Bay Area native heads to championships on Savannah Bananas World Tour

Bay Area native heads to championships on Savannah Bananas world tour

The wildly popular Banana Ball League is holding its first ever championship tour in Georgia and a Bay Area native is gearing up to face the Savannah Bananas in the first round.

WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The wildly popular Banana Ball League is holding its first ever championship tour in Georgia and a Bay Area native is gearing up to face the Savannah Bananas in the first round.

Neil Lang, 30, of Walnut Creek is a left-handed relief pitcher for The Firefighters in his first season with the league. The team represents first responders and incorporates them into their entertainment before the start of a baseball game. 

"Everything we do embodies firefighters," Lang said. "Whether we're jumping rope with a fire hose, or putting a ladder up on the highest part and having one of our guys climb it. We'll bring a department out on the field with us pregame."

Neil Lang, 30, of Walnut Creek is a left-handed relief pitcher for The Firefighters. He'll face the Savannah Bananas in its championship tour in Georgia.

The team honors first responders at each stop of their summer tour, which culminates with the championships this weekend in Savannah, Ga. Many people have compared the fast-paced, entertainment-style baseball game to what the Harlem Globetrotters did with basketball.

"The main difference is that we're playing competitive games and all the teams want to win," Lang said. "We're going into our playoffs this weekend and everyone wants to win the championship. Nothing about the actual gameplay is scripted."

What is the Banana Ball League?

Although the team does have entertainment pieces in their performance, Lang said the performances are always evolving and changing. He noted a recent stop in Seattle where they incorporated a Nirvana song. 

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Lang does not have any dancing experience, but his knowledge of baseball dates back to his days playing as a kid. He started baseball at age five and grew up playing in the Pleasant Hill Baseball Association. 

He later went on to win three NCS championships with Acalanes High School in Lafayette.

"That was just a really good team, a great group of guys, and that inspired all of us to want to keep playing," he said. 

Lang went on to play Division II baseball at Concordia after junior college and spent several years in an independent professional baseball league. 

Savannah Bananas World Tour this summer

One year ago, he reached out to a coach on the Savannah Bananas and was invited to a private tryout. He made The Firefighters and spent the summer traveling on the Savannah Bananas World Tour with stops at historic MLB stadiums.

"Fenway was unbeatable," Lang recalled. "It was completely sold out. I actually started that game. It was one of my only starts and going through the whole warm-up process and kind of thinking about all the guys that have warmed up and gone through that same process… with it being sold out and the fans surrounding the bullpen, it was a bit overwhelming and exciting."

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Some standout moments for Lang include stops at Disneyland and the White House, where the team was allowed to go out on the front lawn, something not normally a part of a tour.

"Disneyland was overwhelming… everyone was wearing yellow at the time for The Bananas," he said. "That was really my first experience with doing anything with the team so I was like, ‘Wow, this is something special.'"

He hopes to stay with The Firefighters next season, but is unsure of where he'll land. He said the league is set to expand to six teams in 2026 and players may get moved around, but he's just happy to stay a part of the organization.

"I didn't know what to expect when I showed up and the main thing that surprised me was the quality of baseball," he said. "If you're a true baseball fan, you definitely could still watch it and enjoy the actual game of baseball. There's just a lot more stuff going on that makes it way more fun."