This weekend at Whataburger Field will be bananas!
Banana Ball, the worldwide phenomenon made its first stop in Corpus Christi on Thursday and continues Friday and Saturday.
Banana Ball changes up the traditional setting of baseball with revamped rules, choreographed dances between pitches and flash toga parties at home plate. The sport has grown into a spectacle that’s been watched by crowds — from about 102,000 fans at Texas A&M University’s Kyle Field to hundreds of thousands of spectators on television and live streaming.
"It's pretty amazing to see," said Tre Jones, an outfielder with the Texas Tailgaters, one of the weekend's visiting teams. "It's so much energy, so loud, and I think that's one of the . . . biggest differences from my experience with big league stadiums."
The series is also a homecoming for Jones, who played five seasons in the outfield for Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He looks to reconnect with old friends like Islanders baseball coach Scott Malone.
"Go ‘Ders," he said. "Coach Malone, he coached me up good five years while I was here, and I'm glad that I got a chance to experience that. You know, ultimately it led me to playing to different places and led me here."
The opposing team, the Firefighters, also sees a return home for head coach Val Perez, who served in the Corpus Christi Fire Department.
And not far behind Perez is the team’s outfielder, Lamar Sparks, hoping to show fans more of the interactive side of Banana Ball – and one of his signature dances in after a big play.
“Banana Ball is a place where it's, it's very family oriented,” said Sparks, a Katy, Texas native. “Being able to come up and talk to us and get to visit with us. You don't get that at different kinds of games. We stay after to make sure that our fans are taken care of, that we sign [autographs for] our guests. We take pictures. We have full conversations.”
And when the opportunity arises, Sparks shared that he also prays with fans.
"[Banana Ball] brings me happiness," he said. "This brings me peace. This brings me family, and my family's able to come watch. It brings in a whole different atmosphere that not a lot of people get to experience, and so being able to experience this, I want to do it for as long as I can."
Jones, a Houston native, is excited to return to town to introduce Banana Ball to fans who are likely watching the game live for the first time.
"It's so much more than baseball," he said. "There's so many different aspects that come to a Banana Ball game; and I'm just excited to be able to share that with Corpus Christi, especially because Corpus Christi is such a baseball town, such a baseball city."
One of the more noticeable differences of Banana Ball are 11 unique rules, like a strict two-hour time limit and no bunting. Jones’ favorite rule, Rule 8, offers fans a chance to be part of the team. If a fan catches a foul ball out of the air, it’s immediately ruled an out for the batter.
"When the ball goes up, everybody's got their eyes up and they want to catch that ball," he said. "Because when you catch it, it's an out, and we bring you on the field. We give you the whole experience, Banana Ball experience, bring on the field, and celebrate with you."
The Banana Ball series between the Texas Tailgaters and the Firefighters continues at Whataburger Field through Saturday.
