TAMPA, Fla. — Last year, the Savannah Bananas brought their sold-out show to Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. This weekend, one of the biggest spectacles in sports will take over Raymond James Stadium and play their first-ever game in a football venue.
The decision to choose Ray Jay was made after hurricane damage ripped the roof off of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. The Bananas' mixture of baseball and entertainment has swept the nation. Tickets are extremely rare, and they're non-existent this weekend. More than 65,000 people will fill the stadium to capacity on Saturday night.
"Tomorrow’s our Super Bowl," Bananas owner Jesse Cole said on Friday. "Fans have given us a reason to do this. The fan support has been unbelievable. I'm just so proud and so happy for the players to experience something like this. You hope to play Major League Baseball. You have that goal and you have that dream. But you can never picture this."
Port Richey-native Sean Fluke couldn't have. Five years ago he was installing elevators, at, of all places, Raymond James Stadium. Saturday night, he'll be the starting pitcher for the Party Animals- the Bananas arch-rival and perennial opponent.
"From the stainless steel to the panels to the ceiling. All the stuff you see on the inside. We actually came and remodeled all the elevators here," Fluke explained. "Now here we are playing. So it’s a pretty cool full-circle moment for me."
Fluke smiled when he said his phone almost exploded with the number of people who said they were coming to watch one of the biggest spectacles in sports entertainment.
"A bunch of friends and family are coming. About two, three hundred probably. So it’s going to be a good homecoming for me."
St. Pete-native Chase Achuff grew up going to Bucs games, USF football games, and Monster Jam shows at Raymond James Stadium. He never thought he'd be playing baseball there.
"I feel like I’m gonna be like Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans coming out of that tunnel, ready to go. Ready to play two halves of football," he laughed. "I feel like I’m going to get that feeling that I really haven’t gotten at a baseball field before."
Fan activities outside the stadium and merchandise stands will open at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., and first pitch for the sold out game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
"I'm not a drag on the system."
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