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The intersection of institutions? It will be in the right-handed batter’s box Friday at Busch Stadium — where Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina and David Freese made history — when a 10-foot-9 yellow-draped ballplayer will try to hit a pitch on stilts.

Baseball tradition in ӣ����Ƶ is about to slip on a banana peel.

The Savannah Bananas, a modern sports phenomenon dubbed “the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball” by Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott II, will play Friday and Saturday in the home of the 11-time champion ӣ����Ƶ Cardinals. While the Cards are on the road, the Bananas will play two sold-out games in front of fascinated fans — many of whom love the Cardinals and their their “way” but also appreciate the spectacle that is the barnstorming Bananas.

When the Bananas play, there are impromptu dance routines during at-bats and improbable fly-ball catches made during backflips. There are celebrity cameos and colorful costumes and comedic customs. There are Ozzie Smith-like defensive acrobatics, and there have been Jose Oquendo-like efforts by a player — nine positions in nine innings.

Oh, and if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out.

“The Cardinals are one of the best baseball organizations in the world, right?” said Tyler Gillum, the head coach of the Bananas. “So you’re trying to raise the level of our play as we go into Cardinal land, and have some fun with it. We’ve got some fun pieces that we’re going to play on as we enter into Busch Stadium. …

“It’s non-stop entertainment with high-level competitive play on the field.”

The Bananas sell out many baseball stadiums, not just Busch. And even some football stadiums. In March, there were 65,000 fans at the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to watch the Bananas. In April, a record 81,000 fans attended a game at Clemson’s football stadium.

And the Bananas go viral often with their theatrics — social media has been the perfect vehicle to showcase quick clips of crazy Bananas plays and dance routines. On Instagram, they have 3.5 million followers. On TikTok? Ten million.

“I’ve seen an actual (Bananas) game on ESPN before,” said Scott, who is fourth in the National League with 24 stolen bases. “And then definitely on TikTok and Instagram — the backflip catches. … It gives a different element to the game for fans to watch. It’s a lot of stuff going on at once. And they bring that entertainment.”

The original ӣ����Ƶ games were postponed in April due to rain. Incidentally, the games feature actual baseball — mostly by former minor-leaguers or college players — but with “Banana Ball” rules. That includes a point scoring system (whichever team scores more runs in an inning gets a point), a two-hour time limit and automatic ejections for any players who bunt.

“We look at every part of our show through the eyes of our fans,” Gillum said, “and say, ‘What would fans love to see? How would they like to be entertained?’ And so, we start developing what we call our show script — how we do the entertainment. The play script? There’s no script in baseball. Man, it’s hard to hit a 400-foot home run. These guys are competitive. …

“And if this thing wasn’t competitive, none of us would be here, including me. ... We’re trying to have a high level of competition, entertain, break down the wall between player and fan, connect with the fan — and do things nobody’s ever seen on a baseball field, like the trick plays.”

Gillum was a college baseball coach who had a big personality and big dreams. On a YouTube video in January 2017, he proclaimed: “I want to have a positive impact on one million people. I don’t know how I’m going to do it — I think it’s going to be through baseball or exercise or education. But I’m going to find a way to get it done.”

That summer, he received a call from the coach of a barnstorming baseball team based in Georgia. The coach had to step away for family reasons and thought Gillum had the right enthusiasm and creativity for the gig.

And so Gillum got on a video call ... with a man dressed in a banana-yellow tuxedo.

It was Jesse Cole, the owner of the Savannah Bananas and, essentially, a modern PT Barnum.

“He says, ‘Gillum, my goal is to create the greatest show in sports, and what we’re doing is different than anybody else,’” Gillum recalled. “So we went on that journey, and then at the end of that first summer, 2018, we created the original Banana Ball rules — and we’ve evolved Banana Ball since then.

“In 2024, we had one million fans on that tour, so one million fans saw us playing in-person. Just 2024 alone. So I could kind of check that box and say, ‘I think I did it.’”

The 2025 Bananas even have a local tie — pitcher Noah Niznik is from Imperial, went to high school at Vianney and played college baseball at Southeast Missouri State.

And many Bananas games feature surprise moments with retired major leaguers. Perhaps an ex-Cardinal will return to Busch Stadium’s field for one more inning?

That would be bananas.