For the second year in a row the Clemson Tigers are slated to take on the Banana Ball All-Stars. Last season when the Tigers hosted the Banana Ball All-stars we got a taste of it all, from a guy walking out to the plate on a horse, to traditional ball players making trick plays. 

This season the Banana Ball All-Stars added an additional stop to their tour, adding a game against Auburn at Plainsmen Park this coming Saturday (10/25). Banana Ball has been an awesome addition to the landscape of professional sports, and though unexpected, it has been really cool to see it get integrated into the college baseball landscape. 

With the nature of the Savannah Bananas it should be no surprise that they are always looking for new innovative ways to entertain fans. When selecting where to try a “Banana Ball x College Baseball crossover episode” it was clear to Banana Ball Founder Jesse Cole that Clemson was the place to give it a shot. 

“We built a good relationship with Coach Bakich. He shared the story of them playing Banana Ball when he was at Michigan and how he kind of became a fan of the game and how it was fun for the guys” explained Cole. “So we just started conversations about it and we talked about the idea of doing it at Clemson and he said his guys would be all for it.” 

“The opportunity to have talented players from a great program play the game and have fun… it was a no-brainer for us,” Cole said.

To say it was a success feels like an understatement. Tickets to the game were sold out in minutes, Doug Kingsmore Stadium was packed, and every fan left entertained. Luckily for fans who weren’t able to grab a ticket, the Bananas would come back in the spring of 2025 to play a game at Clemson University’s Memorial Stadium, where they played in front of an insane 81,000 fans and a sold out crowd. 

In college baseball the most entertaining games are the ones that have a good amount of chaos. Sure it’s fun to watch a team go out and execute a plan and succeed that way, but personally I find it’s much more fun to watch pure chaos unfold on the diamond. 

For a game of Banana Ball it’s chaos for 9 innings straight with it all happening in under 2 hours, and the Clemson Tigers were able to do a solid job matching that energy. At the end of the day the fall is about development, and Head Coach Erik Bakich has always done a solid job of preparing his guys in unique ways, like when he took the team to paintball earlier this week, to playing a game of Banana Ball. Baseball is a game where you need to be comfortable being uncomfortable and I can’t think of more pressure as a pitcher than thinking, “okay I need to land a backflip after this pitch.”

Going into the week Jesse knew he had Coach Bakich on board, now came the question of how the Tigers would perform.

“The question was the players, and last year I was able to go a week early and we spoke to the group, and you could see some of the excitement. So we had an idea the buy-in would be pretty strong,” Cole said.

“Then when the game happened, sold-out crowd, to see the dance with backflips… It was buy in through and through and the fans loved it. To show that hey, this is a good way to see college baseball in a whole different way,” said Cole.

While the fans definitely loved it, I don’t think anyone enjoyed it more than the Clemson players, they were going out having fun playing the game we all love, while still being locked in and ready for every pitch. For Jesse and Coach Bakich it’s simple, “We believe in the same thing, you have fun, but you bring that level of energy and fun to the game, you perform better,” said Cole.

It may sound crazy, but it is all too common that players get so focused chasing their professional baseball dreams, that they forget to have a good time while they’re doing it. For Coach Bakich to want to do something fun and different for his players is refreshing to see.

In terms of social presence it’s hard to find any sports team that gets even close to the engagement that the Bananas get. The 2024 match-up with the Tigers garnering more than 250,000 streams on YouTube and millions of impressions across social platforms. With another sell out on deck, it will be sure to yet again bring more fans to the college baseball space.

This years Banana Ball Tour made stops at Dudy Noble, Baum Walker, and Alex Box Stadium, all three being premier college baseball stadiums in the country. Personally I love that Banana Ball is being hosted at these great venues and would be excited to see more stops at college baseball stadiums across the country for fans to get to experience Banana Ball first hand. As for the future of the Banana Ball “All-Stars x College Baseball cross over episodes” I hope we get to see more top prospects flipping upside down and riding horses.

“Everything we do is an experiment. Last year Clemson went tremendously well so we added another game,” said Cole. “As the evolution of our league grows we look at what is the best opportunity to create fans and create future Banana Ballers. We’ll continue to evaluate that this weekend to see how it goes from a fan perspective and a player perspective and see if it makes sense to do more of these in the future.”

Tune into the Banana Ball YouTube Channel at 7:00 pm EST to watch it all unfold live tonight against the Clemson Tigers. You can also catch the game against Auburn Saturday night at 7pm EST on YouTube as well.