Video: When you want to be the Savannah Bananas but work a 9-5
The Savannah Bananas are in Cincinnati this weekend! Enquirer staffers think they deserve spots on the team.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new content and to correct Sean Casey’s role with the Yankees in 2023.
Former first baseman Sean Casey returned to Cincinnati this past weekend to play ball for old times’ sake, but not with the Reds.
Casey, who was a three-time All-Star with the Reds between 1998 and 2005, made a surprise appearance at Great American Ball Park on June 13, playing for the Savannah Bananas during their first game in the Queen City.
The 50-year-old, nicknamed “The Mayor,” went up to bat only one time, successfully reaching first base on a passed ball.
“I would’ve liked to take one swing, just one more swing, but it’s all good. I got down to first, and it was a lot of fun,” said Casey, who, to top it all off, tore his hamstring while rounding first base.
But despite the outcome of his short-lived at-bat, Casey relished every second of getting to play baseball again in what he considers to be his “hometown.”
“I just love this place. To get back at Great American Ball Park to play in front of these fans was incredible,” Casey said. “The way they’ve treated me all these years, coming here as a 23-year-old little kid and growing up here and having two kids here and being here for eight years, I’m just beyond grateful.”
3x All-Star, Sean Casey, makes his debut in the all yellows tonight with Danny Graves in the booth for his at bat😎 pic.twitter.com/CNR5ayybsf
— Savannah Bananas (@TheSavBananas) June 14, 2025
Casey wasn’t the Savannah Bananas’ only cameo the sold-out crowd was treated to that night. Former Red and 2015 Home Run Derby king Todd Frazier was the first to appear, followed by Reds Hall of Famer pitcher Bronson Arroyo giving a special performance.
Former Reds closer Danny Graves, the franchise’s all-time saves leader (182), took the mound for the Bananas with .2 innings pitched. Center fielder D.R. Meadows had an athletic side-flip catch in Graves’ last pitch of the inning. He also was in the Bananas broadcast booth Friday to eat Skyline Chili.
Danny Graves on the bump for your Bananas in Cincinnati.
His final pitch of the inning induces a side flip catch from DR Meadows in center😤 pic.twitter.com/evHjgetG3F
— Savannah Bananas (@TheSavBananas) June 15, 2025
Nicknamed the “Baby-faced assassin,” the two-time National League All-Star (2000, 2004) and the only Vietnam-born player in MLB history was the Reds’ primary closer from 1999 to 2004, except for 2003 when he served as a starter.
While Casey spent most of his career with the Cincinnati Reds, he also played for the then-Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox during his 12 years in MLB. He was inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame in 2012 and also served as a hitting coach for the New York Yankees in 2023.