CHICAGO– The Savannah Bananas, the unconventional independent baseball team that has become a nationwide phenomenon, will bring its unique “Banana Ball” brand to 18 Major League Baseball stadiums and three football stadiums by 2025, it was announced Thursday.

Owner Jesse Cole said sellout crowds are expected at each of these locations, including Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

“We played in front of 1 million fans last year,” Cole told ESPN. “Next year we will play in front of two million fans. Maybe that sounds boastful, but our waiting list is currently three million.”

The Bananas will be joined by the Party Animals, the Firefighters and a new team, the Texas Tailgaters, on a 39-match tour running from March to September.

The team will be in Chicago on August 15 and 16, according to social media posts announcing their schedule.

The football stadiums with tour stops are Memorial Stadium (Clemson), Nissan Stadium (Tennessee Titans) and Bank of America Stadium (Carolina Panthers).

The Bananas will also play two games each at the home ballparks of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals. , Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins.

SEE ALSO | Chicago White Sox break modern-era MLB record with 121st losing season

The visits were announced Thursday evening during the organization’s annual “World Tour City Draft” on YouTube, after which fans could enter a raffle via the team’s website.

Banana Ball made its way to six MLB stadiums this year – Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, Houston, Cleveland and Washington – drawing huge crowds at each location, with tens of thousands of fans showing up hours early to take part in the pregame festivities . Prominent former Major League players such as Ryan Howard, Roger Clemens, Jamie Moyer, Shane Victorino, Corey Kluber, Jonny Gomes and Josh Reddick played in those games.

“As we go to these Major League stadiums, we’re being approached by a lot more former stars – All-Stars, World Series champions, MVPs – wanting to be a part of it,” Cole said. ESPN. “It’s just wild.”

Born out of a desire to speed up the pace of baseball games and keep fans engaged, Banana Ball’s experimental phase began just over five years ago. It is now played year-round by the Savannah Bananas and their affiliated teams.

The concept consists of 11 lines. Leaving the batter’s box results in a strike, and bunts warrant an ejection. Mound visits are not permitted. Each inning exists as its own entity and games are limited to two hours. Fans may challenge calls and can record an out by catching foul balls.

Instead of a traditional walk, batters sprint around the bases on a fourth pitch and continue to advance until the defending team throws the baseball to each fielder. In the event of a passed ball or wild pitch, batters can “steal first” regardless of the count. A one-on-one showdown is held instead of extra innings, with the field emptying out except for one fielder, the pitcher and his catcher, and the batter attempting to hit an inside-the-park home run after putting the ball in play brought.

An eleventh rule, the ‘golden hitter’, was recently introduced, giving each team one chance to field any hitter from anywhere in the lineup.

Cole’s idea book for Banana Ball is now part of an exhibit unveiled in September 2023 at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Thursday’s series of announcements included the creation of the Banana Ball Championship League, which will begin in 2026 and consist of six teams, with the goal of Cole eventually “bringing Banana Ball around the world.”

“In the beginning, people said, ‘You guys are just the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball,’” Cole said. “I take that as a compliment because the Globetrotters fundamentally changed the game of basketball and have continued to do so for 100 years.

“But we look at ourselves as if we are building a sport. We are building something that future generations can enjoy and creating something really special. That’s where this dream becomes much bigger.”

In the fall of 2015, Cole and his wife, Emily, purchased the former Class A affiliate of the New York Mets, based in Georgia, to serve as a new collegiate summer league team. Their debt quickly grew to $1 million. They sold their house in North Carolina, emptied their savings accounts, moved to Savannah, Georgia, and immersed themselves in the arduous task of selling oddball baseball to staunch traditionalists.

The momentum started to turn when their team mascot, the Bananas, was announced. The team’s circus-like entertainment ultimately made the Bananas a big draw. The team made games affordable and treated them like major events, with players wearing kilts, performing choreographed dances and participating in outlandish fan events. The Bananas soon began selling out Grayson Stadium, the century-old ballpark that once housed Babe Ruth, and Banana Ball eventually became their year-round style of play.

Their brand has grown exponentially since then.

“It’s something I never could have imagined,” said Cole, a former collegiate pitcher. “Walt Disney has always been my greatest mentor. He said, ‘It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.’ I just feel like in many ways we’re doing the impossible.”

ABC7 Chicago contributed to this report.