The Savannah Bananas - INSIDE THE 'GREATEST SHOW IN SPORTS'

A NEARLY BROKE SUMMER LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM BECAME A SOCIAL MEDIA SENSATION, SELLING OUT STADIUMS AND DELIGHTING FANS

- KARA WARNER

Between batting and catching pop flies, ballplayers at Peoria Sports Complex in Arizona form an enthusiastic kick line, arms linked and legs pumping into the air as fans scream with appreciation. Then there's the singing and the dancing when no one is rounding the bases or turning double plays. To the packed stadium of fans, this is the fun they came to see from the Savannah Bananas exhibition team. Says fan favorite Dakota "Stilts" Albritton, 22, a former star high school baseball player who now pitches, fields and bats on stilts that make him 10 ft. tall, "I love meeting the kids: I want to give fans the baseball player encounter that I would've wanted as a kid."

That premise has made the touring Savannah Bananas team a viral sensation on TikTok and a great sports success story. Founded in 2016 by husband-wife duo Jesse and Emily Cole, the once-struggling collegiate summer league team went from near-bankruptcy to six years of straight sellouts thanks to their mantra: Fans First. Entertain Always. "Since day one we said we'd make baseball fun," says Jesse, 39. "That's all we try to do."