Savannah Bananas 2027 Schedule Reveal: The 12 Gifts of Banana Ball I’m Hoping to Unwrap.

Christmas apparently comes in October now.

I’m fine with that. Especially if Jesse Cole is handing out cities instead of socks.

The 2027 Banana Ball City Selection Show begins Thursday, October 15, at 6 p.m. Eastern, with the reveal airing on ESPN2 and the Banana Ball YouTube channel. The event takes place at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, where fans will learn where their favorite teams are headed next season.

For those of us on the West Coast, that’s 3 p.m. An entirely reasonable time to stop whatever responsible thing we were doing and start planning baseball travel.

Or, in my case, Banana Ball travel disguised as responsible work.

As the announcements begin, here are my 12 gifts of Banana Ball. These are wishes, not leaked destinations. Nobody has slipped me a secret schedule.

Although my inbox is open.

12. A stop close enough to sleep in my own bed

I live on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle. Naturally, I’m pulling for something within reasonable reach.

Traveling to see Banana Ball has been a blast. But there is something appealing about watching the show and getting home without an airport security line.

If your city gets called tonight, I understand the yelling.

11. A destination I wouldn’t have picked myself

The opposite would also work.

Give me a city I haven’t explored. Somewhere I can spend the afternoon wandering around before heading to the ballpark.

That’s one of the reasons I like following this thing. A game becomes a trip, and suddenly you’re asking somebody where to get breakfast the next morning.

As Jesse Cole, the founder of the entire Banana enterprise, told me, “We always try to surprise our fans.” I bet many surprises are in store for people as some destinations many would not have picked will be picked.

10. Dates that survive the family calendar

Announcing a city is exciting. Finding out the date actually works? That’s when things get serious.

No graduation conflict. No wedding. No work commitment you absolutely cannot move.

Just an open square on the calendar.

Beautiful.

9. A clear picture of who plays whom

I want to know more than which stadiums are on the list.

Who’s coming?

The Bananas have the name recognition, but the Party Animals, Texas Tailgaters, Firefighters, Loco Beach Coconuts and Indianapolis Clowns have given fans other teams and personalities to follow.

The matchup matters when you’re deciding which trip to make. I’ll be looking for those details alongside the city announcements.

8. A ballpark with some history

Wrigley Field stuck with me.

There’s something about watching Banana Ball in a place where generations have watched baseball. You recognize the setting, then something happens on the field that would have been difficult to explain to the people sitting there 50 years ago.

I would happily do more of that.

7. Room for the smaller places, too

A giant stadium looks impressive. I also want the kind of night where you feel close to everything.

I’ve been struck by how the Bananas work to create that feeling even in large venues. Players and performers move through the crowd. Something happens nearby when you thought all the action would be down on the field.

Whatever buildings appear on the schedule, I hope that stays.

6. A trip that brings somebody new along

I already know I enjoy Banana Ball.

What interests me now is watching someone experience it for the first time. The friend who has only seen the clips. The relative who keeps asking what, exactly, I’m spending so much time covering.

Come with me. You’ll understand my calendar a little better afterward.

5. Five golden tickets

You knew that was coming.

Honestly, I’d start with two.

This is also where the practical part matters: a city announcement is not the same thing as having tickets. Before booking travel, check the official ticket instructions for the stop you want.

The Banana Ball ticket page is a better starting point than a stranger promising seats in the comments.

4. Enough time to enjoy the host city

I’ve been talking with Visit Savannah about what happens outside the ballpark, and it has changed the way I think about these trips.

Where will we stay? What else should we see? Could we add another day?

A schedule reveal gives fans dates. It also gives hotels, restaurants and local attractions a chance to become part of somebody’s weekend.

I want to cover more of that in 2027.

3. One announcement that makes me say, “Wait, what?”

I don’t need every stop to be predictable.

Give me something unexpected enough that I have to pause, read it again and send it to somebody.

I’m leaving this gift deliberately unwrapped. Predicting surprises seems like a good way to ruin them.

2. My first visit to Savannah

Here’s the funny part: I’ve followed the Bananas around the country, but I still haven’t been to Savannah.

That needs fixing.

I want to see Grayson Stadium. I want to walk around the city. And after talking with people who live and work there, I have considerably more questions than I started with.

A home date that works for that first trip would be a pretty good present.

1. More of the people who make this worth doing

The biggest thing I want from next season won’t fit on a schedule graphic.

It’s the conversations. The fans telling me why they came. The people working around the game who have terrific stories of their own.

Supriya Christopher of Visit Savannah put it simply when we spoke: “The unique quality of the Savannah Bananas is that they bring everyone together.”

That’s what I’ll be looking for behind all the city names tonight.

Yes, I want convenient dates and interesting ballparks. I would also appreciate those five golden tickets.

But mostly, I want another season that gives me a reason to call someone and say, “You’ve got to come see this.”

Now let’s find out where we’re going.

See additional Savannah Bananas On SI content!

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I Dreamed the Savannah Bananas’ 2027 Schedule—Then Things Got Completely Out of Control

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