ATLANTA — Savannah Bananas players turned a Dunkin' on Powers Ferry Road into a meet-and-greet on May 10, greeting fans from 9 to 11 a.m. near Truist Park as the team spent the weekend in metro Atlanta for its games.
Players served orders, posed for photos and handed out autographs while fans lined up for selfies and even a few dance moves. Families from both the Atlanta and Savannah areas came through the store, and some left with Dunkin' merchandise and gift cards as the Bananas kept the crowd moving between smiles and quick conversations.
For Dakota Albritton, the draw was not hard to explain. “Dealing with the fans, that's probably my favorite part of all this,” he said, adding that he thinks about the children in the crowd every time he meets them. “I always look back and put myself in the shoes of these little kids,” Albritton said. “I always try to give them the interaction that I would have wanted at that age.”
The stop fit the team’s bigger identity. The Savannah Bananas have built a national following through Banana Ball, their fast-paced, fan-focused version of baseball, and their Georgia roots have helped turn the club into more than a semi-pro team. It has become a statewide phenomenon with an entertainment brand attached to the baseball.
That also made the Atlanta stop feel personal. Albritton said Truist Park carries its own pull for players and young fans alike. “Truist is cool. We played there last year,” he said. “I think every kid that grew up in baseball around Georgia, that was kind of always their dream.”
The question now is not whether the Bananas can draw a crowd in Georgia. They already did that at the Dunkin' door on Saturday morning. The bigger answer is how far their appeal will keep stretching as weekend games and off-field appearances like this one turn the team into a traveling event as much as a baseball club.
