From Broken Dreams to Big League Disruption
Banana Ball league Jesse Cole once dreamed of playing for the Boston Red Sox. But after a shoulder injury in college ended those hopes, he pivoted to coaching. One day in the dugout, he had a moment of brutal honesty: he was bored.
“If I’m bored, there’s gotta be other people that are probably bored with baseball as well,” Cole said.
That realization sent him on a mission to reinvent America’s pastime — and thus, Banana Ball was born. A faster, wilder, and more entertaining version of the sport, it’s now a viral sensation and live spectacle drawing fans from across the country.
The Man in the Yellow Tux
Cole’s journey to Banana Ball began when he became the GM of the Gastonia Grizzlies, a struggling summer league team in North Carolina. His solution? Inject fun and energy into the game. He taught players goofy dances, introduced games for fans, and even started wearing a bright yellow tuxedo, inspired by P.T. Barnum and Walt Disney.
“It’s standing out. It’s being different. If your owner is in a yellow tuxedo, that gives permission to everyone else to have fun,” he said.
Attendance soared. The team started winning. “We won championships,” Cole said. “When you have fun, you play better.”
It’s also where he met Emily McDonald, the Grizzlies’ “director of fun,” who later became his wife. He proposed to her on the Grizzlies’ field during a game.
A New Team, A New Vision
Banana Ball league In 2015, Jesse and Emily launched the Savannah Bananas, a new summer league team based in Savannah, Georgia. With sold-out crowds and on-field success, things looked great — until Cole noticed something unsettling: fans were leaving before games ended.
“It was eating me up inside,” Cole said. “That means there’s a problem with the game itself.”
Cole began videotaping fans to pinpoint when they’d tune out. He studied the footage and realized the game wasn’t engaging enough. So he started designing a new kind of baseball — faster, more fun, and packed with non-stop entertainment.
Turning Up the Fun — Banana Style
Banana Ball isn’t just a game. It’s a full-blown show that starts long before the first pitch. Hours before the game, fans gather for music and dancing outside the stadium. Inside, there’s:
- The Banana Splitz – a young gymnastics team performing flips on the field
- The Banana Nanas – a grandma dance crew stealing hearts
- The Man-Nanas – also known as the Dad-Bod Cheering Squad
- Silly games and crowd warm-ups to get everyone in the spirit
“There’s almost 50 things that happen before the game even starts,” Cole said.
So, What Exactly Is Banana Ball?
Banana Ball is real baseball — with some wild rule changes:
- Banana Ball league Games are capped at two hours
- No mound visits
- If a fan catches a foul ball, Banana Ball league it counts as an out
- No walks — instead, there’s the Ball 4 Sprint: the batter sprints around the bases while every fielder must touch the ball before they can tag him out
- No bunting — bunt, and you’re ejected
- Players lip sync and dance during at-bats
- Trick plays like behind-the-back throws and flips are encouraged
“We took the most boring moments of baseball and made them exciting,” Cole said.
Finding the Right Kind of Player
Cole also owns the Bananas’ main rival, the Party Animals, and needed players who could handle both the baseball and the showbiz.
At first, Banana Ball league coaches Tyler Gillum and Adam Virant focused on recruiting top-tier talent. But Cole reminded them: the game wasn’t just about skill — it was about creating moments no one had ever seen on a baseball field.
That’s where Dakota Albritton comes in. A former high school player turned construction worker, he showed up at tryouts with a wild card — stilts. His mom had signed him up and told the team he could use them… despite not touching them in 10 years.
Banana Ball league The straps had rotted, so they stopped at a tractor supply store and bought dog collars to strap the stilts to his legs. At tryouts, Cole dared him: “Unless you can hit in ’em…”
“I had no idea I could do it,” Albritton said, “but I wasn’t gonna back down from a challenge.”
He hit the ball. On stilts. And won himself a spot on the team.
A Second Chance at the Game They Love
Other players, like RobertAnthony Cruz, came with more traditional credentials — Cruz was signed by the Washington Nationals but was later released. He, like many others, saw Banana Ball as a second chance to keep playing the game they love — but now with even more fun.
Banana Ball players have full-year contracts and are paid significantly more than most minor leaguers. Their fan base — and their salaries — continue to grow.
Viral Sensation, Real Business
The Bananas’ popularity has exploded. One couple told 60 Minutes they drove 10 hours just to see a game.
Last season, the team played in six Major League Baseball stadiums, including Fenway Park in Jesse Cole’s hometown — all six games sold out.
On TikTok, the Bananas have more followers than all 12 of last year’s MLB playoff teams combined.
Banana Ball is now a multimillion-dollar private business. Cole keeps ticket prices capped at $60 and broadcasts games free on YouTube, keeping it accessible for fans everywhere.
The Banana Ball League Is Here
This year, Banana Ball has officially become a league. Two new teams — the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters — have joined the roster. They’ll compete in 17 MLB stadiums, and for the first time, also in three NFL stadiums.
Those stadiums, which seat 65,000 to 75,000 fans, are already sold out.
America’s Pastime — Reimagined
Jesse Cole didn’t just reimagine baseball. He gave it a new life, a new league, and a whole lot of joy. In his yellow tuxedo, with players dancing on the field and fans cheering every quirky play, he’s turned America’s pastime into America’s party.
And in doing so, he’s made Banana Ball something the world can’t stop watching.
