This is an updated version of a story first published on April 13, 2025. The original video can be viewed here. There's been something unusual going on in a whole lot of Major League Baseball stadiums this season, and it isn't baseball, well, at least not exactly. It's "Banana Ball," and if you've never heard of it, get ready for something, well.. bananas. As we first reported this spring, it's a classic against-the-odds story, that started with a scrappy college-summer-league baseball team in Savannah, Georgia, lovingly named the Savannah Bananas.. with an unorthodox owner who dreamed of making America's pastime livelier and more fun, with dancing players, trick plays, and non-stop entertainment for the fans. Think Harlem Globetrotters, only more so. Take a look.It looks like baseball and feels like baseball. But then.. there's this -- an umpire feeling the music? A batter on, no, stilts? Gymnastics in the outfield.. and on the way home….Banana Ball is the creation of Jesse Cole, who dresses in banana yellow daily. He's the owner and ringmaster of this circus.
Lesley Stahl with Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole
60 Minutes
Lesley Stahl: It's not baseball. Or is it baseball?Jesse Cole: Obviously, it started from the idea of baseball. But now let's just turn it up a little bit."Turning it up a little bit" Savannah Bananas-style means the show starts hours before the game, with fans and players dancing outside before the doors open. Then, on the field.. gymnasts, the Banana Splitz; a dance team made up of grandmas, the Banana Nanas; and instead of cheerleaders, these guys, the Man-Nanas.
