Kinnick Stadium turned the weekend into something bigger than baseball.
As the Savannah Bananas and the Firefighters played in front of a packed crowd, the focus kept coming back to Iowa and the patients at the Iowa Health Stead Family Children’s Hospital. The children who are spending time there, or have spent time there, were honored on the field before, during and after both games.
Then came the moment that has become the heart of the experience. After the second inning on both days, everyone in the stadium turned toward the hospital for the “Hawkeye Wave,” a gesture that left plenty of fans and players emotional as they paid tribute to kids fighting daily battles.
Jesse Cole, the founder of Banana Ball, said the scene stayed with him after Saturday’s game. “We felt it tonight,” Jesse Cole, the founder of Banana Ball, said after Saturday’s game.
“So did 70,000 fans, fans from 49 states, every one of our players that came from all around the country. We felt it tonight... the emotion, the tradition, understanding that it's so much more than a game.
We have a lot of moments that are special as you travel around the country, this is one we will never forget.”
For some players, the tribute carried an especially personal weight. Bananas pitcher Trystan Levesque lost his younger brother to leukemia, making the recognition of the hospital patients hit even closer to home.
The “Hawkeye Wave” won’t return to Kinnick Stadium until Iowa football opens its season on Sept. 5, but the emotion tied to it was on full display throughout the weekend.
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