3 heroes from Royals’ World Series surprise crowd at Savannah Bananas in KC
The Savannah Bananas brought their sports-entertainment style of baseball known as Banana Ball to Kansas City, and had a few surprises up their sleeves for a sold-out Kauffman Stadium on Friday, May 23.
At past games, the exhibition baseball team has introduced substitute players in key moments of the game, many of whom have ties to the area. When the Bananas played at Nissan Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans in Nashville May 10-11, former Titan linebacker Jevon Kearse made a special appearance.
In KC, the Bananas had a championship trio make their way back to the same stadium where they captured the hearts of a city in the mid-2010s.
Eric Hosmer enters the game
In the bottom of the second inning, the Bananas players broke out into song, singing country legend Garth Brooks’ famous hit “Friends in Low Places.” A familiar face joined them from the dugout in uniform.
In what garnered one of the loudest reactions of the night from the crowd of 37,903, former Royals first baseman and 2015 World Series champion Eric Hosmer appeared, trading the Royal blue for banana yellow.
Hosmer practiced the introduction with the Bananas during Friday afternoon’s media session and took the time to chat with players on the team. When he took the field for real, he sent the crowd into a frenzy as he approached home plate for his at-bat.
Unfortunately, the 35-year-old Hosmer struck out. But that wouldn’t be the last time the crowd would see him, as he pitched in the top of the third inning against The Firefighters. He didn’t give up any runs, and the Bananas ended up winning 3-1.
“We’ve all known I been washed at the plate for a while now, but you can’t tell me the heater didn’t have life!!” Hosmer said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mike Moustakas takes the plate
Former Royals’ third baseman Mike Moustakas was spotted in the elevator before the game with his family. When asked if he was going to go down on the field, he said no.
Moustakas has a great poker face.
The 2015 World Series champion made a surprise appearance during the bottom of the fifth inning. Nostalgia hit quite a few fans as “The Crossroads” by rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony played and he reached home plate, the walk-up song he used for most of his career.
The fan favorite grounded out to end the inning, but left to a standing ovation from a crowd that remembers his contributions to bringing the Royals their second championship in franchise history.
Alex Gordon’s golden moment
The surprises didn’t end there as the Bananas invoked the new golden batter rule, where the team can bring in its best hitter at any point in the lineup, like in the final inning in a close game. Savannah chose to bring in the golden batter in the bottom of the eighth inning since they were up 3-1 and wouldn’t need it if the score stayed the same.
The rules say they can bring in its best hitter, but they don’t say the player has to be a part of the team. With a grand entrance, hidden under the robes, stadium lights shut down and a spotlight shining him, out came former Royals left fielder Alex Gordon.
The former second overall pick in the 2005 MLB Draft was also a part of the 2015 World Series winning roster, and hit one of the most important home runs in franchise history in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Mets.
The crowd once again erupted at the sight of seeing the Royals Hall of Famer, but he met a similar fate as his former teammates, failing to reach first base by striking out to end the eighth inning.
This story was originally published May 23, 2025 at 10:25 PM.
