Going Bananas!

A sell-out crowd lines up to get in. 6/6/2026 dwm

It was the first time "Banana Ball" was on display in Wisconsin and I was in the packed house.

I've been aware of the Banana Ball phenomenon for a few years, but wasn't fully aware of what it might be like.

After getting our parking spot, we joined a crowd of people inching their way to the gates.

Unlike Brewer games, a fenced perimeter created space where fans could buy merchandise and enjoy entertainment on stage before entering the stadium.

The Party Animals were the home team. 6/6/26 dm

That entertainment started two hours before fans could enter the stadium. When the gates opened at 4:30, two and a half hours before game-time, the fun and games continued on and around the field.

What is usually dead time waiting for the game to start had significantly more "butts in seats" more than an hour before the first pitch than I've ever seen before.

One contest was getting a random fan to accurately time when the drum beat occurs in the Whitney Houston classic song, "I will Always Love You," that no one hit but kept the audience engaged.

IN AN EFFORT TO EXPRESS HOW IT FELT TO SIT IN THE SEATING BOWL, WITH MUSIC PROVIDING A SOUND TRACK FOR THE DANCES, ANTICS, AND PLAYING BALL, I THOUGHT GOING "ALL CAPS" WOULD GIVE YOU AN IDEA!

The Loco Beach Coconuts dance during introductions. dwm

One contest between innings was a "date race," with two couples. The winning couple was fastest with four mini-races: two women racing to first; men hoisting their dates on their back for the run to second where they chug a drink then run to third. The last one was carrying the women over the threshold of the finish lane.

Trick plays are how each team can get ahead of their opponent. The most dramatic for me is catching a fly ball while doing a back flip, which happened successfully once late in the game. The most successful was using a glove to volley the ball a few times before completing a catch.

Fans joined in a light show. 6/6/26 dwm

There are six teams in the Banana Ball League, with the Savannah Bananas originally formed to play in a wood bat college baseball summer league.

The team, owned by Jesse and Emily Cole, faced big hurdles to succeed, but their mission to make baseball fun, helped win fans and eventually a league of their own and a national television contract.

Jesse Cole is known for wearing a banana tux everywhere. In Milwaukee, I heard him announce to the crowd that not only was Saturday the first Banana Ball game to sell-out a Major League Stadium, but that it was the loudest place they ever played.

I wasn't measuring decibels but can verify it was consistently louder than any baseball game I've seen. In fact, I noticed the moments or two of silence that happened when American Family Field took a breath. The Coconuts beat the Party Animals 4 - 2, which matters to the teams, but for most of the patrons, it was all about how they played the game.