A.M. ATL: 🍌 Banana ball arrives in metro Atlanta
Morning, y’all! TGIF. Looks like rain aplenty today and into Saturday morning. But Sunday should be nice, with highs approaching 70 degrees.
Today’s newsletter introduces you to the Savannah Bananas brand of baseball, checks in on the General Assembly and offers a first-person account of an execution. Plus: things to do this weekend and a few of your Freaknik memories.
Let’s get to it.
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A BONKERS BUNCH
What exactly is “Banana Ball,” you ask?
It’s part baseball, part circus. Part Harlem Globetrotters, part dance party. It’s a slightly unhinged internet-era experiment that became a vibe all its own. And it’s coming to the Atlanta area for the very first time.
Courtesy of the Savannah Bananas.
“Only curmudgeonly baseball purists won’t have a good time at a Bananas game,” Adam Van Brimmer, the AJC’s Savannah bureau chief, told me.
Adam wrote a handy-dandy explainer ahead of the Nanners’ sold-out weekend run at Gwinnett County’s Coolray Field. You should read it! But we’re gonna discuss a little right here, too.
So ... what? Where did this come from? The Bananas started as a “normal” summer league team for college players in 2016. A few years later, owner Jesse Cole — a self-described acolyte of P.T. Barnum — threw together a few exhibition versions of the zanier game.
- The team’s shenanigans were promoted heavily on social media. They went viral over and over. The schedule expanded.
- After the 2022 season, Cole squashed the regular team and went all-in on the barnstorming Bananas.
The sensation only grew from there. The team’s current tour includes 84 games in 29 cities, with stops at five Major League Baseball stadiums.
Examples, please. I see this needs a tad more explanation. Banana Ball works because it’s only sort of like baseball.
- Your average game may include a player on stilts. Or one of his teammates doing a full lip-synced version of “I’m Just Ken” before his at-bat. Or a choreographed dance routine involving the whole squad. Flaming bats? Backflips? Sure. Celebrity cameos? Absolutely.
- The rules are wild, too. Games are limited to two hours. Each inning is worth a point — whichever team scores the most runs wins the inning. Bunts are cause for ejection. Batters can’t walk, but they can try to steal first base. Fan caught a foul ball? That’s an out.
Then there’s the “sensory overload” (Adam’s words, meant in a good way) that oozes from every other part of the stadium. The Man-nanas (a male cheerleading squad) and the Nanas (a dance team of senior-age women) make good examples.
OK, I’m sold. Can I go? Sure! But only if you’re willing to shell out a couple hundo per ticket on the secondary market. This bunch is that popular.
“People are telling us coming to our games is on their bucket list, that they’ve been waiting years to get tickets,” Cole, the team’s owner, said. “I’m a positive thinker, but even I never imagined this level of support.”
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BILLS, BILLS, BILLS
With only a few more working days left in the session, the General Assembly is a flurry of activity.
- Both chambers reached an agreement on legislation loosening hospital regulations.
- A controversial pair of bills targeting immigration moved forward, too.
- Democrats’ last-ditch effort to expand Medicaid did not.
- The latest version of a bill tweaking TV and film tax credits, meanwhile, would benefit a lot of big studios — but not Tyler Perry’s.
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MORE TOP STORIES
» Two teenagers triggered a manhunt near Augusta after authorities say they knocked out a deputy and escaped from a youth detention center.
» In a new first-person account, the AJC’s Jennifer Peebles describes witnessing the execution of Willie James Pye as a somber occasion.
» A jail monitoring company led by a state lawmaker uses hard-nosed business practices — and sometimes threats — to get ahead.
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TOUCHING TRIBUTE
The National Infantry Museum near Georgia’s Fort Moore will dedicate a newly renovated replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall next week. That means a lot to the local family of Army Maj. William Callinan.
“Having it right here in this area where we can all see it and touch it and be a part of it has been very moving,” the fallen soldier’s daughter said.
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NATION AND WORLD
The United Nations Security Council expects to vote today on a U.S.-sponsored resolution declaring “the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israel-Hamas war.
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The Justice Department sued Apple, accusing the tech giant of illegally monopolizing the smartphone market and keeping prices artificially high.
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MORE MADNESS
The men’s NCAA basketball tournament got off to a roaring start Thursday, with 14th-seeded Oakland beating Kentucky to deliver the biggest upset of the day. Now it’s the women’s turn.
Today’s slate includes undefeated top seed South Carolina taking on Presbyterian (2 p.m. on ESPN). Caitlin Clark and Iowa play Saturday (3 p.m. on ABC).
Local sports highlights:
- Dejounte Murray nearly recorded a triple-double but the Hawks fell to the Suns, 125-118.
- Gatorade named Ace Bailey of McEachern High School their boys basketball player of the year for Georgia. He’s one of three finalists for national player of the year, too.
- Atlanta United travels to Toronto on Saturday (7:30 p.m. on AppleTV).
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HAVE A WEEKEND
Even if you missed out on Bananas tickets, there’s plenty going on around town this weekend, including the return of “Toylanta,” a chili cook-off in Alpharetta and a “Peter Pan” ballet in Lawrenceville.
Or maybe try “Ale Max Day,” a celebration of sneakers and beer, tonight at Monday Night Brewing.
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FREAKNIK REMEMBERED
Have you watched Hulu’s new Freaknik documentary yet? If you’re not quite there, maybe start with this collection of (printable, family-friendly) stories from folks who were there.
» The origins of Freaknik, as told by one of the organizers
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MORE TO EXPLORE
» Over 50 and not a runner? How to train for the AJC Peachtree Road Race
» Cobb considers new stormwater fee structure to fund repair backlog
» DeKalb school resource officers make thousands in OT pay
» Focused on Beltline affordability, Murphy Crossing hits key milestone
» Motorcyclist tries to escape troopers with swim in Lake Lanier, GSP says
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ON THIS DATE
March 22, 1982
Beverly Harvard became the first woman to serve as a deputy chief of the Atlanta Police Department.
A dozen years later, she’d become the agency’s first female chief — and the first Black woman to lead a major American city’s police department.
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PHOTO OF THE DAY
AJC photographer John Spink recently captured Diego Martinez helping close the big-top tent for Germany’s Great Bavarian Circus, which operates at Stone Mountain Park through March 31.
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ONE MORE THING
Before we go, enjoy this bit of pre-weekend positivity: A Macon business owner with autism bought a farmers market to help feed homeless folks. “I know what it is like to struggle,” Joshua Hess said. “I know what it is like to feel like no one is listening.”
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Thanks for reading to the very bottom of A.M. ATL. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
