Savannah Bananas Pittsburgh, PA
This weekend I made my way to Pittsburgh for 2 Savannah Bananas games vs the Texas Tailgaters. I flew in on Thursday morning and was able to snag a Southwest flight that had a stop in Baltimore but I didn’t need to get off the plane. Interestingly enough the plane then went on to Nashville and then California and there was at least one gentleman who got on in Baltimore that I was going all the way to Cali on it! The flight(s?) were uneventful, I got myself a ride to the hotel which was right across the street from PNC Park. I had debated going to check out early merch but ended up getting wrapped up in a book I was reading and finished it Friday shortly before I needed to head out for the first game!
I made my way through the gates around 2:30 and the Tailgaters were out and about signing. I ended up finding Zach (Bam Bam) Blankenship and giving him one of my disposable cameras and he seemed really excited about having it. I got to VIB and waited for my friend to meet me and managed to get her in via a much more convenient entrance and we waited to make our way to the field. It was very exciting that everyone went via a ramp so I didn’t have to wander around to find an elevator. The ramp however was quite steep. We went to KJ first as he is my friend’s nephew’s favorite and then made our way around to everyone else. Priorities, you know? I ended up giving my 2nd camera to Cowboy Kyle. We then figured out how to get to our seats, which were about 10 rows up from 1st base. Jesse had teased a BIG guest that we wouldn’t expect for the game.
The game ended up being one of the most exciting ones I think I had ever been to. The special guest was Mr. Beast, who did a contest to give away $50,000. He chose 2 seats from the crowd and if his friend got on base one would win $50k, if he got out, the other would. Well, in that ‘I can’t believe this isn’t scripted’ kind of banana ball way, his friend got out TO A FAN IN THE CROWD. Mr Beast ended up giving him $10k and then later had his friend bat again and he won another $50k. The poor girl lost both rounds and went away empty handed.
The Tailgaters were ahead 3-2 after scoring 5 in the 7th, with DR Meadows at the plate in the 8th with about 5 minutes on the clock – I was like “He just needs to hit a homerun, no wait, KJ is up next, he can do it.” AND HE DID! That tied it 3-3 going into the 9th, but both teams didn’t score so we went into showdowns. There ended up being THREE rounds of show downs (and we were kind of begging for the game to be done because it was getting chilly!) For the 3rd round the bases were loaded and EJ ended up hitting a GRAND SLAM to win the game for the bananas!
Saturday my friend and I returned to VIB, while leaving her husband safely in the KClub bar to meet us at our seats later. This time we decided to forego autographs on the posters and just go for photos with the players and knew we needed to see Jackson and Coach RAC after their lines were too long on Friday. Of course, we had to see KJ again, pick up my cameras from Bam Bam and Cowboy Kyle (who had forgotten it in his locker but was able to go back to get it) and then saw who else didn’t seem to have long lines and also met Reese, Taj, and Sunshine among a couple of others. We made our way to the ADA seats and waiting for my friend’s husband to join us. She grabbed me a drink and banana dog before the crowds got too out of control – and it was soooo good. I couldn’t eat it like a hotdog like it was intended because of too much chocolate sauce, but I was impressed from the first forkful of strawberries and chocolate sauce.
This game didn’t end up being quite as exciting as Friday’s, but it was still a lot of fun. We had noticed there was a band set up outside the dugout during VIB and got a glimpse that the drums said “Gym Class Heroes” (which was quickly covered up after we noticed) so we had a pretty good idea that we were getting a musical guest. Travie McCoy ended up joining Dalton for his walkup, falling on his way to the field (which was edited out of the reel the bananas posted) and doing a few songs before Dalton got his at-bat. We also got 2 former pirates – Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson. The Bananas won 2-0 and I think the Tailgaters only had a couple of hits! The game was a whole heck of a lot faster than the night before.
Sunday I overslept, ran around like a crazy person to pack and get out of my hotel room by 11am. Then I opted to get a “wait and save” ride to the airport – that came in 3 minutes. My flight wasn’t until 3:45 so I figured I had time to wait – but of course it came quickly. I also immediately got a wheelchair – again – of course – because I had all the time in the world.
The flights home were quick and easy and I made it home by 9pm! And then I had all of Labor Day to relax.
Just a couple more weeks until my last series of the regular season!