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mthwdcn t1_jcids91 wrote

Reply to comment by mekniphc in Victory! Minor League Baseball Players Are Finally Unionized. by theworkeragency

Nope, completely different organizations. Sand Gnats were NY Mets minor league team that left Savannah for Columbia SC cause City of Savannah wouldn’t pony up for better facilities.

Bananas are formally a Coastal Plains League “summer” team. They were unaffiliated with MLB and made up of mostly college players. They bring a whole new level of entertainment to their games and eventually left their league to become an exhibition (think Harlem Globetrotters) team. They are wildly fun and popular, on top of being really talented players. I wish they still played in a league, just for the variety of competition.

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NotOSIsdormmole t1_jcigycg wrote

They also disbanded the college team after last season to focus strictly on the banana ball pro team that everyone sees all over social media

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Sunsparc t1_jcij234 wrote

Their entire 2023 season is sold out too.

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Grantsdale t1_jcineqv wrote

Not exactly, they only sell tickets about 2 months in advance, so anything after May isn’t really available yet. But they had so much interest that they had to do a lottery and stop presale registration.

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yodakiin t1_jciitb8 wrote

I mean the attendance for Sand Gnats games was also kinda shit for the last couple years. The games weren’t terrible, but compared to the bananas, they were kinda, idk, depressing.

And I don’t know what they were asking for from the city in terms of facilities, but I can see the city being reluctant to do anything to Grayson Stadium (being a historic landmark is gonna make any kind of repair more expensive) for a team struggling with attendance (something the bananas have never had an issue with)

Anyways serves them right after replacing Nick the Gnat with Nate /s

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mthwdcn t1_jcikbzb wrote

Agreed. It was a little sad, but Gnats played way more games, so attendance was a little watered down. I think Bananas are trying to get new facilities now also.

I do feel they’ll end up victims of their own ambition and ditching league play was short-sighted. But their games are fun as hell.

Also it was Gnate the Gnat, put some respect on his name lol!

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yodakiin t1_jcinlts wrote

Not surprised. The Gnats weren’t wrong for wanting upgrades, but the bananas actually have leverage now.

Plus, considering they’re sold out until 2030 it seems like, idk why they don’t put stands back over in left like they used to have (although idk if the gnats had used them since smoltz played a game there on a rehab stint once lol)

And honestly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if they outgrew the city in and started playing mostly elsewhere kinda like how the globetrotters don’t really play in Harlem. I mean, last I heard, the bananas had more Twitter/instagram followers than every single MLB team. I don’t blame them for trying to capitalize on that.

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AlanFromRochester t1_jcj7gy8 wrote

> idk if the gnats had used them since smoltz played a game there on a rehab stint once lol)

MLB rehab visits often seem to be where huge minor league attendances come from

https://www.milb.com/rochester/ballpark/frontier-field

The local AAA park, 2nd baseball attendance record is that, 1st and 4th are exhibitions against the major league affiliate, 3rd is Hideki Irabu during his short stint in the minors transitioning from Japanese baseball

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phaedrus77 t1_jcl6wma wrote

>And honestly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if they outgrew the city in and started playing mostly elsewhere kinda like how the globetrotters don’t really play in Harlem.

The Bananas are currently on tour. They've been livestreaming their games on YouTube. Yesterday they played in Texas.

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Wont_reply69 t1_jcjk7kj wrote

I love the fun they bring but as a local I would love for them to get new facilities or just commit to the road full time so regular baseball could come back into Grayson.

I’ve lived in much smaller cities with low tier ball teams and loved nothing more than casually attending cheap games, grabbing a seat and getting ballpark concessions.

Honestly it’s the needing to buy suddenly announced tickets on flash sale months in advance that kills it for me. They’ll send me an email that there’s going to be another email tomorrow that releases tickets for a few days, so then I have to message any friends I would want to go with on a weekday morning to ask if they want to go to a baseball game in 3 months.

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mekniphc t1_jcig1kb wrote

I figured they just got sold to the carnival barker guy and lost their affiliation.

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agoia t1_jcj2krp wrote

The same fella owned another CPL team, the Gastonia Grizzlies, and was known for crazy promos and shit like a concessions item called the trash can nachos, and "all you can drink and eat" tickets. They had someone on staff whose title was "The Ticket Leprechaun" (hi Jake!)

The owner Jessie was always dressed in a yellow suit, like a cross between The Man in the Yellow Hat from Curious George and Gatsby.

I imagine a lot of the meals the players got looked much like the ones in the pictures about shitty food, and the players' host families for the Summers did a bulk of the good feeding.

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getjustin t1_jckn1x3 wrote

> I wish they still played in a league, just for the variety of competition.

If they didn't they wouldn't be as fun. They'd have to play by league rules. No fans catching fouls for an out...no sprinting to second on a walk while every player touches the ball....

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