Syracuse, N.Y. — The Savannah Bananas are all about fun, but Michael Deeb has always struggled to have much of that when he’s losing.
The Bananas’ starting leftfielder, Deeb is a former linebacker at Notre Dame, once ranked as one of the 500 best college football recruits in the country in the Class of 2013.
He played high school sports at American Heritage High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the school where Syracuse’s Oronde Gasdsen III grew up surrounded by the children of former NFL stars.
He was talented enough to attend Notre Dame as a two-sport athlete. He spent a brief period time in the Chicago White Sox organization. He spent three years grinding through baseball’s independent leagues pursuing professional baseball aspirations.
Losing has never been something that comes naturally. Even the bright yellow jersey of the Savannah Bananas and the tricked-up version of barnstorming baseball they will bring to NBT Bank Stadium on Thursday hasn’t completely dulled Deeb’s competitive edge.
“If we’re winning it’s a lot easier,” Deeb said his transition from a win-first mindset to a fun-first approach. “If we’re losing it’s a lot harder. That’s just being honest.
“But there was a game we played recently in Milwaukee, we didn’t win the game, and there was a group of kids down the left-field line that I was playing catch with the whole time. We gave up like six runs in one inning. So internally, I’m blowing up. But there is no external response because I’m watching these kids have the best time of their life.”
Deeb’s mindset is an example of what a sold-out NBT Bank Stadium crowd can expect tonight as Syracuse hosts the Savannah Bananas and the city’s first game of Banana Ball.
The evening will include a scripted pre-game show, choreographed walk-ups and celebrations and a warped-rules baseball game where athletes say they balance an actual desire to win with a larger goal of incorporating trick plays and providing…
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