After losing five of their first six games, the Chicago White Sox returned to Rate Field in desperate need of a reset, a tough task with the defending American League champions rolling into town. It took ten innings, but thanks to the late game heroics of a former Savannah Banana, the White Sox left Rate Field as 5-4 walk-off winners.
Much like his career, Friday afternoon’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays was a bit of a roller coaster for White Sox right fielder Tristian Peters.
In the second inning, the 26-year-old slammed into the right-field fence in a full-extension bid to rob an Addison Barger home run, only to have the ball trickle out of his glove as he hit the ground. While he kept preventing the ball from going over the fence, Barger came around to score on an Alejandro Kirk double in the ensuing at-bat.
Peters couldn’t find his footing at the plate either, going down on a Dylan Cease slider after an eight-pitch battle in the bottom half of the inning. After starting 0-for-2, he finally delivered in the sixth, guiding a Braydon Fisher fastball into right field. But after advancing to scoring position on an Edgar Quero single, he was picked off at second, effectively killing the White Sox rally.
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Peters had a chance to atone for the baserunning mistake in the eighth inning. With the go-ahead run on first, he worked a 3-0 count against Blue Jays reliever Louis Varland—only to watch three straight fastballs blow past him for his second strikeout of the day. To make matters worse, pinch runner Derek Hill was thrown out attempting to steal second, turning it into an inning-ending strikeout–throw ’em out double play.
That’s the beauty of baseball. After an afternoon full of missteps, Peters delivered the moment that sent more than 33,000 White Sox fans home happy on Opening Day. But that moment might not have been possible without a risky gamble from Derek Hill.
The White Sox were one out away from losing their sixth game of the season, with Miguel Vargas standing on third base in the bottom of the tenth. Toronto had taken the lead in the top of the frame after first baseman Munetaka Murakami lost contact with the bag while trying to receive a throw from Vargas.
With the game on the line, Hill laid down a bunt, testing backup catcher Tyler Heineman, who had replaced Alejandro Kirk two pitchers earlier after Kirk took a foul tip off his thumb. Heineman proceeded to throw the ball off target, allowing Vargas to score from third and Hill to scamper to second on the error.
With the speedy Hill in scoring position, Peters came to the plate with a simple approach: put the ball in play and let it find the outfield grass.
“I know Derek is very fast, so I know he’s gonna score from second on a single, I don’t need to try to do too much,” Peters said during an on-field interview with CHSN after the game.
Peters did just that, slapping a Jeff Hoffman slider to right field for a walk-off single. It marked Peter’s first walk-off hit of his MLB career, and his teammates celebrated the occasion by ripping off his jersey as they mobbed him in the outfield.
It’s been a season full of firsts for Peters, who logged his first big-league hit against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 28 and stole his first base against the Miami Marlins five days later.
“It’s been awesome playing every day so far since Opening Day,” Peters said. “It’s been great. Just getting my at-bats and seeing pitching at the big league level. It’s awesome.”
After being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in December for cash considerations, Peters earned a spot on the White Sox roster by hitting .270/.333/.514 in Spring Training, narrowly securing one of the final outfield positions.
But Peters’ journey to the White Sox has been anything but linear.
While playing at Chandler-Gilbert Community College in Arizona in 2019, he was recruited by an opposing manager to join the Savannah Bananas. This Harlem Globetrotters-style exhibition team now sells out stadiums across the country.
Peters didn’t get to experience the full boom of “Banana Ball,” but he helped lay the groundwork for what it has become. Until 2022, the Bananas competed as a collegiate summer team, and while the games aren’t scripted, players often break out into choreographed dances and sketches between at-bats.
In his 17-game stint with the Bananas, Peters went 16-for-50 with four doubles and learned to line dance along the way. While trying to make a name for himself in Savannah, he also played college ball at Southern Illinois University, performing well enough to be drafted in the seventh round by the Milwaukee Brewers, all while still donning a Banana uniform.
After being dealt from Milwaukee to San Francisco, and then from San Francisco to Tampa Bay over the span of three seasons, Peters is finally getting his first extended playing time with the White Sox.
There’s no telling how long this opportunity will last with Brooks Baldwin set to return from injury, but for now, Peters is focused on contributing in any way he can. In the meantime, Friday’s late-game heroics aren’t too shabby for a player who was dancing in a kilt just five years ago.
