For the Banana Ball gamers, having enjoyable is the main target

PORTLAND — JD Urso discovered shortly that being a member of the Loco Beach Coconuts was much less about sustaining a baseball focus and extra about making a vibe. Baseball is an uncontrollable sport. You might hit 4 arduous line drives in a sport, every one proper at a fielder, and go 0 for 4. Playing Banana Ball is a aid, Urso mentioned.

“My job’s no longer trying to go get four hits. It’s try to build fans for Loco Beach and Banana Ball as a whole,” Urso mentioned Friday afternoon, a couple of hours earlier than the Coconuts took on the Texas Tailgaters at a sold-out Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field. “We have the opportunity before and after games to be out on the plaza, meeting these fans. The stories I’m hearing, the people I’m meeting, it’s so rewarding.”

The roving occasion was in Portland all weekend. Fans arriving early have been handled to a live performance by the three-piece band that accompanies the Coconuts on tour. Players from each groups signed autographs and posed for images.

Urso’s story isn’t a lot completely different from quite a lot of the ballplayers who make up the rosters of the six groups travelling the nation taking part in and selling Banana Ball, the model of baseball popularized by the Savannah Bananas. Grow up taking part in baseball, they shortly modify to the brand new guidelines.

Banana Ball is an up-tempo model of baseball wrapped round a celebration. What began with the Savannah Bananas is now referred to as The Banana Ball Championship League. There’s a 2-hour time restrict for video games. Bunting is strictly forbidden. If a pitcher throws ball 4, the hitter doesn’t take first base. He can dash to first and past, if he could make it earlier than each participant within the discipline touches the ball. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out.

“As a hitter, I believe in being a little more patient. Because of the ball-four sprints, I can now get to second base on a walk. I try to get deep in counts,” Urso mentioned.

When he was achieved taking part in on the University of Tampa, the place he received an NCAA Division II nationwide championship for his head coach and father, Joe Urso, in 2025, Urso appeared to remain within the sport. He reached out to Chase Achoff, a former rival at Rollins College who now performs for the Party Animals, one other Banana Ball crew. That led to a possibility final season to hitch the Visitors, the crew the Bananas set as much as introduce gamers to their model of the sport.

Kaden Bowler can also be in his first season with the Coconuts. Bowler performed at Utah State, and after graduating in 2022, he labored as a touring musician, taking part in guitar for nation acts together with Kane Brown and Shaboozey. The baseball itch by no means went away, although, and final 12 months he signed on as a guitar participant with the Tailgaters’ band.

Playing music was enjoyable, Bowler mentioned, however in case you can nonetheless play baseball? You need to strive. Of course there’s an adjustment to the foundations you can’t actually make till you begin taking part in video games.

“There’s definitely a learning curve. There’s a lot of guys who come in and struggle at first, me included,” Bowler mentioned. “There’s so many different rules to the game. It moves to a different pace. It’s a different sport. It’s not even the same sport.”

Bowler spent a lot of the sport Friday driving a custom-built surfboard outfitted with a wheel. When he discovered he’d be assigned to the Coconuts this season, Bowler and his father, Paul, kicked round concepts that will be enjoyable for the followers. His dad got here up with the surfboard and constructed it whereas combating most cancers.

“He literally went from the hospital, to building it, back to the hospital,” mentioned Bowler, who wore a teal Sea Dogs hat Friday.

Bowler despatched a video of himself driving the board to Jesse Cole, the proprietor of the Bananas and the league. Cole liked it, and Bowler’s trademark bit was born. He’s recognized to take at-bats on the board and experience it to first base.

For all of the frivolity, there’s nonetheless a sport to be performed. They maintain rating, and the Coconuts received 3-2 on Friday. In the underside of the fifth inning, Urso ripped a double to the hole in proper heart. After reaching second base, he prolong his arms and shimmied, as if driving an invisible surfboard.

Above every part else, the sport is about ensuring everybody has enjoyable, from the followers to the gamers. For the gamers who took the sport so significantly their total lives, it seems like they’re having a blast taking part in Banana Ball.

“We absolutely are,” Urso mentioned. “It’s a dream job, and now my goal is to stay here as long as I can.”