A famous newscaster from San Diego once said, “It’s the greatest city in the history of mankind” and today it reaches a brand-new level of greatness, San Diegans you’re up! It is your turn to experience Banana Ball as the Savannah Bananas kick off their weekend against the Fire Fighters tonight September 5th at 7:00 PM Pacific Standard Time. So as always, I’d like to take you through my personal wish list for celebrity drop in guests this time for San Diego! Remember this is MY wish list so you can feel free to disagree and if you do, please share this article on social media(tag @BillyIsBananas on Instagram) with your top five you would most like to see instead!
Obviously in a perfect world San Diego would get to see it’s most famous and most decorated star come back for a victory lap around Petco Park but sadly the one we would most like to see has left us far too early. The great Tony Gwynn should have been the first pick here. In a 20-year professional career “Mr. Padre” shined with a lifetime .338 batting average the highest average for anyone post World War II. A 15-time all-star, 5-time Gold Glove winner and with 8 batting titles he tied the all-time record for the National League. He is the owner of the most mind-blowing stat in baseball history and that is if he continued his career for an additional 1,182 at bats and whiffed on all of them, he still would have finished with a .300 career batting average(Don’t act like you’re not impressed)! To say this soft-spoken super star was a pillar in the community would be an amazing understatement. New for 2025 the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association has established an award honoring student athletes who are active in their communities through service and volunteering. A beautiful honor to Tony Gwynn, someone so deserving and just like Dorothy Mantooth a true Saint of San Deigo. The association chose 9 finalists recognizing each for their local contributions before naming LSU outfielder Chris Stanfield the inaugural 2025 NCBWA Tony Gwynn Community Service Trophy winner!
So that all being said lets dig into who will make my dream team for San Diego. This is a tough one to narrow down for me, it has me feeling like I’m in a glass case of emotion! First up Adrian Gonzalez most commonly referred to as “A-Gon”! He is a hometown player as he was born in “America’s Finest City” on May 8th, 1982. Adrian was drafted first overall in 2000 by the then Florida Marlins before being traded to the Rangers and then again traded to San Diego. During his time in San Diego he was a 3 time all-star selection and 2 time Gold Glove winner! This power hitter could be a huge boost to the crowd this weekend but between his glove work and bat speed he could represent an advantage for the Bananas!
Next up would be someone the Fire Fighters should pay attention to as this fiery flame thrower had one of the best seasons for a pitcher in major league history. His name is Jake Peavy and in 2007 he won not only the pitching triple crown but also the Cy Young Award. He also has an interesting connection with former Bay-area bomber Barry Bonds as he served up the pitch that allowed Barry to hit his 700th homerun and was also the final pitcher to take the mound versus Mr. Bonds.
Third selection would be another one the Firefighters might want to have a hose ready for as I select the pitcher named 1996’s NL Fireman of the year by The Sporting News none other than Trevor Hoffman. Also, in 1996 he received votes for both the Cy Young Award and the National League MVP as a closer! If we do get some “Trevor Time” expect him to make an entrance and as he walks out from the bull pen, I am sure Ozzie will be looking down with a smile on his face as “Hoffy” classically entered the stadium to AC/DC’s “Hells Bells”!
My fourth choice will be electric! The 2006 NFL MVP, NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2017 and former San Diego Charger LaDanian Tomlinson! On the gridiron “L.T.” was known as being versatile as he was quick and elusive but packed a punch. Though he ended his baseball career playing back when he was a multi-sport athlete at University High School in Waco, Tx – I am sure he could settle back in at 3rd base and dig his cleats back into the batter’s box. None the less after the Chargers migrated north to LA the San Diego fans would love to see LT rocking the yellow and blue once again.
If you have read these before you know this is the fifth out of five selections, but it is never the final one. At number five I choose Anthony Frank Hawk or as you probably know him Tony Hawk. The greatest skateboarder of all time was born in Carlsbad but grew up shredding the streets of San Diego. Jesse Cole is always looking to create amazing moments in these events so maybe a half pipe out at the left field warning track and we can see if Tony can play air goalie on balls heading over the outfield wall? Probably not but I would love to see Tony Hawk make an appearance!
Ok so here is my bonus pick. Normally it is someone that won’t be taking the field but could sit in the managerial role for the day. Well as Lee Corso would say “Not so fast my friends”, today I will be doing as the bananas do and thinking outside the box.
My bonus selection will require the entire Channel 4 News Team to ASSEMBLE! Let’s start off with the leader The Anchorman himself, Ron Burgundy. We can’t risk any contact to the hair or face so I’m requesting him to stay in the booth for play by play with his co-anchor Miss Veronica Corningstone. Brian Fantana will fit right in as the on field reporter because he is the stylish one in the group and luckily for us if he breaks out his famous cologne the Fire Fighters should have a hose on standby. In the dugout is the manager that everyone will play hard for as everyone seems to like him due to him being polite and rarely late, Mr. Brick Tamland. I can see him on the bench now with a batter’s helmet filled with ice cream looking sharp in that uniform which he will love as he really enjoys a nice pair of slacks. Finally taking the field a 6’2” Banana Ball Rookie Mr. Champ Kind! Taking time away from doing local sports on Channel 4 and his Chicken/Bat fast food chain that serves the finest “chicken of the cave” to join everyone at the ballpark. We all just want to see him step up to the plate and then WHAMMMY! Who knows, maybe the Channel 4 News team could join the Banana’s on field for a rendition of the Starland Vocal Band’s “Afternoon Delight”!
Well as always, I doubt we see any of these celebrity guest appearances but whoever they come up with will be great for sure! To those in San Diego get out to Petco Park to see this amazing event live as you have two opportunities Friday and Saturday. For those unable to make it out to San Diego you can tune in via HBO Max, TruTV or as always via the Savannah Banana Youtube channel!
For all of us here at On SI’s coverage of the Savannah Bananas I’m Billy Dunn. You stay classy San Diego.