field, with 102,000 fans.
For some players, the game represents a homecoming. Jorden Hussein, Texas Tailgaters shortstop, joined the Banana Ball team three years ago and said bringing the show to College Station is special.
“I’m really excited — obviously, it’s one of the biggest baseball games to ever be played in history, and for it to happen in my home state means the world to me,” Hussein remarked. “There’s going to be over 100,000 Texans here, which is going to be sick.”
Savannah Bananas catcher Easton Parrish said it is his first year with the team. He said mixing baseball with entertainment is harder than it looks.
“You’re taking a hard game of baseball and making it more difficult with trick plays as well as singing, dancing, speeding it up,” Parrish explained. “You’re going to go to the top row, hand out a rose, come back down, so there’s just so many more variables added to the game that make it difficult, and I think it’s a challenge, but it’s like a fun challenge.”
For fans who did not get tickets to Saturday’s game, there are still other ways to meet the players. There will be a meet and greet at Dunkin’ Donuts located at 12061 FM 2154in College Station from 9 to 11 a.m. Additional meet and greets will be held at Aggie Park starting at 2 p.m. on game day.
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