Six teams, but like the Globtrotters & their dribbling routines or when they bring a kid out on the court during play, it’s not exactly 100% serious competition. There are behind the back catches, & times where the players break out into song & dance, etc.; stuff that’s more for show than for seriousness & winning.
Definitely. Yes, the games are competitive (which, yes, makes it somewhat different from the Globetrotters), but like the Globetrotters, there are elements of Banana Ball which are “non-serious,” but directly incorporated into play, like the trick catches (which are part of the game score).
I don’t want to tell these people how to run their business, but I have to question the wisdom of the recent shift from just playing exhibitions to making it into more of a “real” sport. Now they keep win-loss records, there’s a playoff which only the best teams qualify for, and fans are encouraged to pick a particular team to root for. In other words, they’ve replicated the exact psychological incentive structure that creates the sort of toxic fandom that plagues “real” sports, and I question how well “just remind everyone it’s only silly fun” is going to work to prevent that happening to them.
How exactly does that work? I saw they kept track of “trick plays” as a stat on the scoreboard, but in the explanation of the rules there was no mention of how these trick plays might count toward winning the game.
And there isn’t a poorly animated spin-off cartoon.
It looks like they do count, but not for much. See the second half of the below paragraph, on the Banana Ball point system, for details; essentially, scoring more trick plays can act as a tiebreaker, so there is some incentive for getting them.
https://banana-ball.fandom.com/wiki/The_rules_of_Banana_Ball
Yes, the game I went to was sold out as of last August.
Ah, thanks, missed that.
This does sound cool and I was hoping to see it:
Ties are broken by a “showdown tiebreaker”, an abbreviated extra innings format. Each team’s half-inning during the showdown ends with any out or with any run scored by the batter—if the batter puts the ball in play, he must attempt to score. A batter who draws a walk advances to second base, with the hitting team allowed to send a new batter to the plate. At any point during the showdown, a home run hit over the outfield wall immediately ends the game in favor of the batting team. If the game is still tied after a showdown round, another showdown round is played, until there is a winner. Scenarios differ by showdown round: In showdown round 1, each team selects a pitcher and hitter to face off, with the defense fielding only their pitcher, catcher, and a single fielder. In showdown round 2, the fielder is eliminated. In showdown round 3 (and later), the fielder returns, but each half-inning starts with the bases loaded, and each run scored counts as a point.
Also, I will endorse the rule that allows a batter to steal first on a passed ball.
One more awesome thing about Banana Ball: their uniforms are available for use by Little League teams. I was much happier to have my son play for the Party Animals rather than, say, the Yankees or Dodgers.
Are there any other leagues that play the sport? Minors, little league, schools?
The whole thing is super campy and that’s a great thing. Theater nerds and jocks mashed up to create an amazing sports entertainment spectacle. Kinda like professional wrestling without the predetermined outcomes and more family-friendly.
That makes sense. I’m all in favor of silly sports, dumb stunts with kids leading dance-offs, and so on; but if they’re sliding into Srs Bsns territory, I’m out.
Not as far as I know. For one thing, the rules are very new. I don’t know that the owner of Banana Ball can prevent anyone else from using the rules, but he likely does have proprietary use of the brand name.
The Bananas themselves were originally a traditional baseball team, playing in a “summer collegiate” league (effectively, a minor league for collegiate baseball players); the Banana Ball rules were first developed around 2018, and the Bananas started playing Banana Ball full-time after the 2022 summer collegiate season.
I think I looked into tickets for one of these games about two years back. I’ve been aware of it for about 5 years, I want to say? Maybe even just pre-COVID. But when I looked into getting tickets, it was absolutely impossible. It looks like a fun time, a Globetrotters for baseball kind of thing, athleticism and theatre all rolled into one. What’s not to like? But, yeah, impossible to get tickets and not cheap when I looked.
I haven’t been to see the Bananas in person, but I’ve watched a couple of games on TV. I think the in-person experience would be exhausting, but in a fun way, much as spending all day at an amusement park. On TV, I can watch for about half an hour, then I lose interest. I’m not a huge baseball fan although I do understand the game better than most, and I can be entertained by scoreless pitchers’ duels just as much as high-scoring slugfests. IOW, I appreciate baseball for the game it is. BananaBall, however, is, as has already been noted, baseball’s version of the Harlem Globetrotters. Fun to watch, but only every once in a while.
