Savannah Bananas to return to Truist Park in 2027

Okay, baseball with a little bit of extra everything. You know what we're talking about here. The Savannah Bananas bring in their one-of-a-kind show back to Atlanta. And if you haven't seen them in action yet, well, here's a taste. One-of-a-kind. So this month, the Bananas announced they're returning to Truist Park for two games next June. This is part of a 2027 tour that's taken Banana Ball International. So joining us live is Kyle Luigs. He's a Georgia native, a former University of North Georgia player, and he's now in his 10th year, which is pretty incredible with the Bananas. So Kyle, it's so good to have you on the 11 o'clock show. Good morning. Yeah, thank you guys so much for having me and super, super excited to be bringing Banana Ball back to Atlanta and Truist Park. Very nice. Okay, first of all, we said Georgia native, so you got to tell us where you're from. Yeah, I was raised in Richmond Hill, but I actually spent four years up in the mountains in Dahlonega. So I've spent a lot of time around the Atlanta and greater Atlanta area, and I love it up there. Very nice. We always love when there is a Georgia native, especially one that can talk about something like the Savannah Bananas. It has played for 10 years, which is incredible. So coming back to Truist Park next June, this is something to get excited about. What was your reaction when you saw Atlanta on the schedule again? Because y'all were such a hit the last go-around. It was sold out. Yeah, I think that Atlanta has been a phenomenal stop for us over the past two years. um and obviously no brainer coming back for our third year um they've been such a great host and so hospitable to us as well as um adding a new teammate teammate um with our draft last night we actually just picked up Charlie Culverson who i consider to be an Atlanta Brave legend um so super excited to bring him back as long as well as some other new talent that we drafted last night and on top of that all the craziness going on um we're also going to be premiering our new movie um at Truist Park with 45,000 fans and all six teams available okay that is huge so let's talk about that tell us what we what we'll see uh from that movie and just what that's all about Kyle, um, so it's basically been a culmination of the start and the beginning and the origin of what Banana Ball is and you have to go back before Banana Ball even started actually which was in the Coastal Plains League, a summer league team, which is what I started playing for back in 2018. And it's just the whole crazy circus caravan, how we got to the point that we're at today, the highs, the lows, everything in between, really peeking behind the curtain and seeing what makes this thing so successful and so sought after by people all over the world. So interesting and love that there's a movie about this and that it's being premiered here in Atlanta which is something that's certainly very special I want to go back though you know you mentioned it's been 10 years of you being in the league and even from what we've known about Banana Ball seeing it grow and seeing it expand and seeing new fans come on board and everything just take off I mean how what's the best way I guess that you look at this and say that things have changed from when you first started definitely getting bigger um definitely bringing in more talent and expanding the horizon on what we push the limits to do on a baseball field um I think that nothing is ever too crazy or never too far out if you can dream of it and if you can have the right people and the right culture to make it come to life. I think that's been one of the coolest things to see over the past nine and now 10 years, which is pretty crazy for me to say how lucky I've been to be a part of all of this craziness. And I think that, you know, it's a testament to, you know, from the top down, we're not afraid to fail. We're not afraid to try new things um and as everybody in the organization organization says we're just getting started yeah just getting started so folks have you know have had a chance to see you on social media whether it's Instagram TikTok so much fun to follow along with y'all to see your videos and i feel like it's just you know really really put you on a global stage in such a big way but there's something different about seeing y'all play in person so let's talk about that i mean what would you say is you know makes it more what makes it different makes it special makes it even more electric when you're there at one of your uh one of your games um i think the biggest difference and the biggest thing that um you see in the live crowd versus um watching a game online on any of the youtube platforms um is how involved and how oriented we are around the fans that are in the stadium um we're constantly looking for ways to involve fans whether it's a fan catching a foul ball for an out um being a part of skits and stuff that we do during the game actually being able to be one of the representatives that can challenge a play at any point during the game we're constantly kind of pushing the envelope and how we can involve fans that are specifically in that stadium wherever we're playing on any given night and i don't think that you're seeing um the true or the the final draft of how how often and the different ways that we can involve fans in our shows so here's the thing about y'all too kyle is you make the playing look easy but y'all make the dancing and everything like that look easy let's talk about how much practice actually comes into being able to uh to pull off this whole deal i really appreciate that because i think even in my 10th year that i'm not a very good dancer um but lucky for us we've got we've got a very good support system starting from um the entertainment um department in our organization as well as leaders who choreograph our dances teach us dances oftentimes like we're five years old and are very patient with us to work through the avenues that we struggle. Specifically for the Bananas, I would have to shout out Macy O'Harrison. He's been there almost as long as I've been with the team, and he's nothing but great in breaking down these dances and making them a way that athletes can understand them and not just speaking to us like we only live in the dance world. But I would say practice, it's a lot. Most of us have been fortunate enough to play baseball our whole lives, whether that's through high school, college, even into independent league ball and affiliate ball and single A and double A. So that comes pretty natural. Dancing, not so much. So they've been able to meld those two things together beautifully. They're supporting us. Everybody wants it to look great. We will rehearse it just as much, I would say, if we're going to spend an hour and a half at practice doing baseball stuff, we're going to spend another hour and a half to make sure all those fine details are good man that's wild and really puts it into perspective you know that you guys are literally putting in blood sweat and tears to what we get to see you do you know one more question for you and i want to let you know my my neighbor uh ethan is dressing up as a Savannah Banana for Halloween which which i love but i can imagine for you you know a player who's been around this league for this many years it's got to be special uh to see all the fans to see the kids who think y'all are the greatest thing in the world so what's your message to uh to all the fans today kyle uh it's amazing i think that we've said it time and time again i think that um banana ball has the greatest sports in any um sporting environment that you can be in and i think uh back to myself you know growing up i was a big baseball guy i love the braves and obviously i love the rangers being born in texas and i remember dressing up and idolizing these characters the josh hamiltons the chipper jones um and dressing up as them and wanting to be them and thinking that you know they can do no wrong in my eyes they're the greatest ever um and now i think it's it's just unbelievable to think about the platform that we've been able to have because of the support of our fans from the beginning and all over the the world and the country um to be in the position that we're at to have the platform that people want to dress up like us for Halloween is just absolutely insane to me um and it's not something that we take lightly i think that it's our responsibility each and every day that we go out there to be the best role models and the best influences that we can be as well as great performers and baseball players what a treat for us to have a Savannah Banana on a Georgia native Kyle Lewis on with us today getting us excited about the 2027 uh season for y'all and of course those two games being played at Truist Park next June so Kyle thank you so much for checking in with us and i'm sure we'll be talking to you hopefully before y'all make your way back to Truist next June thank you very much and if you guys are looking to get tickets i know that the the ticket lottery for the Atlanta game specifically will end October 31st at 11 59 p.m so if you want to get your name in to get some tickets that's the best way to do it certainly worth it to give it a shot Kyle thank you again a real pleasure