Who are the Savannah Bananas? Here’s what to know before they play at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday.

Citizens Bank Park is going to be absolutely rocking on Saturday for baseball — but not for the Phillies. While the Phils are up in Queens to face the Mets, the Savannah Bananas are making the Bank their home park on Saturday.

You may have heard of the Savannah Bananas, a larger-than-life novelty baseball team, or seen clips of them on social media. Here’s everything you need to know ahead of their visit.

The Bananas don’t play by traditional baseball rules. They wear kilts and perform choreographed dance routines during the game, specifically their 3-2-2 dance, which comes in the third inning, second batter, second pitch. The Bananas also have the world’s tallest pitcher, a man who plays on stilts. The umpire dances, they’ve got a Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad and a senior citizen dance team. This is not your standard baseball game.

The Bananas are always changing their routines, making each game a unique experience on its own, but they do still play baseball. The walk-ups and post-run celebrations are some of the most energetic parts of the game.

The game at Citizens Bank Park is sold out, but there are tickets available on the secondary market.

» READ MORE: Philly native Ivan Traczuk grew up at the Vet, beat cancer, and now helps the Savannah Bananas go viral

The Savannah Bananas were previously a college summer league team, founded in 2016. They played in the Coastal Plain League. To draw fans to the ballpark, they named the team the Savannah Bananas, and once they got there, they shocked fans with dancing players, the senior citizen dance team, and all-you-can-eat concessions (not getting those at the Bank, sorry, guys). The experiment was such a success that the college summer league team was discontinued in 2022, and the team committed full-time to “Banana Ball.”

A few athletes came up through the summer league team, including Beau Sulser, who made major league appearances with the Pirates and Orioles; Cade Marlowe, who played with the Mariners; Brett Wisely (Giants); Braden Shewmake (Braves, White Sox); and Rylan Bannon (Orioles, Braves, Astros).

The Savannah Bananas also have had former MLB players and other celebrities make surprise guest appearances during their games, like John Cena, former Phillie Shane Victorino, Jonny Gomes, and Johnny Damon.

Will there be a special guest at the Bank on Saturday? There are plenty of options, from current and former Philly athletes to local celebrities.

» READ MORE: Meet the Savannah Bananas before they take over Citizens Bank Park

During most of their games, the Savannah Bananas play the Party Animals, the Washington Generals to their Harlem Globetrotters. Unlike the Generals, the Party Animals do occasionally win. But the Party Animals are the comparably less-silly counterpart to the Bananas, and tour around the nation to be their primary adversary.

The Bananas have a few other opponents, like the Firefighters, but primarily play the Party Animals and will play them on Saturday.

Savannah Bananas merchandise will be available at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, and also is available online, where you can buy Bananas, Party Animals, or Firefighters jerseys, T-shirts, and more.

The Bananas call themselves a “barnstorming” baseball team. Barnstorming is when a team travels around and plays home games at a variety of cities and venues, instead of just sticking to its home city. The Bananas have traveled to Tampa, Fla., Las Vegas, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and other cities in 2024.