I scored tickets for a game in Cleveland in September (not the Bananas themselves, two other teams). They actually had a really nice, in-house ticketing system. Me and a couple other family members had to sign up to a lottery, and then I was lucky enough to make it to the next round. Then I was given a time slot on a specific day to buy tix. I was able to faff about for a bit within the ticket buying window and buy my 5 allotted tickets for my family. Oddly enough I was just able to buy tickets in just a particular section, not 5 specific seats. I’m not sure how that will work. But I requested accessible seats (my mom will use a wheelchair that day) and I hope at least that gets honored!
Banana Ball has been around for a minute now, and my baseball-loving family has always wanted to see a game. So I look forward to it!
Seems like the atmosphere is akin to minor league baseball (which I always describe as a party with a baseball game in the background) but the players have Globetrotter-level skills.
Not sure what the OP was expecting when they went to a game but hey they were lucky to be there - we’ve waited 4 years to get a chance!
I have long preferred minor league games to Major League Baseball. Way cheaper, more entertainment for the buck, and the quality of play is still pretty high. Our local team is a Single A affiliate with the Athletics, and as with most minor league teams, every now and then they get a player from The Show on rehab, which is cool for the kids to see. Even better: I can get out of the parking lot in less than 5 minutes and be home in 20.
Yes, another very cool feature, as mentioned, is that you only buy tickets for a section. For example, at Wrigley lower bowl tickets cost $60, upper deck and bleachers were cheaper. Then you get randomly assigned seats within that section, preventing scalpers from grabbing all the good seats. As it happens we got far better seats than I’ve ever had for a Cubs game, right behind home plate about ten rows back.
Tickets are very expensive on the secondary market, primarily because Bananaball makes it extremely difficult to sell them 3rd party. THrough the company, tickets are $25-35, with VIB tickets hitting $100.
My first experience with the Bananas was in 2022 on vacation in Savannah. I had gotten tickets through stalking some fan Facebook pages for charity sales, and managed to take my family to a home game in Grayson Stadium. It was an amazing experience.
This is a game/product that thrives in a small venue. Cole et al take “fans first” extremely seriously. When you go to a home game at Grayson, your $25 ticket gets you admission and all you can eat at the concessions. (Offered fare is burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, chips, soda, water, cookies. Beer and other stuff is bought separately (including a trash can lid of nachos, which is as big as it sounds like)).
90% of the pre-game festivities were cooked up because they needed to entertain their fans that showed up the moment the gates opened - because at Grayson there are no assigned seats (they do now have assigned sections, which limit you to the main grandstand or the outfield bleachers). What strikes you immediately when you go to a game is how accessible everything is. There are a dozen players in the concourse signing autographs. Mascots and cast members are mingling with the crowd. Every employee is happy to see you and make your experience enjoyable (OP mentioned fans being akin to Disney adults - that may not be far off, if only because the experience of being at a fan-focused event is replicated over and over).
I’ve been to a couple of Bananaball games at MLB stadiums, and the experience is not the same. The venues are too big to sprinkle that magic evenly to everyone. Even at a larger AAA park it’s hard to do. So what did the company do? They started this year playing more and more games in tiny venues across the country.
I got VIB tickets for the game I went to this year. It got me and my family behind the scenes access to all of the players before the game. My boys each got a ball signed by nearly all of the Clowns and Party Animals, including Ryan Howard and Jackie Bradley Jr. In the 5th inning, we had a Golden Ticket that instructed my group to go to a certain section between the top and bottom innings. When the time came, my family and 5 of my kids’ friends were taken into the Party Animal dugout to hang out for an entire inning.
I worship at the shrine of baseball, and I love Bananaball. All Hail the Weird!
As for minor league ball, I am lucky in that there are three Single-A teams within easy driving distance, and another just a bit further away. Cheap seats, decent games, and as mentioned, you can clear the parking lot in less than 20 minutes.