51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� Did you feel that? The foundation of our civilization and the basis of everything we know just shifted.

Knox Korte and Mason Goestenkors, from Highland, are both 11. They both play baseball 鈥� by coincidence, they both play shortstop and center field, though for different teams. Both, naturally, are fans of the 51黑料 Cardinals.

Friday, they came to Busch Stadium to watch the Savannah Bananas play.

They were asked who they would rather play for when they grow up: the Cardinals or the Savannah Bananas? And that was what was Earth-shattering.

鈥淏ananas,鈥� Knox said.

鈥淒efinitely,鈥� said Mason.

Such sentiments used to be sacrilege here, just a few yards from Busch Stadium. Maybe blasphemy. They鈥檇 better have a good reason.

鈥淚t looks fun,鈥� Knox said.

鈥淭hey don鈥檛 really care about the score. They just want to entertain. It鈥檚 really fun watching them,鈥� Mason said.

The Savannah Bananas play a fan-friendly game that resembles baseball, but isn鈥檛 quite baseball. They call it Banana Ball.

If a fan catches a foul ball, it鈥檚 an out. If a player attempts to bunt, he鈥檚 thrown out of the game. Batters can steal first base at any time. Players routinely break out into choreographed dance routines for no apparent reason. Outfielders sometimes perform backflips before catching a fly ball.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. They鈥檙e still insanely talented players, but they bring a new level of fun to the game,鈥� said Greg Laine, of Soulard.

Laine was among a few thousand fans who assembled at the Together Credit Union Plaza as much as five hours before Friday鈥檚 sold-out game pitting the Bananas against their archrival (and for a few years, their only rival), the Party Animals.

Saturday鈥檚 game also sold out. The tickets were gone in a matter of hours. The games, originally scheduled for April, were rained out 鈥� which, if possible, only raised anticipation for the weekend鈥檚 games.

Interest in the games was so high that the parking decks closest to the stadium charged more for the Bananas games, $50, than the $40 they typically charge for a Cardinals game.

Scott Ramsey came to the game from outside Greenville, South Carolina, though he admits he was already going to be in 51黑料, his hometown, anyway.

Ramsey lives near Clemson University, where the Bananas sold out the 80,000-seat football stadium, he said.

The Bananas are a social-media phenomenon. They started drawing attention on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, and have grown so big that they have had a game broadcast on ESPN.

As the fan base has grown, it has become passionate. Everyone wants to get in on the silly fun.

Merchandise tents, staffed by dozens of local residents, did a brisk and unceasing business before the game. Laine bought a Banana Nation flag and wore it as a cape. He鈥檒l also hang it from his balcony, he said.

The merchandise tents weren鈥檛 just hawking Bananas items. A smaller number of tents sold souvenirs for the weekend鈥檚 opponents, the Party Animals (the Bananas also play the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters).

Mark Prost, of Perryville, Missouri, wore a Party Animals shirt and had bought some Party Animals merchandise. They鈥檙e his favorite Banana Ball team.

鈥淏etter logo. Cooler name. Better jerseys,鈥� he said.

鈥淚鈥檒l be rooting for them aggressively, despite what the people around me think.鈥�

His wife, Samantha, knew who he was talking about. She was wearing a Savannah Bananas shirt.

鈥淚t is an electric experience, and you can鈥檛 go wrong with the OGs. You have to have someone to root against, and that鈥檚 the Party Animals. But you have to root for the good guys,鈥� she said.

Teresa Knese, of Crestwood, and her daughter Emily Walworth, of Affton, were decked nearly head to toe in Bananas gear: headbands featuring a stuffed banana, banana barrettes, banana earrings, Savannah Bananas T-shirts, and Knese wore yellow flip-flops.

They previously ordered Savannah Banana T-shirts from a Chinese company called Shein. When the shirts arrived, the bananas on the front were an unappetizing shade of brown.

鈥淚t was so funny. We were going to be the Rotten Bananas,鈥� Walworth said.

If the Banana experience is all about entertaining the fans, then the hours-long pregame show 鈥� they call it the Greatest Show in Sports 鈥� turned the idea up to 11.

It was hours of barely controlled mayhem. Bananas were thrown into the crowd. Players from both teams signed autographs and posed for pictures. A brass band played, accompanied by chunky male cheerleaders (the Dad Bod Cheer Squad) and a singer wearing a yellow princess dress and tiara. A guy who looks like Mr. T led a conga line through the crowd. A couple of Party Animals players mixed drinks while juggling.

At one point, some of the cheerleaders sang a barbershop quartet version of the Bananas Nation National Anthem: 鈥淚 Wish I Was an Oscar Mayer Wiener.鈥�

And it was all in the sun on a 90-degree day.

But that鈥檚 just the hype. The most important part of the Banana Experience is the game, and all the silliness to be found there.

Outfielders caught fly balls while twisting or jumping or doing backflips. Infielders snagged ground balls through their legs or tossed the ball to first base behind their backs. Clips of music played constantly, while players sometimes danced on the dugouts.

The selection of songs seemed designed to distract the batter: 鈥淚 Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas,鈥� 鈥淵MCA,鈥� 鈥淏aby Shark鈥� and Rebecca Black鈥檚 鈥淔riday.鈥�

Between innings, the entertainment amplitude only increased. The first base and right field seats faced off against third base and left field in a sing-off. Instead of a race between Clydesdales, a guy name Clyde (or perhaps Claude) raced a guy named Dale from the outfield to home plate, stopping on the infield to carry a woman on their backs the rest of the way.

And a baby race, featuring babies slowly crawling, and mostly not crawling, toward their mothers on the other side of a finish line, turned out to be the most adorable thing ever.

Amber Kratzer and her family made the three-hour drive from southeast Iowa to come to the game.

鈥淭he kids are huge fans of the Savannah Bananas. Anything that my kids are fans of, I鈥檓 a fan of,鈥� she said.

Her 14-year-old daughter, Taylor, is a fan of one Banana in particular.

鈥淚 want to see KJ hit a home run,鈥� she said, referring to shortstop Kyle Jackson. 鈥淚 think he鈥檚 a really good infielder.鈥�

Her mother said, 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 hurt that he鈥檚 easy on the eyes, right, Taylor?鈥