Savannah Bananas vs. The Party Animals @ Yankee Stadium (Bronx, NY)

*This trip occurred on April 26, 2026.

The backstory of this post starts with this trip from Friday. Long story short: the Savannah Bananas and Party Animals were scheduled to be at Yankee Stadium the weekend of April 25-26, but rain on Saturday caused the first game to get pushed up to Friday.

However, I mentioned in that post that there were three tiers of seats available to me when I was buying tickets. I decided to get seats in the "middle ground" section for me and friends for the first game (i.e. the one that got moved to Friday), but...

...I also wanted to see what it was like to sit in seats that are normally WAY OUT OF REACH for normal folks like me (as in these seats are normally around $500 at their least expensive for the Yankees), so in the spirit of "it’s better to ask for forgiveness later than permission first"...I bought myself a "premium" ticket for the second game¹.

Originally, I was going to make the entire weekend experience one post, but then I ended up somewhere close to 2,000 words on just the first game alone (though that does include a small "recap" of 2025). Therefore, I opted to post about the first game the day after it happened and have this separated, as there was briefly a threat of another rainy day (though thankfully the rain ended before this game)².

The K Club in the Hall

First of all, since I was able to get to the stadium earlier than I had originally planned (due to not having to worry about going to church on Sunday morning), I was a bit more "able" to see some of the pregame things going on at the game. However, I felt that I had seen enough of the pregame stuff on Friday (save for a bit of merch hunting), and combined with the fact that I wasn't waiting for anyone this time, I decided to access the K Club area instead - partially as I would not have been able to the night before.

For Yankee Stadium (both last year and this year), the K Club perk was, in essence, early access to the Great Hall of Yankee Stadium (i.e. the entryway to the stadium after the gates). However, once you entered, you would not be allowed back in if you left as it constituted reentry (something largely prohibited in the major North American sports).

I thought it would be a bit more "calm" than the plaza outside, but it ended up being just as chaotic thanks to player signings. In addition, once the players left for their VIP meet and greet, there wasn't much to do except to wait for them to come back (as they make an appearance at the pregame rally, and walk through the K Club area prior).

The Pride of the Yankees

Since I had time and "personal freedom" before the game, I decided to walk around the stadium a bit more than I did on Friday. This includes me going all the way up to the third deck (which was closed last time), where I found that the view was kinda nice (even if you can't really see the game). I must note that there was nothing Bananas related up here - just the regular concession stands (plus the team store on the second deck - which had clearance NYCFC shirts last time - was closed).

Also, two exhibits that I didn't get to see last time were open, so I checked them out:

MONUMENT PARK: I mentioned Monument Park before, but this time, I was able to go down and check it out as it was open before the game. It's a little difficult to walk around when there are so many people inside, but it's an interesting look into historical figures in Yankees history (plus one of my favorite Immaculate Grid deep cuts: Red Ruffing).

THE YANKEES MUSEUM: located on the second deck of the stadium, the Yankees museum is more or less just a small showcase of old Yankees memorabilia, but several of the team's World Series trophies are on display, and it's interesting to see the trophy up close and see how the of MLB has changed over the years (case in point: the Milwaukee Brewers, who were an American League team until 1998³). Also, there was an exhibit commemorating two recent Yankees who made the Baseball Hall of Fame: CC Sabathia and...Ichiro Suzuki?⁴

THE YANKEES TEAM STORE: I didn't mention it on Friday, but the Yankees main team store was open for both games. There wasn't much that I was interested in getting there (because Yankees), but I VERY briefly considered getting a Team USA Baseball Jersey that they had (with the main reason I couldn't justify buying it being the name and number on the back...).

Once I was done with those, I spent the rest of the game in the area my seat was in (partially because I had to deal with a leg cramp):

The Champions Suite

The Champions Suite area comprises of the seats closest to the field along the foul lines and "outside" the infield (the ones closer to and behind the plate are known as the Legends Suite - don't ask how much they go for).

In order to get to this lowest part of the seating bowl, however, security guards are lined up right at the entrances to this area, and you need a wristband to access the seats (even during pregame from what I could tell). Said wristbands are available on the main concourse, and in an amazing coincidence, they were at the entrance to the section me and my friends sat in on Friday.

The seats here are CRAZY - it's a fully padded seat (as in both the seat and the backrest are padded) with small table next to the seat for food (which also has a "storage cubby" underneath it). It is definitely a very comfortable seat - though it would have been a bit more comfortable if seeing the infield wasn't so difficult since the chair itself is pointed toward the outfield (although getting to see the outfielders creep in on potential ball four sprints was interesting⁵).

There's also a private lounge accessible before and during the game; my understanding is that it includes all inclusive food and drink for Yankees games; for the Bananas, there was no food available (and I assume you had to pay for alcohol), but sodas were free.

Are the stars out tonight?

Friday night featured only one special guest appearance, and outside of it being led by Derek Klena (a Broadway actor turned Savannah Banana), it didn't involve anyone who played in the game (it was the cast of Aladdin).

This game featured more Derek Klena than the first game (though he didn't play), as he had more songs to sing this time (including a High School Musical parody with the all important Princess Potassia during the in-stadium pregame festivities).

During the wait for the player parade before gates (when K Clubbers were already in the stadium but no one else was), I heard someone rehearsing "The Winner Takes it All" by ABBA over the PA system and thought it was Klena, but even if it was him, he didn't sing it during the game - Ben Platt (of Dear Evan Hansen fame) did (in what seemed like an homage to West Side Story). In addition to that (which was between innings), this game also featured a singer from MJ the Musical during one of Kyle Jackson's walkups⁶.

However, unlike Friday's game, this game had two special guests who played for the Bananas (both as batters):

• Russell Wilson (the quarterback). Yeah, I got nothing...
• Tino Martinez. Inasmuch as I don't like the Yankees, I feel like Tino is one of the most underrated players of their late 90s dynasty era.

The game itself

Besides the stuff mentioned in the prior section, this game felt VERY different from Friday night's game in that it seemed slower. The two hour time limit expired BEFORE the bottom of the eighth inning, so the game was one inning "shorter" than standard baseball (and somehow didn't feature either team using their Golden Batter). It was also a much higher scoring game, as the Party Animals won 7-1 to earn a split of the weekend series.

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So that's the story of Banana Ball in New York City for 2026 (or at least my version of it). I went to both games, and while they were vastly different experiences IMO, they both had their moments that remind me of why I think there's something very interesting with Banana Ball despite all the craziness - even as a "traditional sports fan" (as many seem to despise the gimmicks).

Banana Ball will be back at some point in the near future (because I've already bought tickets for the entire year already), but it'll be a bit before the Savannah Bananas show up here again.

Also, I found a surprise from the Banana Fairy in my merch bag (I ended up buying a few things today) that I don't know if I should talk more about...

(P.S.: As a longtime church musician, I find it VERY interesting that one of the Bananas had a worship song as their regular walk up song...)

ON DECK

I found something amazing I want to do later this week, but once again, weather...