Bananas

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw

For two days at the beginning of June, my son was a Savanah Banana, and he loved every minute of it.

If you’re not familiar with the Savanah Bananas, google them. You won’t be disappointed. They are a baseball team with equal parts baseball talent, dance moves and theatrics. They are sometimes described as the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, but they are also a marketing machine. They used social media to build their brand and now they sell out every home game at the historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Ga., but they’ve also sold-out MLB baseball stadiums (Fenway Park) and even an NFL stadium in Tampa.

Two years ago, my family and I got tickets to see them at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, and it changed my mind about the way we are doing kids sports. We should focus on less competition, more dancing. Less yelling, more laughing. These games allow kids to be kids and adults to be kids, too.

The Bananas take the very best components of baseball and combine them with dancing and music and fun. They are fueled by crowd engagement and embed themselves into the fans, literally dancing in the aisles of the stadiums, on top of the dugouts and outside of the stadiums before and after the games. They take selfies with fans, sign baseballs and shirts and even babies.

When we received an email about Banana Ball Camp in early December 2024, we signed our son up. Just like the tickets to a game, the camp slots were hard to get. There were seven sessions offered and only 100 spots available for each session. The camps are for boys and girls, ages 6-12 years old, and my son will turn 13 in July so we knew this would be his last shot. We didn’t know if he would get in, but we crossed our fingers and hoped for the best.

And in a couple of weeks later, we learned that he got in!

I feel the need to use so many exclamation points in this story because it’s Banana Ball! And everything is more exciting in Bananaland!

So we jotted the dates down on the calendar and decided with my job at the time, I would be the best one to take him.

In May, I got a new job. Two weeks later, I got into a traumatic car accident that literally turned my world upside down. I’m lucky to be alive. Physically, I’m better. Emotionally, I’m a little bit broken.

If anxiety could fuel a plane, mine could have gotten us to Savannah and back three times. My brain is on overdrive these days catastrophizing the smallest event into something traumatic, and while my safety net is my home with my family around me, I was determined to get my boy to Savannah.

What I lack in peacefulness these days, I make up for in courage. I do the thing I’m afraid of, so I can do the thing I’m afraid of.

So off we went to Savannah, my son packed up his baseball gear and I packed up my fear.

I wish I could tell you that once we safely landed after two short flights that I relaxed. I wish I could tell you that my jaw unclenched and I trusted that the world was unfolding as it should. I wish I could tell you that I was fully present. I can’t.

But what I can tell you is this. I enjoyed every minute with my son, and for the two days we were in Grayson stadium, surrounded by decades of baseball history and supportive kids, parents and baseball staff, I was filled with an immense amount of gratitude. The black cloud that has followed me since the accident felt a little less dark, and I leaned into just being. I watched him. I took pictures. I danced the “Hey Baby” dance with him.

My son asked me why I didn’t go for a walk during the camp. The stadium is in the middle of a beautiful park with walking trails, and he knows how much I love to walk, but I told him what I wanted to do more.

“I wanted to watch you play,” I said.

I loved watching him smile and laugh and learn trick plays and hit Banana home runs with his new teammates. I loved watching him high fiving Savannah Banana catcher Bill Leroy and awkwardly learning a new dance with first-base dance coach Maceo Harrison. I loved eating Five Guys cheeseburgers with him and not escaping from an Escape Room. I loved watching Tacoma FD with him in the hotel room, our heads propped up on our own beds, giggling at the inappropriate jokes and setting the sleep timer so we could fall asleep while watching the show. I loved eating ice cream that dripped down his legs and getting our steps in at the airport when both of our Delta flights were delayed coming home.

He is growing up fast, and I know our time together is limited. He will be a teenager in a month, graduating from high school in five short years and then he will be on his own.

I hope that when he looks back on this trip, he remembers not only being a banana for two days but knowing that I will always be his main peel. (I couldn’t help it.) 😊

June 13, 2025