Dragged to baseball game of all her big brothers, driving the Sydney Dallinger Banana.
On Sunday, she picked up the steering wheel.
“It makes the game fun,” the 12-year-old explained to me on Blake Street.
“It's hard to track a baseball game. It doesn't make you interested in the whole time. But they do the dance, UMP is fun…it's just making the game fun.”
What's wrong?
When the bananas sold out Coors twice over the weekend, the Rockies were busy stomping in Arizona with a total of 25-12. Nine local games are losing 120 games.
The sun shines along the front range, except these days, except the 20th and the dim corners. Lodo is sure to use some lights. A little happiness.
Banana is a stormy baseball team, first and foremost fans and fun. The team received its own broadcast deals, which included broadcast deals with ESPN, Tiktok's 10.5 million followers, and nearly 4 million on Instagram. (As of Sunday afternoon, the Rockies' Instagram feed had about 570,000 followers.)
They are not everyone. At the bottom of their tilted sixth vs. firefighters, a guy standing on the barrel leaned over and swayed stilts. An hour before the first court, receiver Bill Leroy entered the upper deck with a public address microphone to warm them up. From there, he launched in a banana race – who can put more fruit in the fans' oversized pants, is the winner. If that's what you want, when someone brings you to the court, 'Nanas is in your cab.
Apparently, they were in a pile of wheel houses. Coors Field saw some lines. But the Rockies' safety told me they never saw anything like they did on Sunday morning, when a queue winded from the corner of the 21st and Blake, then stretched behind the Viewhouse court and then back to D Gate D.
That's why 16-year-old Logan Dahlinger raised his family from Arvada at 10:30 a.m., the first time at 3:30 p.m.
“Obviously, you're in the Rockies and you can join anytime, anywhere, and that doesn't matter,” Sydney's brother told me. “I see why they sold out the football field.”
After Sunday? So can I. Just like hockey and auto racing, bananas are good TVs, but can be better at theaters in person. Its dance numbers, turntables, princesses, sleeveless jerseys and capes for the correct field players. This is a group hug for foster kids. It's a karaoke night every night. This is the Frankenstein descendant of Abner Doubleday and PT Barnum, and it's God's answer to the eternal question, if MLB wooden commissioner Rob Manfred had a sense of humor and soul.
It blends with unapologetic cornballs midway through the state fair, the pillars of professional wrestling, the winks of the NBA halftime show, the swings of the jazz funeral, and a slight amount of Disney magic.
The dance stopped, but the music never happened. When the PA plays “My Lifetime” from the movie “Dirty Dancing”, the DJ rejects the music so everyone can sing and finish the chorus. If we were Major League Baseball (MLB), then Banana Ball is who we are: loud, proud, fried and buzzing. This is the most American version of the national pastime you see.
Savannah Bananas mentions Savannah Banana Baby Dance in a match against the firefighters in Denver Coors Field on Saturday, August 9, 2025.
The result is determined by points, not running, and the gorgeous thing is the value of the former. If the fan catches the foul ball, then you go out. The batsman cannot leave the box. There is a 2-hour time limit.
This is also hard work. The doors open for the morning of the day and then practice the routine again during the warm-up. Banana's action entered Lodo with two semi-finals filled with equipment and crew of 140 travelers.
Meanwhile, Blake Street immediately grabbed the A-type. Erie's Amy Holle even dressed like a banana, and she said she was skiing. Her husband Eric said he was wearing a gorilla suit when they hit the hillside and yes, Savannah was their jam.
“We've watched it a little on YouTube so the kids know what's going to happen,” she said. “We keep telling our son that it's important to dance. If his baseball career doesn't work, he'll have a backup plan.”
It has been resolved for Correlle Prime. The 6-foot-5 Florida man ranked 12th round in the 2016 Rockies, playing the 19-year-old in Grand Junction, whose teammates include Ryan McMahon, Jon Gray, Dom Nunez and Raimel Tapia. In 2014, he played in Kyle Freeland and Antonio Senzatela of Ashland, North Carolina, instead of stepping onto the fast track of Jeff Bridich, but instead crossed the league in three countries before pegging to the Banana.
Now 31 years old, Prime won't be hit often. He saw Peyton Manning sit at Coors' home with his son Marshall and Marshall's friend last Saturday night, and he did some double shots. Cool dad does what cool dad wants to do.
“Are you going to be a bastard again?” Prime asked. “I can't wait to see the bastard again.”
“Oh yes, we do it again,” PFM replied. “Maybe Eli will try it out when you're in New York in September.”
“That's so cool,” Prime said.
Banana phenomenon is popular in old-fashioned ways – word of mouth, friend of friends, brothers and sisters, once text.
Founder Jesse Cole and his crew handle the algorithm in the way Greg Maddux works around the corner, sprinkling YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok posts, which distracts the curiosity. Once they dig deeper, they are fascinated.
Before the firefighters at Denver’s Coors Stadium on Saturday, August 9, 2025, against the Savannah Banana Dad’s Sananas Dad Brothers cheered members of the team (photo taken by Andy Cross/Denver Post)
Banana ball players are evaluated not only based on their statistics, but also because of their entertainment value, fan engagement, social media following, and more. If Major League Baseball is about the power of war, then Banana Ball is about the power of the star.
In addition to gloves, players must bring something to the game day experience. For example, James Taubi of Texas's tailgate is a pitcher who also plays the violin.
“It's so cool to get along with a different group of fans, leaning towards the kids, going on stage, talking to them, taking photos, just taking time out to really make people's day and really lighting their day,” Correlle said. “Fans, they always ask about dancing. It's like, “No, I can't do that.” '”
Maybe next time, man.
Speaking of next time, will we do it again next summer?
“We have to look at it,” Cole told me after the game. “But it obviously impressed us all. Working with the team, the Rockies working with the city is huge. So we hope we can come back in the future.”
Banana currently has 200 dates in 2026. Don't love those odds. Their timeline reveals that it is scheduled for October 9.
“A lot of things are going to happen early, but we have great experience.” “It's great, we're going to see what happens.”
If you don't understand, it's OK. Sydney did it. The same goes for Logan, who has to sit down for his baseball game.
“It's hard to watch a full MLB game and be really excited for every game and every game,” Logan said. “What Bananas do is that they've completely changed it. You don't have to know everything about baseball to enjoy it. You just have to enjoy the idea of baseball.”
No, Bananas won't beat the Rockies. Except for box office. In the heart of a child.
Honors Savannah Banana Pitcher and former Colorado Rockies Pitcher, Ubaldo Jiménez
Original Published: August 10, 2025, 2:32 PM MDT