Neon. Sparkles. Baseball. Stilts. Senior citizens. Dancing. Men from “Love Island Australia.” Fruit. Surprisingly enough, all these words can be used to describe the same exact thing: Banana Ball.
Banana Ball is a unique league of exhibition baseball created by Fans First Entertainment (FFE). Jesse Cole, the owner of FFE, created a baseball team, the Savannah Bananas, originally in 2016 as a collegiate summer league amateur team. The Bananas played in the Coastal Plain League up until Aug. of 2022, when they announced their transition to Banana Ball: a unique league based upon the mantra, “Fans First. Entertain Always.”
Hailey Ribar, a Huntington Beach High School (HBHS) sophomore, said, “I love watching stuff that’s not, well, sports. So I think a riled up, more entertaining version, more theatrical, showy version of a sport would be my kind of deal.”
This league has completely flipped the game of baseball on its head. One of the biggest differences between Banana Ball and other minor (and major) league baseball is the rules. There’s a two-hour time limit on all Banana Ball games. If an inning ends at an hour and fifty minutes, that will be the last inning worth one point. One team will win the point until a winner is decided after two hours of gameplay. The most notorious twist to the rules is that if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s considered an out.
Logan Studebaker, an HBHS baseball player, said, “I think [fans catching a foul ball is] something fun for the fans to do. I mean, you get to keep a ball and you get an out.”
About two years before the Savannah Bananas made the move from traditional baseball to Banana Ball, Cole realized something significant. Sure, the Savannah Bananas had fun shticks, like “Stilts,” a guy who plays baseball while wearing, surprise surprise, stilts. Everyone also loved their dance team made up of senior citizens, the Banana Nanas. Yet, something was missing: the fans desired friendly rivalry.
With this realization, he knew that he needed to create the perfect opponents for the neon yellow players. Enter: the Party Animals.
The Party Animals first debuted in 2020, quickly becoming popular among fans for their high energy and humorous game-play. Their pink, green and black uniforms stood out against the bright yellow jerseys of their adversaries. The team’s roster gives fans some insight about their favorite players, such as Tanner Thomas (who, as stated on the roster, owns two tortoises), Jake Skole (a former defensive back for the University of Georgia), Blake Benson (whose favorite flavor of potato chip is dill pickle), Jason Swan (who earned the high school superlative for Best Dressed), Sal Jacob (whose favorite snack is an unhealthy amount of Uncrustables) and Andy Cosgrove (who has lived in five countries and eight different states) – just to name a few.
Another fun fact about Cosgrove is that he appeared on “Love Island Australia” as a contestant hoping to find love. Did he win? No, he actually chose to leave because two different girls wanted desperately to be with him, but he felt too bad about rejecting one, so he rejected both. Who can blame him, though? Cosgrove got to go right back to doing what he loved: doing TikTok dances in neon crop-tops and playing baseball.
After taking a few years to bask in the success of the Party Animals, Cole added a new ingredient to his Banana Ball sundae: the Firefighters.
With Head Coach Val Perez, a former firefighter, this team brought determination and drive to the field when they debuted back in 2024.
Their jerseys, which switch from having red-orange or black bases, are covered with flames as a way to forewarn fans of the “fiery” performance they’ll see when they go to a Banana Ball game with the Firefighters.
The Firefighters, while still a rather new addition to the league, have quickly become a hot topic for the fans. Wanting to use this success as a stepping stone for Banana Ball, Cole announced the Texas Tailgaters, a new team that debuted earlier this year.
The Texas Tailgaters are all about Texas charm. They have their own parking lot grilling sessions for the fans, line dancing and their own country music band.
Even though they haven’t had too much time to really grasp a loyal fanbase, there is no doubt that the Texas Tailgaters are on the way to becoming fan-favorites with their country-boy charisma.
With 2026 just around the corner, Banana Ball isn’t slowing down. Next year will be the inaugural season of the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) – the first-ever professional league of Banana Ball. The 60-game season is set to begin this upcoming April with six teams participating.
That’s right, six teams. Banana Ball will be adding two more teams to the league: the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns.
The head coach of the Coconuts is Mark Crocco, who led the Erskine College baseball team to seven consecutive winning seasons. Their Primetime Coach will be former Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star, Shane Victorino.
The Indianapolis Clowns actually have a rather rich history as pioneers for exhibition baseball. Players such as Goose Tatum, Satchel Paige, Toni Stone and Mamie Peanut Johnson have all been a part of this team. Banana Ball’s partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is what has allowed the Indianapolis Clowns to be revived. Head Coach Errick Fox and Primetime Coach – the absolute MLB legend – Ryan Howard both plan to use this opportunity as a way to encourage fans to pay their respects to the men and women who paved the way for exhibition baseball – a sport that includes sports fans and non-sports fans alike.
HBHS sophomore, Constance Palmer, said, “I think that it would be very useful to learn from Banana Ball for non-athletes, since it is a less stressful and more fun way to play the game.”
While the world can seem dull, Banana Ball is a sensational experience that works to brighten people’s lives. The eye-catching colors, thrilling tricks, and catchy music encourages people of all ages to let loose and party. After all, there’s nothing that can bring people together more than silly dances and grown men lipsyncing to Sabrina Carpenter.
A nice trip to the ball game might be just what the world needs – especially a ball game as spectacular and sparkly as Banana Ball.
The world only has three strikes; it’s time to make them count.
