#144: Going Bananas Over Baseball at Historic Grayson Stadium

"The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again."

—James Earl Jones, Field of Dreams

Going Bananas Over Baseball at Historic Grayson Stadium

Be sure to bring your baseball glove when attending a Savannah Bananas game, and have it ready—as you may be pulled into action. Banana Ball is the name of the game we Savannahians now play at the William L. Grayson Stadium that sits aside from beautiful Daffin Park. Its wacky baseball rules allow 'outs' called when a fan catches a foul ball. So, be sure to pay attention to which team is at bat.

To be sure, there are additional unorthodox rules to Banana Ball. Yet each rule makes every baseball game played at Historic Grayson Stadium more fun to watch while actively participating in the show.

The William L. Grayson Stadium was initially known as Municipal Field when constructed in 1926. It has since been home to many Savannah-based minor league baseball teams, including the Indians, Athletics, Redlegs, Reds, Pirates, White Sox, Senators, Cardinals, and the Sand Gnats.

Baseball greats such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson, and Hank Aaron have played here. Still, incredibly, the first integrated South Atlantic League games didn't take place here until 1953.

Since 2016, the Savannah Bananas of the Coastal Plain League (CPL) have joined the stadium's long history. The CPL is a collegiate summer baseball league with several teams in Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia. The entertainment is first-rate, while good baseball gets played, as well.

Stadium namesake William L. Grayson became an important military figure in Savannah following the Spanish American War. You can find a monument at the south end of Forsyth Park called the Georgia Volunteer. Early in her career and until winning the prestigious Salon des Artistes Francais honorable mention award in 1888, the sculpture's American creator, Theo (Alice) Ruggles Kitson, used her male name to ensure her sculptures received fair reviews. On the monument's base is a plaque honoring William L. Grayson (1870-1941) for serving as a 'Soldier, Comrade, and Citizen.'

Grayson was the first Southerner to serve as Commander of the United States War Veterans of the Spanish American War. Forsyth Park served as an embarkation encampment, where 13,000 Georgian troops formed what was then called Camp Onward before being shipped out for duty to Puerto Rico or Cuba. The war ended well before most soldiers joined the fight, with hostilities lasting less than four months between April and August 1898.

The Spanish-American War ended with the Treaty of Paris, ceding ownership of Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine Islands from Spain to the United States while granting temporary control of Cuba to the USA. Local Savannahian William Washington Gordon, Jr. accepted the surrender of Puerto Rico.

In 1940, a hurricane devastated the stadium. General William L. Grayson led the fund-raising effort to rebuild. The city renamed the ballpark William L. Grayson Stadium in 1941, soon after his death, to honor his contributions to the community. You'll find his family burial site in Bonaventure Cemetery.

It's important to note that there is an old-fashioned love story behind the reimagining of baseball in Savannah. After Jesse Cole asked his best friend Emily to marry him during a baseball game in 2014, she brought the couple to Savannah for a visit. While here, the lovebirds attended a baseball game at Grayson Stadium. So, right here is where the couple lovingly conceived the idea…well, so to speak.

Only two years later, the Savannah Bananas were born. Sometimes, love is too crazy for words.