# The Unholy Atrocity That Is “Banana Ball” **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** baseball-mlb\ **Created:** [July 26, 2026, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958 "2026-07-26T21:24:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2026, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/62 "2026-08-02T17:58:15Z")
Banana Ball is similar to Big 3 Basketball. They are similar to another sport, but are their own thing. If you’re a sport purist, you won’t like them, but they are entertaining and fun. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/63 "2026-08-16T15:02:19Z")
Went to the Banana Ball game at Coors Field in Denver last night, and had a great time. People keep saying it is like the Globetrotters, and I understand why, but the better analogy I kept thinking of was that it is like musical theater as compared to serious theater. If you go to _Grease_ and are upset because the Montagues and Capulets never have dance battles, then you’ve missed the point of the show. Also, the play is not put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company, but by the Savannah Community Players. So don’t go see _Grease_ if you get upset by having your tragedy interrupted by musical numbers, and don’t go to a Banana Ball game if you take sports so seriously that you can’t enjoy the team doing some mid-inning line dancing. Most of the bits really aren’t going to land when watched in a video. Some 6 year old doing dance steps on Youtube is pretty bad unless its your 6 year old. A 6 year old leading 50,000 people, including everyone around you, in a dance is fun. Also unlike the Globetrotters, the Bananas lost. In the game we saw the Indianapolis Clowns won in a 5 or 6 round showdown. Even though the crowd was a sea of yellow, nobody seemed to care and the Clowns were cheered for their first showdown win. It wasn’t a 2-hour game, either. By the time the showdown was over it had been nearly 3 hours. The baseball was not particularly great. Lots of errors, and it wasn’t clear if they were from trying to do trick plays, deliberately missing, or just player quality. None of the trick plays were as good as being in the same stadium (almost 20 years ago!) and watching Troy Tulowitzki turn a run scoring line drive into a double play. During the 6th or 7th inning Kristen Bell sang a medley of _Frozen_ and other songs, often with baseball lyrics instead of the original. No explanation was given as to why this happened. [![](https://i.imgur.com/p8tSK5X.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/p8tSK5X.jpeg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/5htyTtP.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/5htyTtP.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/64 "2026-08-16T15:17:18Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > If you go to _Grease_ and are upset because the Montagues and Capulets never have dance battles, then you’ve missed the point of the show. I think you mean _Westside Story_ but that’s a good way to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/65 "2026-08-16T15:48:53Z")
You are correct, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/66 "2026-08-16T23:39:00Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > During the 6th or 7th inning Kristen Bell sang a medley of _Frozen_ and other songs, often with baseball lyrics instead of the original. No explanation was given as to why this happened. I saw the clip. The guy she was duetting with is Derek Klena. He has very solid Broadway credentials including a Tony nomination. Unlike most Broadway performers he also was a pitcher on the UCLA Bruins team. I don’t know how much Broadway performers make but Savanah Bananas make a lot more than minor league players and I’m sure it will be a steady gig until he’s too old to handle it. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/67 "2026-08-17T00:10:51Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > The guy she was duetting with is Derek Klena Thanks, I wouldn’t have remembered that name even if they had announced it. With all of the delays involved between the speed of sound, live, and scoreboard visuals, it was impossible to tell if they were lip syncing or singing live. Either way, they both sounded great, and the dance was cute. Funniest part of the performance to me was it completely upstaged former Rocky Ryan Spilborghs, who they had just brought out to pinch hit. He promptly grounded into an out, just like old times watching the Rockies play. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/68 "2026-08-17T00:17:15Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Funniest part of the performance to me was it completely upstaged former Rocky Ryan Spilborghs, who they had just brought out to pinch hit. Nice to see his name. I worked with his mom Essie for a few years while he was in the MLB. She was a very kind person who died from cancer way too young. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2026, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/69 "2026-09-11T15:35:06Z")
From today’s Onion: > **[Savannah Bananas Commemorate 9/11 With Solemn ‘Macarena’ Performance](https://theonion.com/savannah-bananas-commemorate-9-11-with-solemn-macarena-performance/)** > > SAVANNAH, GA—In remembrance of the lives lost on that fateful day, sources confirmed that the roster of the Savannah Bananas took to the field prior to Friday’s game to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks with a solemn... ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/70 "2026-09-12T02:47:01Z")
I obviously wasn’t there but that seems really inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/71 "2026-09-12T02:57:44Z")
It’s an article from _The Onion_, a parody news site. It didn’t really happen. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2026, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958/72 "2026-09-12T02:58:09Z")
Fuck me. Sorry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-unholy-atrocity-that-is-banana-ball/1031958.md?page=3)