Savannah Bananas reveal which 'Banana Ball' rules they want to see in MLB
By Adam Weinrib
FanSided's Adam Weinrib spoke with Savannah Bananas players Jackson Olson, Ryan Cox and David Meadows live from the Little League World Series. The Bananas planned to hang out with fans and hand out Uncrustables, the official PB&J sandwich of the LLWS.
While the Little League World Series certainly represents the height of competition, fueled by the "biggest games" of these young athletes' lives, the event's lasting legacy is one of sportsmanship, friendship, and enthusiastic expressions of the love of the game.
That, of course, is the Savannah Bananas' specialty, too; baseball's traveling band of choreographed trick-shot innovators exude joy. Their exceptional skills keep fans invested once they're past the gate, but experimental rule changes, audience participation, MLB star cameos, and joyous lip dubs have roped in hordes of enthusiastic supporters over the years. The Bananas are currently approaching the end of a sold-out-across-the-board US tour (seriously, don't even think about the secondary market), and if you want to see their particular brand of merriment and innovation, they're the only game in town. Familiar MLB players from Jason Kipnis to Corey Kluber to Jonathan Papelbon ("It's kinda like Field of Dreams, with players coming out of the cornfield," Olson said) have joined the revolution at every stop.
So should MLB learn anything from the Bananas' way of life? When asked about how they'd spend 10 minutes with Rob Manfred, shortstop Ryan Cox noted to FanSided that the league has been more in touch with their players in recent years, but should continue to listen to them when they call out areas of needed focus or improvement.
Major League Baseball has attempted to learn and adapt in recent years, from mic'ing up players to adding a pitch clock, distilling the action and hooking new viewers. But, according to the Bananas, there still might be a few untapped tricks that could ratchet things up another couple of notches for future generations.
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Savannah Bananas have rule change pitches for MLB, Rob Manfred
"If I had the playbook in front of me and I could change a rule, it'd probably be 'No Stepping Out of the Box'," Olson told us. "That literally takes so much time. Robinson Cano would hit a ground ball, he'd walk around the umpire, it would take 20, 25 seconds. We have guys striking guys out in 20, 25 seconds."
David Meadows instead opted to migrate the Bananas' new rule, the Golden Batter Rule, to MLB action. Fans of the World Baseball Classic's final showdown between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout would likely agree.
"At any point in the game, you have one Golden Batter, and you can select any hitter to take that at-bat. If I could see Trout with two outs hit against Shohei Ohtani, I'm taking that every time," Meadows emphasized. Cox agreed, too; heading down the stretch, MLB could benefit from giving their Patrick Mahomes/Steph Curry the "last shot" during the games that could dictate a playoff push.
If Commissioner Manfred is interested in learning more, the Bananas are all ears. Otherwise, the silver lining is that there remains only one place where you can choose the batter-pitcher matchup you'd most like to see with the game on the line, then watch the drama unfold. That's Banana Ball, and it's awfully hard to snag a ticket for a reason.