Banana Ball in Kansas City packed with fervent fans, KC stars & crazy plays
Kauffman Stadium traded its usual Royal blue for banana yellow Friday, May 23, as the Savannah Bananas made Kansas City their home for one of two games of Banana Ball.
The fan-centric, fast-paced take on baseball has captivated the hearts and minds of millions around the country since it began in 2018. The Bananas are in the middle of their 2025 tour, which has sold out every venue up until July 27. The sellout streak includes football stadiums like Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida; Nissan Stadium in Nashville; and Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.
KC was no exception, with a sold-out crowd Friday night witnessing some elaborate dancing and stilt-watching, an appearance from three familiar faces and several team members’ homecomings to KC.
It marks the first time the traveling baseball team has played at Kauffman Stadium, but not their first dance in Kansas City. They’ve twice visited the Legends Fields in KCK, the home of the independent professional baseball team Kansas City Monarchs. Bananas owner Jesse Cole credits Kansas City with helping get his brand of baseball off the ground, according to a Startland News report in 2023.
“It is so good to be back here in Kansas City,” Cole said Friday. “Three years ago, we had our first tour and we went down the road and played in front of 5,000 fans at the Kansas City Monarchs stadium. We saw the fans turn out and saw that Banana Ball could be big.”
“Kansas City has meant so much to us. We knew we had to come back and we knew we had to do it big.”
The phenomenon sold out Kauffman Stadium both nights, reaching a capacity crowd of 37,903. Here’s what happened during Banana Ball as the Bananas faced off against the Firefighters, the newest team in the world of Banana Ball.
Get the party started
The party started as early as noon, when fans lined up hours in advance for pregame festivities in Lot J, which opened at 2 p.m. There, the Bananas’ marching band played on a makeshift stage as patrons wandered the lot, buying banana plushies, jerseys, shirts and shot glasses at the large merchandise stand.
The VIBs (Very Important Bananas) gained early access to meet the players on the field, and many of the players took their time interacting with the fans. Some, like outfielder Ty Jackson and catcher Bill Leroy, were playing football with kids, while Andy Archer was seen tossing a baseball around with kids who brought gloves.
Three friends, Mark Antonio, Stewart Tice and Brook Luck, were all waiting for a fourth friend to come back from one of the port-a-potties in Lot J, and had treated themselves to items from the merchandise stand. They all bought the same Bananas jersey, featuring “Bananas” and the team logo printed all over the jersey, and were sporting them before the game began.
“I’m here for the vibes,” Tice said.
Tice moved to Kansas City from Oklahoma a year ago and in that period, has been trying nonstop to secure Bananas’ tickets. Luck tried for tickets in Philadelphia and was unsuccessful, but Tice had her and Antonio covered for Friday.
The trio had done their research on what to expect, as Antonio said he was excited to see the Bananas’ choreographed dance and hoped it was set to Missouri artist Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”
The Bananas did bust out the choreography during the game, but it was a mashup of Connie Francis’ “Pretty Little Baby,” a song released in 1962 that’s now trending on TikTok, with hip-hop artist Soulja Boy’s “Crank That (Soulja Boy).” Fans in the stands were seen hitting the Soulja Boy along with the team before they broke away to get back to the action.
Tricks and treats
You never know what’s going to happen during Banana Ball’s two-hour game time. Fans like Easton Wofford from Fayetteville, Arkansas, who came dressed as a banana and was here early as a VIB, can make as many predictions as he wants, but you never know if one will come true with what the Bananas have planned.
The game started at 7 p.m. and on the first pitch, one of Banana Ball’s rules came into play.
Bananas’ pitcher Danny Hosley got Firefighters third baseman Logan Lacey to hit a ball foul, which was caught by a fan. One of the game’s rules is that if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out for the team batting.
Later on, fans would see another rule, the Ball 4 sprint. This sees the batter try to steal as many bases as he can before the entire defense touches the ball. The Bananas played it safe and only ran to first, while the Firefighters got caught trying to reach second base.
Players on both the Bananas’ and Firefighters would continue to wow the audience with hard-hit baseballs and athletic defensive players. Bananas’ shortstop Ryan Cox would routinely throw the ball between their legs to the first baseman to throw a runner out.
Malachi Mitchell, whose position is designated runner, captivated the audience with his speed on the basepaths. First base coach Maceo brought the house down with his dance moves, and Dakota Albritton pitched a perfect inning from his stilts.
Wofford wanted to see Robert Anthony Cruz, known as Coach RAC, hit a home run. While that didn’t happen, Firefighters pinch hitter Zach Bridges came very close in the ninth inning, hitting one to deep center. This was also the last hit of the game, as pinch runner and coach Drew Yniesta found himself thrown out at home, securing the Banana’s 3-1 victory.
Fears of a rain delay saw fans scurry for coverage from the weather elements, but it didn’t dampen their energy. The crowd got loud for many of the contests taking place in between innings, like which father could catch his kid running away from him in the outfield first or which person had the best pose to show off their muscles.
World Series heroes return to Kauffman Stadium
A trio from the 2015 World Series champion Royals made their grand return to playing at Kauffman Stadium, just one week after celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the championship team.
Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alex Gordon, all played for the Savannah Bananas at different points throughout the game. Even though they all failed to reach base in their appearances, each Royal received loud ovations from the crowd, and it’s hard to tell which player had the crowd cheering the loudest.
Hosmer was mic’d up on defense at the top of the third inning, which can be heard on the Bananas’ YouTube live stream. Moustakas also talked to a Bananas official in-between innings to talk about his moment.
“There’s so many great memories and playing in front of these great people and these fans, it’s incredible,” Moustakas said. “The adrenaline I had getting into that box was awesome and it was so much fun.”
“It’s great to be back at The K again.”
A Banana homecoming
In addition to the former Royals, the Savannah Bananas have a few members with Midwest roots, including one who was drafted by Kansas City. Zack Phillips, a relief pitcher for the Bananas, made it to the Royals’ AA affiliate, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, after being drafted in 2019, but never got the call to the show.
Growing up in the Midwest, he called Friday’s game a homecoming since he had more than 100 friends and family coming into Kansas City to see him perform over the two games.
The group in attendance to see him Friday were treated to him keeping the Firefighters from scoring their first run of the game. A baserunner reached third with two outs, but he was able to get pitcher Mat Wolf to ground out to first base to end the inning.
He never thought be in this position, but it’s something he’s proud to be as a member of the Bananas.
“All these younger kids are tuning in to watch us and me getting to be a role model for some of these kids is just truly amazing,” Phillips said.
It was the first time Royals fan and Bananas pitcher Kyle Perry got to play inside Kauffman Stadium. The Omaha, Nebraska, native said it’s one of the most underrated stadiums in the United States and knew the crowd would live up to his standards.
Another Omaha native, a Bananas director of baseball operations and assistant coach Adam Virant played a lot of college baseball in the Kansas City area as a graduate of Fort Scott Community College, 90 minutes south.
Kansas City’s a second home to Virant, as he went to Kauffman Stadium many times as a kid to watch his heroes, like George Brett, create the magic that the Bananas try to replicate on the field. Like Phillips, Virant also circled the Kansas City dates on his calendar.
“I definitely told Jesse (Cole) that I want to go to Kansas City and I want to play in Nebraska at some point, but I don’t know if that sparked his interest,” Virant said. “We had an opening, Kansas City wanted us to come play and we love Kansas City and know the environment.”
Their day began at 11 a.m. and ended near midnight, and they’re more than happy to repeat the cycle in Kansas City and wherever Banana Ball takes them next.
This story was originally published May 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
