7/25/2026

Indianapolis Clowns vs. The Party Animals @ Dunkin’ Park (Hartford, CT)

The "original" barnstorming baseball team returns

The Indianapolis Clowns were a member of the Negro Leagues from about 1942-1955 - though their history seems to date back to the 1930s. I won't go over EVERY bit of their history, but they won three league championships in the early 1950s and are also famous for signing one Henry Aaron to his first professional contract before he was signed by the Braves (while they were still in Boston - because screw Tom Yawkey apparently¹). However, even throughout that time, they were well known as a barnstorming team (as well as one of the first baseball teams to sign female players). In fact, even as the Negro Leagues went into decline thanks to the integration of Major League Baseball, the Clowns were still touring into the 1980s - though the organization went dormant in 1989.

In 2025, it was announced that through a partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (in Kansas City, MO), the Indianapolis Clowns would return to their barnstorming ways as the sixth member of the Banana Ball Championship League, which means...

SURPRISE! This is another Banana Ball post!

...Though you might have known that already by reading the title and seeing "The Party Animals".

On some level, this seems like something I should NOT be doing: Hartford is two and a half hours away AND known for being...not the best, plus this is a 7 PM game, which means that I'm almost certainly getting home near or after midnight if I tried to go home the same night. However, since I had guaranteed access to tickets thanks to being a K Club member, I figured I'd get a ticket during the K Club period just in case I felt like going (i.e. "don't be sorry you missed out"). Also...JBJ.

Some readers may recall that Jackie Bradley Jr. - a former Major League Baseball player known for his defensive prowess (and about one hot streak offensively a year) - was a special guest when I saw the Bananas at Fenway Park, but this year, he's now a full fledged Banana Ball player for the Indianapolis Clowns.

Anyway, the plaza was actually pretty small this time (or at least it FELT small), and there was no special K Club area again, so I don't really have that much to say about it. However, it did feature this absolutely amazing entryway:

I’ve already been to Dunkin’ Park and talked about it, so I won't go over the stadium again. However, I do have to admit that I almost didn't go to that game KNOWING that I was coming for this (this was after buying a ticket to another Yard Goats game but then being unable to go), but I still wanted to see the stadium BEFORE Banana Ball, as it would probably be MUCH harder to explore when it was sold out (which ended up being prudent given how narrow the concourses can get). However, that game ended up being semi-prudent, because I didn't really explore the stadium that much since I got THIS view for the game²:

Another reason I wanted to see Indianapolis Clowns "live":

MERCH

(Yes, I am once again doing this "early" for narrative flow purposes)

I’ve found that the merch tents at Banana Ball games frequently have items not available online, so I figured I’d at least check in on that (as the Clowns were the only team I hadn't done that for yet). In addition, there was one thing that I saw online that I wanted to "check in" on: hats.

The Banana Ball online store indicates that Indianapolis Clowns player hats are mostly cotton, and the last time I bought a cotton Zephyr hat, it did NOT go over well (Zephyr being the brand that makes hats for many, MANY teams including several of the Banana Ball teams plus every team in the New England and Futures Leagues). However, the Clowns hat I ended up getting from this game is actually polyester (which is what most hats are made of nowadays).

Also, I mentioned back at the first Banana Ball game I went to this year that player jerseys were available at that game. As I understand it, each team has at least one player jersey available at games, and for the Clowns, that player is JBJ (again, former Major Leaguer). Given the likelihood of this game being full of Red Sox fans (Hartford being the closest the Clowns get to Boston proper in 2026³), I wasn't sure if they'd still have his jersey by the time I got to the merch tables (as this was the final day they'd be in Hartford). Thankfully, the org had a special "player jersey ordering period" a few months before this game where you could get specific players, so I ended up taking advantage of that and ordering a JBJ jersey online (which arrived a few weeks before this game⁴).

Send in the Clowns

The thing with expansion teams is that they tend to struggle in their first year. On some level, the Clowns are no exception to that as they're last place in the Banana Ball Championship League standings. However, they went into this game with a chance to earn a sweep of the Party Animals...which they didn't as they lost by a rather wide margin (both in terms of points and "raw" runs scored).

Banana Ball has often been described as "baseball crossed with the circus", and while I don't know how the organization feels about that, one thing is for certain: the Clowns REALLY lean into that idea (again, their entryway display says "The Original Baseball Circus"). However, I must admit that I think the Clowns have the best presentation of the three Banana Ball teams I've seen host games.

Unlike the other two teams I've seen, the pregame felt a lot less "gimmicky" - it included where the team acknowledges legends from the history of the Clowns, a slapstick bit, and during the whole thing, the jumbotron was in grayscale. Also, while the Clowns don't have as many "characters" as some of the other teams, all of them felt USEFUL - including the mascot who pitches from time to time (but not this game). Finally, I don't recall if I mentioned the Bananas having a marching band, but the Clowns do as well (the Coconuts and Party Animals have rock bands), and having that makes the atmosphere so much cooler IMO.

The only thing I think that would have made the experience better (and may also help differentiate the other teams as well) is if the six BBCL teams didn't all have the same playlist for games. Sure, hearing "BOOM BOOM BOOM A-LET ME HEAR YOU SAY WAY-O" is great if you want fans to be active participants, but I feel like it'd be fun to hear some 50s and 60s music during the game - y'know, have fans jamming to stuff like Motown (and they play it in the plaza too, so...).

P.S.: I checked, and I'm fairly certain my seat was NOT in the "standard" camera view. If I'm in some of the batter closeups and you are demented enough to look for me:

• Navy JBJ Clowns jersey over a Danbury Westerners "shirsey"
• Party Animals hat

ON DECK

Here's the thing with THIS game: it started at 7 PM, which meant I would need to find somewhere to spend the night or face getting home near or after midnight (which is something I'd rather avoid). The fact that I was able to make this trip indicates that I was able to solve that issue - and I'll get into that tomorrow.