As team sports slowly attempt to make it back during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, two current members of the Georgia baseball team are already getting a taste to what it’s like to be back on the field.
Bulldog pitcher Jack Gowen and outfielder Ben Anderson are both having a blast as members of the Savannah Bananas, which competes in the Coastal Plains League, a summer league where teams consist of players from colleges around the country.
Georgia, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, and Nebraska are among the schools with representatives on this year’s squad, which not only kicked off its season earlier this week against the hated Macon Bacon, but did so with fans actually sitting in the stands.
“We’re definitely getting some looks–some good and some bad. We just hope it’s a lot more good than bad,” Gowen, a native of Folkston said. “I think there were 1,500 people at our scrimmage that was just an intrasquad. That kind of just shows you that people are ready to see the normal again, they’re ready to get out and see some baseball and everything.”
Played in venerable Grayson Stadium, one of the nation’s oldest minor league parks still in operation, Gowen said the organization is taking every preventative measure to ensure that players and fans alike are safe during games.
That includes limiting the capacity at the stadium to 50 percent, which, coupled with the precautions being taken by the team, is an effort to keep the Bananas in uniform and on the field throughout the rest of the summer.
“We’re trying to be as safe as we can,” Gowen said. “We take everything by protocol. We’re getting our temps checked, we’ve been tested two or three times, so they’re definitely taking precautions. But they’re ready to take that first step forward for sure.”
If successful, the Bananas and the rest of the CPL hope their success can be used as a model for other programs attempting to play during these uncertain times.
“We split locker rooms; we split the team in half. Half the team is in the visiting locker room, half the team is in the home locker room,” Gowen said. “They’re putting lockers in between guys. It’s usually you and your host brother who are locker mates; you’re already living with them. We get our temperatures checked every day; masks are 100 percent mandatory, and we actually have gloves.”
But as Gowen explained, the show must go on. The Savannah Bananas are definitely a show.
According to the official team website, the mission of the organization and Jesse Cole is to be as entertaining as possible.
Considering that Cole routinely dresses for games in one of his famous yellow tuxedos, the Bananas are certainly not afraid to push the limit when it comes to entertaining their fans.
“We’ve got fire dancers, we’ve got stilt walkers; it’s a circus,” Gowen said. “We have a professional sign-spinner; our first base coach does break dancing. The fans love baseball, but it helps when you’ve got something like that going on at all times.”
Players also take an active role in keeping customers entertained. Gowen, currently spending his second summer with the team, is also part of the show.
“(Former Georgia teammate) L. J. Talley had played in 2017 and 2016, and I was good buddies with him. He told me it was different,” Gowen laughed. “The dancing and the entertaining usually come from the pitchers; the other players are always playing, so they really didn’t tell me I’d be getting on top of the dugout to take my shirt off and have water poured over me in front of 5,000 people.
“That took some getting used to, but it’s a blast. The fans love it. You get a reaction like that; all the guys are having fun.”
Of course, precautions are in play there, too.
“This year, the entertainment side is a little bit different; we’re not able to get up there with the fans and give hugs and high-fives; we can’t get autographs as of right now. We’re hoping to work on that,” Gowen said. “But other than that, it’s just doing it the smart way, trying to keep our distance with people; air fives, stuff like that. We’re just playing as safe as possible."
