2.8 million TikTok followers. 610k Instagram followers. Not only are these numbers more than any MAJOR-league team's, it is all organic and all because of one thing- the Bananas make baseball fun.

They throw out a first banana rather than a ball. Their first-base coach does Thriller dance moves between innings. Players run into the crowd to hand out roses. The team sings Stand by Me after every game. The $20 ticket is food all-inclusive! And they hold exhibition games where the rules are bananas- if a fan catches a foul ball it's an out, and players go to bat on stilts, or wearing a banana uniform. They have two cheer squads- the "dancing Nanas" (age 70+) and the Man-ananas, all Dad Bods. They have a 20k+ waiting list for tickets (every game is sold out). And they put on their show with a cast of 110 (the Harlem Globetrotters use 30).

Jesse Cole is their beating heart. Growing up with divorced parents, he clung to playing catch with his dad every night, an 8-year-old with dreams of pitching at Fenway. His dad helped him become a college star (when he pitched at Fenway!) and a pro-prospect before injury derailed Jesse's hopes of ever playing professionally. But now he's involved with professional baseball in ways he never could have imagined- he met the love of his life at a game, he calls his dad from the outfield after each Bananas game, and now he hopes to bring the Bananas to fill Fenway Park in 3 years-his next big goal. This is his story, of baseball, love, leadership, and going just a bit bananas for all.

The Savannah Bananas have peeled back the game of baseball and made it fun again.

This is their story.

For his entire childhood, Jesse Cole dreamed of pitching in the Majors. Now, he has a life in baseball that he could have only imagined- he met the love of his life in the industry; they shaped Savannah, Georgia's professional team into the league champion Savannah Bananas; and now the Bananas have restyled baseball itself into something all their own- Banana Ball.

Fast, fun, and outrageously entertaining, Banana Ball brings fans right into the game. The Bananas throw out a first banana rather than a ball. Their first-base coach dances to "Thriller" or Britney between innings. Players run into the crowd to hand out roses. And the rules themselves are bananas- if a fan catches a foul ball it's an out; and players might go to bat on stilts or wearing a banana costume. And their fans absolutely love it.

But the reason this team is on the forefront of a movement is less about the play on the field and more about the atmosphere that the team culture creates.For the first time in this book, Jesse reveals the ideas and experiences that allowed him to reimagine America's oldest sport by creating a phenomenon that is helping fans fall in love with the game all over again.

This is a story that's bigger than baseball and bigger than the yellow tuxedo Jesse wears as the "ringmaster" of every game. And to understand the movement, you have to understand the story at its core. In Jesse's telling, it takes heart, innovation, and joy (and a bit of tropical fruit) to make something wholly original out of one of America's great traditions. His story is part Moneyball, part Field of Dreams, part The Greatest Showman. It is a personal story, a creativity story, and the story of a business scrapping for every success. And it has several distinct love stories-love stories like Jesse and his father, Jesse and his wife, the team and the sport of baseball, the team and the fans.

This is Jessecalling his dad from the outfield after each Bananas game, and putting unending creativity into a team with the ultimate goal of bringing the Bananas to the professional ballparks he himself never got to play in. This is his story of baseball, love, leadership, and going just a bit bananas for all.