Hall of Famer Joe Torre sends strong 6-word message to Savannah Bananas after coaching 1st Base at Yankee Stadium

Hall of Famer Joe Torre: “The Savannah Bananas Make Baseball Fun!”

Joe Torre coached 1st Base for the Savannah Bananas at Yankee Stadium, but the really incredible thing was his reaction to it after the game was over!

The Savannah Bananas played in Yankee Stadium back to back nights in front of a sold out crowd. They have a ton of incredible guests, but one stood out from the rest. As Jesse started making the announcment and he came out from the dugout, the crowd cheered as Joe Torre came back into Yankee Stadium, this time donning the Savannah Bananas yellow.

It wasn’t just the Yankees fans excited to see Joe Torre back in action, but Jesse Cole was super excited for this moment. He explained a lot of his feelings on a Linkedin post:

Jesse said, “Spending time with Yankees legend and Hall of Famer Joe Torre was certainly one of the highlights of the tour. His passion for the game of baseball is unmatched. But to see his appreciation for our game of Banana Ball truly meant a lot.”

In the video, Jesse details some of the rules of Banana Ball to Joe Torre and Joe’s reactions are priceless! You can see the genuine excitement from him as he realizes what the Savannah Bananas are all about.

One of my favorite parts of watching this was the fact that this game went to Showdowns, which is Banana Ball’s version of Extra Innings. If the game is tied after 9 innings, the game goes to a Showdown. Jesse explained the rules to Joe Torre. He explained that it is Pitcher and 1 Fielder vs. Hitter, and each team gets one chance to score. If it is still tied, then the showdowns continue and get increasingly more difficult with each round. Round 2 has no fielders, and Round 3 has the bases loaded with 1 fielder. Showdowns are the best overtime in sports, and Joe Torre was super impressed!

My favorite line he said in the video was: “You’re not making fun of baseball, you are making baseball fun.” What a way to sum up Banana Ball!

There were so many incredible guests that joined the Savannah Bananas at Yankee Stadium that we had to rank which were our favorites. You can find out who else joined them and see our ranking here: