Three hundred and sixty-five days after making his debut with the Savannah Bananas, former University of Hartford baseball player Jackson Olson celebrated his Bananaversary at home.
 
The baseball equivalent to the Harlem Globetrotters, the Bananas stopped in Hartford's Dunkin' Park as part of their 33-city World Tour. It was a return that almost didn't happen for Olson, who suffered a broken jaw three weeks ago that threatened to prevent the homecoming. "The Greatest Showman" made his greatest return three weeks early and four games before the stop in his home state of Connecticut.



Olson appeared in 161 games in a University of Hartford uniform, and Dunkin' Park sits 2.6 miles away from his collegiate ballpark, Fiondella Field. A 10-game Dunkin' Park hitting streak was also on the line for Olson as he tallied a hit in the minor league stadium in every game the Hartford Hawks played in the professional confines.
 
But before he could get down to the business of baseball and entertainment, Olson started his day with a return to his four-year collegiate home. It was the first time the infielder had stepped on that surface since leaving Hartford following the 2020 COVID season.
 
"It's actually wild being in the (Fiondella Field) dugout," said Olson. "Some of the best memories of my baseball career happened here. Getting my first collegiate start, first collegiate start at shortstop. Like, it's just absolutely crazy."
 
Then it was off to meetings, rehearsals, batting practice, a tad bit of rest, and then a parade through the fans.
 
It was 90 minutes before the game, and Olson appeared from the clubhouse with that exhausted look on his face. However, once his name was announced to the 7,000 plus fans – many of whom have been on the Bananas waiting list for years – all of the exhaustion washed away, and "The Greatest Showman" emerged from the dugout, smile on his face, and dancing cleats on his feet.
 
Olson taps into his inner Swiftie as he brings joy to thousands upon thousands of fans regularly.
 
"I got this quote from Taylor Swift about a year ago; I am a huge Taylor Swift fan just because of what she does and how it correlates to what we do," said Olson. "She is on her Era's tour and we are on our tour, both tickets equally hard to get. She says, 'I am always tired, but I am never tired of it.' That is the one thing I take; I am always tired mentally and physically, but somehow when the lights come on and see you the fans in the stands, you become a brand-new person because these people have literally waited years."
 
And when he says years, it's not an exaggeration as the waiting list to see the Savannah Bananas in person has reached 900,000.
 
Moments like this happened because of Olson's social media prowess. He was working with Major League Baseball ranking stadiums for social media, heard of the Bananas, made one social media video, and boom, a DM for YellowTuxJesse.
 
"And I was like, who is Yellow Tux Jesse? And messaging me about this TikTok," said Olson. "And he, What's up, Jackson? I'm the owner of the team. Would love to collab somehow. So, it started I was going to go to Banana Island to make a couple of videos, TikTok videos, and then leave. That was how it was going to start."
 
However, that wasn't the end of his Banana Journey as Olson took it upon himself, weeks later, to reach out to the owner about his baseball playing abilities, from playing collegiate baseball to his exploits in the Cape Cod League.
 
Two weeks later, "YellowTuxJesse" responded with an offer to play third base for the Bananas, and "The Greatest Showman" was born.
 
"This is the dream," said Olson. "We're now on a 33-city world tour that seems big right now—but next year is absolutely going to blow everything from this year out of the water. It's going to be crazy."