Many have heard of the Savannah Bananas, the singing-and-dancing, back-flipping, yellow-jersey-wearing baseball team filling stadiums and flooding TikTok feeds everywhere. But the Bananas are just the anchor of a growing sport called Banana Ball, and two of its teams will face off against each other in Richmond this weekend. 

On Friday and Saturday, the Firefighters and the Texas Tailgaters will compete at the Diamond in the Firefighters' first-ever headlining series. The two teams have never faced each other before outside of scrimmages, and they both have a lot to prove: The Firefighters are just a year old, and the Tailgaters are a brand-new team, having launched their season in late May in Albuquerque. 

I know this because I was there.

My boyfriend is a left-handed pitcher, and the violinist, for the Texas Tailgaters. Known as “Jimmy Strings,” his name is James Taubl, and he had a successful career in video production until he attended a Bananas game last year and decided to send in a video of himself playing the violin and beatboxing simultaneously. A recruiter called the next day and invited him to a tryout, and the rest is history.

As a Banana Ball newbie, the Albuquerque series was a crash course in the sport for me. If you were lucky enough to snag tickets for the sold-out Richmond games, here’s what to expect. 

What is Banana Ball? 

Banana Ball is a sport created by Jesse Cole, who is known for wearing a bright yellow suit and top hat. Cole started the Savannah Bananas years ago as a collegiate summer baseball team, but their wacky antics quickly gained notoriety. In 2020, the league added the Party Animals as a rival team to the Bananas and Banana Ball as we know it was born.

The Firefighters joined in 2024, and this year the Tailgaters launched, promising the “greatest pregame in sports.” Two new teams will join Banana Ball for the 2026 season, bringing the total to six. 

Get there early

If you’ve ever been to a Major League Baseball game, you know it’s perfectly fine to get there right when the game starts or even a few minutes late. But showing up right on time for a Banana Ball game means missing a lot. 

Soon after the gates open, members of both teams will be in the parking lot signing autographs for fans. Then there’s a pre-game show centered around the game’s headliner; for example, when the Party Animals headlined in Albuquerque, they had a dance squad, a band called Party Down, and two bartenders performing bottle juggling tricks. 

The Firefighters have never headlined a series before, so what the pre-game show will entail is a bit of a mystery. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be fun, and I have a feeling we will also get at least a few songs from the Texas Tailgaters band (more on that later). 

More entertainment and another opportunity for autographs will happen after the game. 

How is Banana Ball different from regular baseball?

As silly as Banana Ball can be, the sport itself is competitive. The teams play nine innings against each other, but it runs a little differently than the baseball we all grew up with. First, the game is designed to go quickly; there's a two-hour time limit, and no new inning can start if the clock runs out. There are also no walks in Banana Ball; instead, four balls becomes a "ball four sprint" where the hitter starts sprinting until every player on the opposing team touches the ball. Most hitters only reach first base, but they could feasibly run to third or even home if time allows. 

The scoring is also slightly different. Instead of each run counting as a point, each inning counts. So if the Firefighters score two points in an inning, and the Tailgaters score one, the Firefighters win that inning, and that counts as a point.

That’s the case until the ninth inning, when every run scored counts as a point.

In the event of a tie, it goes to a sudden death situation called a showdown, where a pitcher faces a hitter and there’s a player in the outfield. If one team scores, they get a point, and the other team gets a chance to answer. At the Tailgaters’ first game, the Party Animals won, but that was after four–yes, four–showdowns. 

Fan participation is a crucial part of each Banana Ball game. Each game begins with a fan warm-up, and when a fan catches a foul ball, it counts as an out. 

Who are the Firefighters?

The Firefighters were created in 2024 to honor firefighters across the country. One of their pitchers, Mat Wolf, is an actual firefighter who rolls up to the mound in a smoke-filled barrel. When they score, a siren goes off and the entire team gets sprayed down. It’s great. 

Former Bananas Dakota McFadden, Christian Dearman, and Noah Bridges are among the Firefighters’ most well-known players. The team won its first game of the 2025 season against the Party Animals last weekend. 

Who are the Texas Tailgaters? 

The Texas Tailgaters are the newest Banana Ball team, promising the “greatest pregame in sports.” Their uniforms are denim blue, they play wearing cowboy hats, and their field entrance is epic. They racked up two wins so far–one against the Party Animals in Albuquerque and another against the Bananas this past weekend in Cincinnati.

Players to watch out for include Zach Watson, a former Firefighter known for his backflip catches and hitting, and Mac Danford, an absolute beast who any pitcher should be scared to face. Brett Carson, who plays first base, hits, and pitches, is the team’s Shohei Ohtani, and Jonathan “Sunshine” Luders is known for going up to bat on a unicycle. Keep an eye out for line dances led by Nelson Smith, who once starred in a Luke Bryan music video.

You can’t have a tailgate without a band.

As I mentioned before, the Tailgaters have a band. But what’s cool is that most of the band members double as baseball players. Outfielder Tre Jones plays guitar, pitcher Rodrigo Sanchez plays drums, James plays violin and piano and sings, and outfielder Jayson Arendt is the lead vocalist. Jayson is a country artist who tours with his band in the offseason and writes original music. 

The band will play some of Jayson’s original songs, plus country hits from artists like Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean.

Anything else? 

Even non-sports fans will be thoroughly entertained by Banana Ball. Wear sunscreen, get yourself a beverage, and be prepared to sing and dance along. If you see me, say hi – I’ll be the one screaming for Jimmy Strings.