Ask columnist Jason Williams anything − sports or non-sports – and he’ll pick some of your questions and comments from his inbox and respond on Cincinnati.com. Email: jwilliams@enquirer.com
Subject: Savannah Bananas are pure entertainment, not baseball
Message: I saw where the Savannah Bananas are back in town this weekend. I don’t get it. Do you think their popularity will keep growing?
Reply: If you have elementary-aged children or grandkids, you’d get it. Especially if they have even a casual interest in baseball.
First, don’t look at the Bananas as a baseball purist. Don’t even think about it as a baseball team. The Bananas are a choreographed show on a baseball field. Once you see it that way, you’ll get it.
I look at the Bananas in the context of what was a popular event when I was a kid. My family used to go to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus every time it came to an arena close to home. Sure, the circus is dead now, but it had one helluva run entertaining generations of kids.
The Savannah Bananas are today’s version of the circus. The popularity will fade at some point and be replaced by some other creative traveling show. Meantime, let the kids have fun and make memories.
My family was fortunate to see the Bananas before they were cool. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law live in Savannah, Georgia, and we saw the Bananas at their historic home stadium when they played in a wooden-bat collegiate league. Our family is kind of over the Bananas, because of that experience.
Let others enjoy them now as the Bananas continue to sell out MLB and NFL stadiums. Thousands of Greater Cincinnati kids who couldn’t get a ticket to the Bananas events last summer will get to see them this weekend at Great American Ball Park.
Best part about the Bananas: They have a fans-first focus. Their players/entertainers are accessible. Fans got to meet players at Koch Sporting Goods on Thursday night, the type of events the Bananas do at every city they visit. The Bananas hire/sign guys who embrace the culture of engaging with fans. Many players are active on social media. I couldn’t name one member of the Savannah Bananas “roster,” but my 9- and 13-year-old sons can. Great. Because it’s about them.
And the big bonus about Banana Ball: No worries about the arena smelling like elephant poop.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Savannah Bananas keep visiting MLB ballparks; baseball isn’t the point
Reporting by Jason Williams, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jason Williams, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
