DENVER (KDVR) — A different brand of baseball is headed to Coors Field this weekend as the Savannah Bananas come to town, and fans are excited to liven things up a little amidst a dreary Rockies season.
More than 24 hours before the team takes the field in front of a sold-out crowd, fans lined up to buy merchandise over at McGregor Square.
“A hat, some jerseys for some family members, some pins and a magnet,” said Greg Ostravich, digging through his seemingly bottomless yellow bag of Bananas merchandise.
A Highlands Ranch resident, and not even the biggest baseball fan out there, he says Banana Ball brings a different appeal.
“It just looks fun,” said Ostravich.
He’s not alone in that, though. Patrick, a young fan from Golden, waited in line for a jersey on Friday and he isn’t much of a baseball fan either; he just likes it when the Bananas do a backflip after making a catch.
“It’s just way better to watch,” said Patrick.
Flips, dancing between pitches, quirky rules are all part of the fan experience, Merry Brannon said, that drew her to the team.
“You don’t see it anywhere else. You don’t see that,” said Brannon.
Brannon, who you may recognize at Broncos games in her orange and blue wig, says her background as a superfan got her interested in the Bananas a few years ago.
“They’ve got these characters and they dress up and they make it fun,” said Brannon. “Like, it’s a fun experience. You want to come and see them play and watch what they’re going to do.”
She even volunteered to run the merchandise stand, saying the list of applicants for that job was almost as long as the lottery process for tickets to the game, speaking volumes of the team’s popularity.
“It was a way for us to still be part of it if you didn’t get a ticket,” said Brannon.
A hot ticket that has fans excited about the on-field performance at Coors Field for the first time in a while.
“The Monforts make money so they’re not interested in changing things,” said Ostravich. “So at least we’ll come get entertained.”
The Bananas play both Saturday and Sunday in front of sold out crowds.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
