Joey Chestnut takes on the Banana Dog, Philly legends, and more from Savannah Bananas game at Citizens Bank Park

After last year’s successful sold-out Citizens Bank Park debut, the Savannah Bananas made their highly anticipated return on Saturday night as part of a two-game series against their opponents, the Texas Tailgaters.

“[Last year] was chaotic, controlled chaos is a good way to put it,” said Bananas starting pitcher Noah Niznik. “We were expecting it to be loud and pretty crazy but it still exceeded the expectations for the first time. … We were hoping we were going to get another shot at it and thankfully we got two more shots.”

In a night full of unique baseball, fans could watch behind-the-back catches and stilts take over the ballpark. The experience of Banana Ball even included Banana dogs and plenty of Philadelphia sports appearances. Here’s everything we saw at Saturday night’s Bananas game …

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Last year, a 2008 Phillies reunion broke out during the Savannah Bananas’ game, including appearances from Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton, Jamie Moyer, and Ryan Howard. This year, the Flyin’ Hawaiian, Victorino, made his return to Banana Ball.

Banana Ball also welcomed a new member on Saturday night — and he came well equipped. Eagles chief security officer Big Dom DiSandro made a rather quick appearance, walking onto the field and showing off his new hardware: an Eagles Super Bowl LIX ring.

He was welcomed to the sound of loud cheers and an Eagles chant.

Citizens Bank Park offered fans limited-time souvenir offerings — including the Banana Dog as part of a partnership with Aramark, featuring a banana on a caramelized New England roll with whipped toppings, fresh sliced strawberries, and Hershey’s syrup.

“We knew we had to do something really special and fun that could match the energy of the Savannah Bananas,” said Rachel Herpich, the president of growth marketing at Aramark. “So, we went to kind of brainstorm what the menu could be. We created a line of souvenir vessels, so, popcorn, soda cups, ice cream cups, all exclusive only at Aramark venues. And then the banana dog was really the big idea that came out.

“When you think of baseball, you think of hot dogs. When you think of the Savannah Bananas or Banana Ball, you think of a banana dog.”

But the Banana Dog may have met its match, when 17-time Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest champion Joey Chestnut stepped up to the plate to eat 14 Banana Dogs in three minutes. Chestnut defeated members of the Man-nanas, the Banana’s cheer squad, becoming the inaugural Banana Dog World Champion.

This wasn’t the first time Chestnut stunned the Philly crowd. Years ago, the competitive eater won three consecutive Wing Bowls (2006-08) in the city.

“It’s been a long time [since then],” Chestnut said. “Early in the morning, 30-minute wing eating contest, and people were definitely drinking. It wasn’t a family environment like this. So, this is awesome to be in front of the kids. It’s crazy that I have kids cheering for me. I’m super lucky.”

Instead of a Meek Mill tribute this time around, the Bananas honored the Philadelphia music group, Boyz II Men. Malachi Mitchell, also known as Flash Da Kid, did his best impression of Boyz II Men member Wanya Morris lip-synching to the song “On Bended Knee.”

Rocky Balboa and Benjamin Franklin walk into a Savannah Bananas game …

Sounds like the start of an interesting Philadelphia joke. But that’s something fans can expect when attending a Bananas game. Buffalo natives Heather Maxwell, 30, and Nicholas Maund, 31, traveled six hours to attend the game — dressed as Rocky and Ben Franklin.

“It’s just a fun overall experience with the Bananas,” Maxwell said. “We thought we’d take a little bit of Philly inspiration here. So, we did Rocky and Ben Franklin because they’re two prominent figures in Philly.”

This isn’t the pair’s first Bananas game, but they were looking forward to seeing some Philly appearances — one in particular: Gritty. Just one day before attending the Bananas game, Maxwell went to Olde City Tattoo to get a Gritty tattoo on her leg. Though the Flyers mascot didn’t show up to Saturday’s game, there’s still hope for Sunday.

“They made baseball exciting,” Maxwell said of the Bananas. “You don’t want to walk away because you don’t know what you’re going to miss … It just adds a new element of excitement and you don’t want to leave your seat.”

And Maund had one last message before returning to his seat: “Buffalo loves Philly.”