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.
The Savannah Bananas have peeled back the game of baseball and made it fun again.
This is their story.
“The Savannah Bananas are one of the greatest—and most improbable—stories in sports. This is the story of how Banana Ball was born, told by the inventor himself.”
– Esquire
“Cole’s belief in Banana Ball shines through on the page, and it found me ripe for the picking.”
– Washington Post
“Jesse Cole…has turned the Savannah Bananas, a minor league exhibition baseball team, into a world-class case study in marketing and customer experience…If you want to dig into the marketing lessons that Cole used to turn a minor league exhibition team into a sensation, you can start by reading Cole’s latest book”
– Forbes
“Banana Ball recounts [Cole’s] early passion for the game, how baseball introduced him to his wife, Emily, and the team’s wacky 2016 launch in the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League…what Cole hopes readers take away from the book is inspiration to stand out—with or without a yellow tux.”
– Atlanta
“To hell with designated hitters: This baseball-like game makes up the rules as it goes along. This particular circus is reimagining baseball as a game that not only purists and traditionalists can love. Anyone who can think outside the diamond will enjoy Cole’s entertaining yarn.”
– Kirkus
“Banana Ball provides an engaging look at the team’s founding and its “fans first, entertain always” philosophy…Where the book really scores is when it focuses on Cole’s personal backstory, including his relationships with his dad and Emily and the early days of trying to build the Banana empire.”
– Associated Press