NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Who’s ready to take a trip to Bananaland?
Two words …
Sellout. Crowd.
The Bananas are one of the biggest parties of summer baseball, and from Friday through Sunday, Harbor Park in downtown Norfolk will be their home.
The Bananas beat the Party Animals 3-2 in game one of their three-game series before more than 12,000 fans at Harbor Park. It was almost impossible to get tickets for an event like this, as the entire weekend was sold out within minutes, and the Bananas delighted the crowd with their ap-peeling antics — in bunches.
“We’re Tides fans, but this is fantastic,” said one fan decked out in yellow.
Said another: “As soon as we got the tickets, we bought all the yellow on Amazon.”
It started well before the first banana was thrown out — “I’ve only done it twice in junior high school, and I got detention,” said the fan who threw it out — and it continued well after the final out, but in between, there was two-hours of delightful chaos, with action happening on and off the field throughout.
But Harbor Park isn’t the exception to the Banana Ball world tour, it’s the rule.
The Savannah summer league team has sold out every single ballpark that they’ve been to in the United States this summer as part of their 2024 Banana Ball World Tour, including some of the biggest major league ballparks you can think of — 40,000 person crowds, 50,000 person crowds, all to see, theatrics, good baseball and have a whole lotta fun.
Savannah Bananas president Jared Orton talked about the decision to come to Norfolk, saying the city was among the top ones on their list to visit, and he talked about the club’s mission of spreading fun to baseball across the country.
Remember, if you have a ticket, both ferry rides and light-rail rides are free to and from Harbor Park to the hottest show of the summer.
If you were unable to get a ticket, be sure to tune into WAVY News and the FOX43 Sportswrap at 10:45 p.m. Friday and over the weekend, as we bring you inside Bananaland and give you all the coverage of America’s most fun summer league attraction.
