post

The Savannah Bananas, a popular exhibition baseball team whose games can feel more like circus acts, got a very Boston introduction to the city Friday ahead of their sold out game at Fenway Park.

The team took a tour of the city in a duck boat decked out in Dunkin’ branding, bananas and doughnuts, and got up to some characteristically silly antics at a Dunkin’ in Kenmore Square. The visit was a stunt organized by Dunkin’ for National Doughnut Day.

The barnstorming exhibition team based in Savannah, Georgia, is set to play at Fenway on Saturday, part of a bigger tour.

Billed as the “Greatest Show in Sports,” the team plays what it calls Banana Ball, which differs from the usual ball game played at Fenway Park. It has its own set of rules: no bunting, no stepping out, no mound visits and no walks. Batters can also steal first and, if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out.

But the team’s games have become famous for choreographed dancing, funny stunts and elaborate showboating for the crowd.

At Friday’s Dunkin’ event, players gave out doughnuts, gift cards, tickets and more.

More on The Savannah Bananas

Boston Red Sox

Oct 5, 2023

Savannah Bananas to bring world famous ‘Banana Ball’ to Fenway Park

Massachusetts

Aug 3, 2023

Savannah Bananas make Mass. boy’s baseball dream come true

A former town official from Grafton, Massachusetts, has been arrested on fraud charges, accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from investors for a marijuana company and instead spending that money to pay off the debts of a different busin…

The possibly unprecedented sighting of a flamingo in Massachusetts had the bird world aflutter this week, but don’t expect to see it again here soon.

It seems the bird has flown the Cape.

The flamingo was spotted by at least two people on Cape Cod, including in Dennis, but there haven’t been any more sightings locally, according to Mark Faherty, science coordinator for Mass Audubon Cape Cod.

“It seems to be back in Long Island,” he told NBC10 Boston Friday.

There have been recent sightings on Long Island, about a week after a flamingo was spotted there, Faherty said, but this time about 60 miles closer to New York City. A flamingo was sighted Wednesday by people near Cedar Beach Marina, according to Cornell University’s eBird app, where birders log the animals they see.

That means the flamingo — if it is the same one — is continuing to enjoy popular vacation spots. Its first New York sighting was first seen in Easthampton, part of New York’s tony Hamptons community, and the new location is close to New York’s Fire Island.

Faherty noted that he measured the distance from Easthampton to Dennis at 114 miles, “which is nothing for a big bird.”

If the flamingo is found to be wild, it would be the first American flamingo ever confirmed to have visited the Bay State on its own, Faherty has said.

American flamingos typically stick to Florida and points south, and sightings outside of Florida are usually linked with escapes from captivity or hurricanes — a hurricane this September dispersed some, and the birds were spotted in strange new places, like Wisconsin and Ohio, according to Faherty.

“The thinking is it’s just some bird that was displaced by the hurricane back then that doesn’t know where it lives anymore,” he told NBC10 Boston earlier this week.

More on flamingos’ recent travels

Wisconsin

Sep 25, 2023

Flamingos in Wisconsin? Tropical birds visit Lake Michigan beach in a first for the state

California

Aug 9, 2023

Wild flamingos in Southern California? The sighting of the colorful birds leaves a community in awe

It’s up to the Massachusetts Avian Records Committee to make the final determination on whether the bird is wild, Faherty said, noting that he’s served on the committee before.

American flamingos have been spotted in Massachusetts a few times before, according to Faherty and the committee’s database.

Get updates on what’s happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.

A flamingo was spotted at Plum Island in September 1964, followed by another in Natick the next year. But the committee disagreed on whether the first was wild and found that the latter had escaped from a private collection and ultimately didn’t vote to accept either on its list of rare birds that have visited the state.

A charter school in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood temporarily moved to remote after a nearby shooting last week, the school said Friday.

Neighborhood House Charter School students in grades 8 through 11 will be distance learning until the end of next week, according to the school.

“Our seniors have already concluded their school year, so this change does not apply to the 12th grade class,” school officials said in a statement.

The decision, officials said, was approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The incident occurred last Friday at the nearby Shawmut MBTA station, according to the school.

“Police believe one of our students — who is not currently attending school in person — may have been the intended target,” officials said. “We also became aware that individuals associated with the alleged assailants from last week’s incident were communicating with members of our community that they intended to return.”

The alleged assailants don’t attend the school, according to officials.

The school is working with its security team, Boston police and Transit Police to enhance security when students and staff are on campus, officials said.

More Massachusetts news

Pride month

5 hours ago

This Pride Month, Bellingham man fulfills dream of donating blood: ‘It feels awesome’

Bedford

Jun 6

Woman shoots and kills her parents outside Bedford home, DA says

Police are investigating a robbery that occurred in East Boston on Friday morning.

Boston police said they responded to a report of a robbery on Meridian Street shortly after 9:30 a.m. A “be on the lookout” alert was put out for a vehic…

Friday brings us another warm day with more sun and highs around 80 inland, 70s at the coast as a sea breeze develops.

An upper-level low lingers across the Great Lakes through early next week, so little shortwaves will keep rain chances around…