<p><strong>The Savannah Bananas and Banana Ball</strong></p><p><em>"The noblest art is that of making others happy."</em></p><p>P.T. Barnum</p><p>The purity of baseball is something a lot of people take very seriously. So seriously, in fact, that orthodox approaches will be followed until stadiums are empty, sponsors have left and the team owners move the team to pastures new in search of something different.</p><p>Such had been the case over and over in the famous city of Savannah, Georgia. For years teams came and went, changed their names and their backers and still failed to engage the local community. As the historic Grayson Stadium began to show its age alongside its charm, a man, his wife and a yellow tuxedo came into town.</p><p>Since 2016 the Savannah Bananas have divided opinions. They overturned norms; Nanas replaced cheerleaders, tickets came with unlimited hot dogs and soda, and first base coaches were hired for their dance moves ahead of their baseball nous. They were taking baseball orthodoxy and doing the exact opposite. It could never work, could it?</p><p>Today, the Savannah Bananas are the biggest team in baseball outside of the Majors, and there are plenty of MLB teams who envy their ability to fill the biggest arenas across the country. But they don't actually play baseball, not exactly. They play Banana Ball, an engaging mix of ball, circus and showmanship that has exploded on and off the field - millions of fans in seats and many more still on social media have made this a multi-million dollar business that doesn't look to be slowing down.</p><p>And their secret? Put the fans first, ignore the norms, don't be afraid to try new things or be called crazy for doing so, and always remember that it's far worse to be ignored than insulted. This is Banana Ball, and you can criticise it all you want, it doesn't make it any less fun.</p>