Barnstorming baseball entertainers announce 'Banana Ball' games in Winnipeg, Toronto

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 Jesse 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, Ga.

"We were just starting to sell tickets and trying to get off the air bed we were sleeping on," Cole said.

Bananas right-fielder Reese Alexiades makes a catch between his legs in Seattle. (Lindsey Wasson/The Associated Press)

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, N.Y., 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.

Savannah Bananas turn the rules of baseball downside up

On June 26, Banana Ball will add another tweak at Notre Dame Stadium when two baseball fields will be positioned