Banana Ball

Banana Ball, also known as the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL or Banana League), is a barnstorming exhibition baseball league based in Savannah, Georgia. The league has played most of their games at Grayson Stadium since its inaugural season. The league has six teams: the Savannah Bananas, the Party Animals, the Firefighters, the Texas Tailgaters, the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns, a latter revival of the original Indianapolis Clowns of Negro league baseball.

History

The Banana Ball format began in 2018 when the Savannah Bananas, originally a collegiate summer baseball team, played an alternate-rules exhibition game with Lander University. The first official Banana Ball game was played at Grayson Stadium in June 2020, with the Savannah Bananas splitting into two for the game. A fully separate opponent, the Party Animals, was created for Banana Ball games the next month. From 2020 to 2022 the Savannah team played Banana Ball at home games and regular Coastal Plain League (CPL) rules on the road. The Savannah Bananas began playing Banana Ball full time and the league was formed in 2023.

Teams

Savannah Bananas

The Bananas were a part of the Coastal Plain League (CPL) West division, where they won three Petitt Cup championships (2016, 2021, and 2022). However, after the growth of Banana Ball, after 2022, the team moved entirely to exhibition games against their partner touring teams. Known by their yellow colored team jerseys, they are the league's most well-known team.

Party Animals

During the 2020 shortened Bananas CPL season, the organization debuted a second squad for Banana Ball games at home: the Party Animals, wearing black or pink uniforms. Previously, the Banana Ball games were played as intrasquad scrimmage games of the CPL Bananas pre-season. In 2024, the Party Animals were fleshed out as a more permanent team with its own slate of games outside of the Bananas tour.

Firefighters

Debuting on October 5, 2023, as part of the 2024 season launch night, the Firefighters wear firefighter-themed uniforms, including firefighter helmets. Starting in 2025, they have their own slate of games separate from the Bananas tour.

Visitors

Introduced in June 2024, the Visitors served as opponents for the Party Animals or Bananas in certain games when the other team faces the Firefighters or The Texas Tailgaters. The Visitors wore generic gray uniforms with blue numbering (with no names on the back of jerseys) and constituted the developmental wing of the Bananas organization, but that phased out as of 2026, and the franchise was split into two Banana Ball teams: the Loco Beach Coconuts and the Indianapolis Clowns.

Texas Tailgaters

The Texas Tailgaters were announced on October 3, 2024, during the 2025 season launch night, as the fourth team in the league and fifth overall. Despite the name, the team is also currently based in Savannah, Georgia, but it hosted home games in Texas and Oklahoma since their inaugural season. The Tailgaters are the first semi-regional team to launch since the original Bananas. In addition to their Texas headlining tour, the Tailgaters' first season was also successfully held with games across the country against the other three league teams. They wear elements of the Texas state flag colors in their uniform jerseys. The Tailgaters would be again be given their own slate of home games as part of the BBCL beginning in 2026.

Loco Beach Coconuts

On October 9, 2025, as part of the 2026 season launch night, the BBCL announced the creation of the Loco Beach Coconuts, which will make their league debut in 2026 with their tropical and beach-themed uniforms. The team has a beach theme with the mascot Coco the Coconut, whom the team debuted during the 2026 Bananaland at Sea Cruise. Former MLB outfielder Shane Victorino was announced as the "primetime manager" for the team.

Indianapolis Clowns

Also on October 9, 2025, the league would formally induct, as one of the new member teams, the Indianapolis Clowns, a revival club of the same name from the Negro leagues; they will wear a modernized form of the old uniform jerseys of the old club. The revival of the Clowns name was done in partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Former MLB first baseman Ryan Howard was announced as the "primetime manager" for the team, while another MLB legend, outfielder and World Series champion Jackie Bradley Jr. (ex-Boston Red Sox) officially made history as the first full-time former major-leaguer to ever play in Banana Ball, now as part of said organization, making his official debut on February 27, 2026.

Banana Ball rules

The rules of Banana Ball have developed over time. As of February 2026, the Banana Ball rules are as amended:

1. Games are won by points, instead of runs: the team that scores the most runs in an inning gets one point, except in the final inning when every run counts as one point. The final inning may be earlier than the ninth inning, due to the time limit noted below. When the home team has scored enough runs to "win" any inning other than the final inning, the inning immediately ends.
2. There is a two-hour time limit; no new inning may start after 120 minutes have elapsed. Once an inning starts, it is played to completion.
3. Batters cannot step out of the batter's box. Doing so results in an automatic strike.
4. Batters cannot bunt. Doing so results in an automatic ejection.
5. Batters can attempt to steal first base at any point during their at bat, including on passed balls or wild pitches.
6. Walks are replaced by "ball-four sprints". After ball four, the batter is allowed to advance as far around the bases as he can while the ball is sequentially thrown to all of the fielders other than the pitcher, starting with the catcher. The ball remains dead, with the batter-runner not liable to be put out, until the four infielders and three outfielders have each touched the ball. This often results in the batter-runner advancing to second base on the sprint.
7. No mound visits are allowed.
8. Foul balls caught by fans on the fly are counted as outs.
9. 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 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. The same happens if the batter is hit by a pitch. 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. This also affects the ball-four sprints or walks given up: as walks or sprints are added during this time, runners are added in for either the home or away teams, with 3 consecutive walks/sprints determining the walk-off victory by the home or away team.
10. Each team is allowed to challenge certain calls by the umpires: whether a ball was fair or foul, whether or not a runner was tagged out (at home plate or on the basepaths), and whether a ball was caught or not. A team retains its right to challenge until they lose a challenge, after which they may not challenge any calls for the remainder of the game. The fans can also challenge one play per game, as determined by a fan who is chosen to initiate the challenge. Challenged plays are reviewed by the broadcast team, who relay their ruling to the umpire.
11. "The Golden Batter Rule" – One time in a game, a team may send any hitter in the lineup to bat in any spot. The goal of this rule is so a team can have their best hitter hit when the game is on the line.
12. "The Equalizer Point" – If the visiting team has more trick plays than the home team after eight innings, they get an extra point before the ninth inning.
13. "The Designated Fielder Rule" - Similar to the Golden Batter rule, but on the defensive side: any team can, once in a game, send one extra or bench player to field in replacement of an active player.

Other non-standard baseball activities are sometimes used for entertainment purposes, including specialty walk-ups starting from the stands, in-game dances, run celebrations, and guest hitters and pitchers, usually former major-leaguers, except Jackie Bradley Jr.

Media coverage

Featured media

The league has been featured by ESPN, The Wall Street Journal, CNN 10, Sports Illustrated, and 60 Minutes highlighting its sports entertainment and viral videos.

Broadcast

Banana Ball entered into a partnership deal for its inaugural broadcast on CW Sports on July 27, 2025. Games are also aired live on YouTube and have aired on ESPN2, Disney+, and HBOMax in the summer of 2025.

References