Target Field Goes Bananas For a Weekend | Sports

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota partied at Target Field like they haven’t partied in years. All that pent-up baseball energy was released as the Savannah Bananas and Loco Beach Coconuts had Target Field’s full attention across three sold-out, high-energy baseball games last weekend. 

It was an environment that a-peeled to the hungriest of baseball fans – a bunch of fun.

And if you’re tired of the banana jokes, don’t worry they’ve already split town.

But not before putting on an absolute show for the largest crowds Target Field has seen in quite a while.

And it can be easy to slip up and not take them seriously, with the performative dance routines, bright yellow attire and a 10-foot-tall player on stilts. But when you’re watching the Savannah Bananas, you’re getting quality baseball along with the show. Take for instance a play that has to be seen to be believed. It was quite possibly the greatest pop-fly catch you’ve ever seen -and maybe even the catch of the century, as 39,000 fans watched Robert Anthony Cruz (aka Coach RAC) pull off a mid-air backflip while catching a fly ball in left field. It’s a must-see if you haven’t by now.

But baseball fans weren’t just watching the Bananas against the Coconuts, they were in on the action, and they were paying attention.

One of the many quirks of Banana Ball is when a fan catches a foul ball in the stands, it counts as an out. And a record 10 fan-caught foul balls were made at Target Field.

A magical weekend didn’t end there. In a grand gesture to Minnesota baseball fans and the Twins organization, the Bananas brought out some big names for part of the fun. They knew what buttons to press when they suited up Justin Morneau for some action at first base, who recorded several defensive outs. Brian Dozier returned and suited up for an at-bat. Trevor May returned to the mound, and the legendary Joe Mauer threw out the first pitch and all-timer Tony Oliva received a standing ovation from his beloved home crowd. 

The Savannah Bananas sang “Let’s Go Crazy” by Prince and even formed a “Flying V” to throw out a pitch in a nod to the Mighty Ducks before ending a 2-1 Bananas series win with a water balloon fight against the Coconuts. 

And as entertained as three-day sold out crowds were, the feeling was mutual, according to a goodbye post on the team’s social media on Monday:

“Minneapolis, what can we say?! 3 straight games of insane energy and we wouldn’t have had it any other way! 

We couldn’t come to Target Field without special appearances from Minnesota Twins legends Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Trevor May, Justin Morneau and Tony Oliva… and what a warm welcome back you had for them all! 

From Robert Anthony Cruz’s insane Iron Lotus catch to BREAKING THE FAN CAUGHT FOUL BALL RECORD, this weekend will go down as one of the best in Banana Ball history!

We had the time of our lives here in Minnesota and can’t wait to keep the good vibes going in Denver!”

And the show goes on.