Bill “Spaceman” Lee pitches for the Savannah Bananas on Saturday night
Former Red Sox legend, left-hander Bill “Spaceman” Lee took the mound for the Savannah Bananas on Saturday night. The 75-year-old was announced by Bananas’ owner Jesse Cole prior to him taking the field.
Lee earned the opportunity to pitch for the Bananas after retiring three-out-of-the-four batters he faced in the Banana Ball tryout. The former Sox reliever was drawn to Cole’s business model and wanted to tryout for the club.
'“The fact that he draws what he does across the country shows that people want to see this," Lee said to WJCL 22 Sports. "So it's a demand type of thing and that's the entrepreneurism of P.T. Barnum and people want to see something that's entertaining."
"I won a pro game at 61, 63, 65 and 67," Lee said. "I won the 70 and over national championship, I got injured this fall, and they drug me off the field, I put a boot on and played 65 in the boot,” said Lee to WJCL 22 Sports.
The Bananas are beginning the Banana World Tour on March 11 and have set their 40-man roster. The seven-city Banana Ball World Tour will run through May 7.
If you are unfamiliar with the Bananas, they were founded in 2016. Their players will do choreographed dances every game, the team will wear kilts on the field, the batters are escorted to the plate by the Banana Pep Band. Cole, wears a yellow tuxedo for every game and so much more.
The Bananas are able to put on a show for every game keeping their fans engaged every step of the way.
Barstool Sports had an article on their website going over the clubs Opening Night from Friday. Cole was recently on with the Rally Caps college baseball podcast featuring Ben Porter and Marc Luino.
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