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Boom Baby!!! - Tyler Gillum, Head Coach, Savannah Bananas
My dear baseball fans around the world, ladies and gentlemen, as well as to my fellow Ao3 fanfic writers:
It is with great joy that I inform you all that history has been made here in Archive of our Own once more. But first, a historical explainer.
For those already following the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine a growing number of those who left the country have adopted for their new hometown, among others, a city on the Atlantic coast of the state of Georgia in the United States. That city is Savannah, with a small but growing Ukrainian American community and with a vibrant history and culture, as well as a strong economic base for these new arrivals to begin again leaving a country ravaged by conflict. To them who have continued to fight for their country far away from home and have continued to raise awareness of the events in their homeland's time of need and to give their home country aid and support, this fic is dedicated to them.
This is the first ever fan fiction work on Ao3 detailing the baseball team that has called that city home for six years now, first as a college summer baseball team in the Coastal Plain League made up of the best college ballpayers in the nation, and now as an independent demostration/exhibition team touring around the nation and soon the world, a practice that started in 2021.
Founded by Jesse Cole in 2016, the Savannah Bananas were first a CPL team that won 3 league championships and had helped revive its home city's sporting reputation. Its fun promotions and antics have won them a growing following beyond its home city. The pandemic came around and then...
In came Banana Ball. Jesse and team leadership devised this fun and creative variant of baseball that not just adds excitement and fun to the sport but also has a lot of fan involvement. After months of planning, the concept took on a life of its own when the two pro teams of the Bananas organization, the Bananas proper and the Party Animals, were founded in 2020, and began testing their own twist to the sport for wider implementation beginning that same year. Its rosters began with graduates of the Bananas CPL program, and soon added players from across the nation, which still is the case today. A year after, the World Tour started, a national tour of these two exhibition teams around select US cities. Its success in 2022 prompted the end of the CPL team and the start of a full time exhibition commitment for the fans and supporters around the country, and the Banana Ball exhibition events have not just caught on as a permanent focus of the organization, they have won even futher fame and growing numbers of fans from around the world. These events have been I would say jam packed. They have transformed into the baseball version of the Globetrotters. And the pro Bananas teams have also helped in the sport's ongoing revival at large internationally in their own unique way: the fan involvements, dancing, celebrations, unique stunts, you name them all. The Bananas team faced their first international game last month in the form of the Aussie Drop Bears at home in Grayson Stadium, the team's home since its foundation, and it was a rousing success in growing their brand of baseball to global audiences who have watched their game days on Youtube and they have won a growing social media following of millions.
Now it is my pleasure to show to the world my written fanfic of these guys from Savannah in a military setting amidst the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine - not just to continue raising awareness of the war that has been raging in Ukraine for the past year since, but also to express gratitude to the Ukrainian American expats of Savannah for their efforts to let the city and the American people know of Ukraine's determination to win at all costs. It was a long and hard task to make this on Tumblr and now I present this to all of you, and some of the names the team has been known for around the world are featured on this one-shot, the first of many featuring these boys of the Bananas and Party Animals. I present this to all of you the sports fic writers of the world this great work also dedicated to all of you as well, especially some of you who are already active in supporting the relief effort during the Ukrainian war against Russia, so that the fanfiction community will continue to stand by Ukraine and her people no matter what and help contribute to the victory of the nation and the defeat of the Russian agressor.
For the sake of thoe who have died fighting for Ukraine's independence and freedom, may this effort and others help all of us be aware of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine and make us ready to do our part to help Ukraine win.
SLAVA UKRAINI!!! HEROYAM SLAVA!!!
GLORY TO THE NATION! AND DEATH TO HER ENEMIES!
Go Bananas!! FANS FIRST!!!
John Ramos
Makati City, Philippines
Saturday, July 15, 2023