Tourism agency issues ap-peel to lure Bananas team

Jimmy Nelson is asking the Savannah Bananas – please, with chocolate syrup and a cherry on top – to come to Northwest Indiana when the Banana Ball Championship League monkeys with its 2026 schedule.

“The hottest sports ticket in the country has got to be the Savannah Bananas,” said Nelson, director of sports for the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority in Hammond.

He was at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center in Porter Friday morning to shoot video asking the Bananas to play in Gary. It’s just one of many stops for Nelson and his video team.

Nelson had posters with corny sayings for participants to hold: “NWI thinks UR A-PEEL-ING!” “I’m head over PEELS for you!” “Let’s go nuts (crossed out) bananas.” “It would be bana-nice to meet you!”

That afternoon, Nelson was with Lake Station Mayor Bill Carroll at Riverview Park to get another video clip. He has similar video clips with mayors in Valparaiso, Portage, Crown Point, Gary and Whiting so far.

If you’re not familiar with the Savannah Bananas, think Harlem Globetrotters but for baseball, not basketball.

The team’s antics delight fans. It’s not just playing a game; it’s about entertaining the fans.

“I’m a total banana,” said yellow-clad Dawn Bettag, of Porter, after the video shoot. “I would love to take my son to the RailCats stadium to see them,” she said.

Bettag’s daughter, who does marketing for Indianapolis events, told her about the team.

Kim Rubens, of Porter, showed up in her duck flotation device. She’s a true baseball fan, having seen three ballgames in person in the three days before Friday’s video – the Cubs on the north side, the White Sox on the south side and the RailCats in Gary.

“Camping is just ducky,” the fun-loving teacher believes, explaining the inflatable ring around her waist. She drops off ducks on campers to spread the Jeep trend to more wacky – quacky? – vehicles.

“I like the entertainment, all the little stuff they have on the screen, the races going on,” at ballgames, Rubens said.

Curt Lesnick, of Porter, wore a bright yellow print shirt and yellow shorts. He found out about the video shoot Thursday night and wanted to participate. “They look like a very interesting group, and I’d love to see them,” he said.

Nelson is a fan of the Bananas, but he’s also a fan of the attention and dollars the team would bring to Northwest Indiana. They usually travel with about 200 people for a four- to five-day visit.

Nelson won a ticket lottery to see the Bananas play at Rate Field in Chicago on Aug.15. He’s trying to get the video done by then so he can present it to Savannah Bananas CEO and owner Jesse Cole. “He does everything on video,” Nelson said.

The Banana Ball Championship League has four teams, but there will be six next year, Nelson said. That gives him hope that the RailCats stadium could be suitable. It has 6,100 seats and could accommodate 8,000 with a little effort, compared to the 5,600 seats at Clemson, the team’s home base.

Nelson said another stadium in Northwest Indiana is possible in a few years, too.

Why not dream big and try to lure the team to make Indiana its permanent base? It worked for Indianapolis when it lured the Colts from Baltimore, after all.

Nelson wants as many people as possible to attend the Aug. 1 RailCats game, where the last video shoot will take place.

The video is a gamble. The Bananas might come, they might split. But even if they don’t find Northwest Indiana to their taste, the video won’t just slip on a banana peel and fall. It will have served another purpose. It will have brought Northwest together for something fun, Nelson said.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.