Banana Ball Part 3

A grand day out at the ol' ballpark

This is part 3 of a multi-part post. You can easily access the other parts here:

• PART 1
• PART 2
• CONCLUSION

Now that I've got a ticket to a Banana Ball game (plus some other things which will be VERY important - as you'll see soon), let's dive into the actual experience - starting with the "where" of this particular date:

Boston you’re my home

(or We Don’t Talk About the Dropkick Murphys Anymore)

Fenway Park is famously the oldest park in Major League Baseball, having been opened in 1912. Nestled a mile or so from downtown Boston in the Fenway-Kenmore section, so many famous players and so many famous moments have occurred in the park’s over 100 year history¹.

As someone who used to frequent the area, I must say...I don’t feel like it’s THAT special. Yes, you can "feel the history" when you're inside, but the "history" hides a lot of things that have very much evolved which simply can't be changed with Fenway. The main concourse lacks field views, the upper deck is still held up by poles obstructing some seats, and there are still a lot of super old wooden seats in the grandstand (which I’ve heard are rather uncomfortable). However, I feel like I should also note that Fenway is a bit of a “mishmash” of things that were built in very different decades - you have:

• The original seating bowl which runs from foul pole to foul pole, though parts of it have been rebuilt due to fires
• A second deck above the grandstand, which has seats, suites, and the press box (1946)
• The green outfield seats plus the famous “lone red seat” marking the longest home run hit within the park (1934 - after they burned down in a fire)
• (Formerly) Glass enclosed seats behind home plate - above the main bowl but below the press area (1988)
• A club area above the roof of the upper deck in right field (2004)
• The Green Monster (1933 - after a fire) and the seats above it (2003)
• Massive video boards (2011)
• Rooftop farms (not sure, but it’s definitely from the 2010s)

In addition, parking in the area is either incredibly difficult to find and/or WAY TOO EXPENSIVE (which I learned the hard way), so the T is typically the recommended way to get to/from Fenway - when it works (you can find MUCH CHEAPER parking near several T stations, and some stops even have abundant free parking on Sundays). I had a morning commitment in the Downtown Crossing neighborhood (i.e. downtown Boston), so I ended up parking there (I THOUGHT about trying to park on a local street, but opted against it for several reasons). Just be forewarned, however: speaking from experience (and not even a Red Sox game), expect postgame trains to be FRIGHTENINGLY packed.

Apparently, the Bananas’ Fenway Park stop in 2024 was one of the most sought after tickets last year, as it was apparently the second biggest of the Bananas’ ticket lotteries (behind only Houston - Banana Ball’s first ever MLB stadium). A large part of that can be attributed to the fact that Banana Ball creator Jesse Cole is originally from Scituate, MA (a town in the South Shore area of Greater Boston) and was formerly an honorary Red Sox bat boy, so this was expected to be a particularly special show.

Like many, I was one of the people who signed up for the ticket lottery for Fenway...sadly, I didn’t get lucky despite signing up within an hour of them announcing their 2024 Fenway date. It’s largely because of this “miss” and another one the year prior (in Brockton, MA) that I decided to try joining the K Club (which, as I mentioned, I got into without realizing it was a lottery). While the Bananas did have two games at Fenway this year, for whatever reason (I honestly couldn’t tell you why), I opted for just the second game.

K Club membership cost me $59, and the ticket itself was $60, so I paid $119 in total - a bit pricey, but I ended up sitting in the back row of one of the loge boxes on the first base side (which costs at least 2-3 times what I paid for a marquee Red Sox game). This was important not only because it provided a good view of the action, but more importantly: SHADE. Unfortunately, it was still quite hot though...

Speaking of the K Club, I’ve mentioned that there’s other perks to joining the K Club for the event itself, but I haven’t even begun to discuss THAT aspect, so without further ado...

SHOWTAIMU

The game day experience started at 11 AM - FOUR AND A HALF HOURS before the game was scheduled to start at 3:30. The streets around Fenway Park were closed off to traffic, and fans got to walk around the streets near the stadium (this also happens during Sox games). Players for both teams also wandered around the area, signing autographs and taking photos with fans. However, the most unfortunately unfortunate thing was a special pre-show: meant to hype up the fans, it ended up causing a MASSIVE traffic jam which I needed to walk through. Part of that may be the fact that said pre-show is not streamed, so people who had seen games online but had never been probably wanted to check it out (it's also likely the closest many will get to their favorite players).

At 1:00, MOST fans were let into the stadium itself. The exception: if you had a K Club and/or VIB ticket, you got to use a special entrance to the event/stadium and access to an exclusive area when the gates opened. In this case, we were allowed into (part of) the main concourse of the stadium at the same time the gates opened (but the seats weren’t opened until a little before everyone else was let in), which gave us the opportunity to access at least some of the concession stands early (something that ended up being SUPER important as they were intensely busy the whole day). Yes, you end up missing out on a lot of the pregame festivities if you just go to the K Club area and stay there, but it is MUCH less crowded (and, more importantly on a day with a Heat Advisory, had shade and cooling fans). As I mentioned in the last section, you’re SUPPOSED to bring your badge to the game to get access, but I forgot to bring mine. However, my ticket on my account on the Bananas’ ticket website (but not in Apple Wallet) was marked as a K Club ticket, so I was able to show that to security and they let me in (though I did end up having to walk through the massive crowd at the pre-show).

Some time after fans start taking their seats, a pregame show occurs featuring a few of the players and a cavalcade of characters the organization has introduced over the years, such as the “Man-nana’s Dad Bod Cheerleading Squad” (not sure if endearing or offensive), “The Young Professor”, and “Princess Potassia”. During this pregame, the two teams are introduced and do a bunch of crazy antics as they’re being introduced. Then...the real fun begins.

There’s loud music blaring, various players and characters dancing and singing, the fans dancing and singing, a Lion King reference, a Suite Life of Zack and Cody reference (fitting since that show was set in Boston), track one from the Kangaroo Jack soundtrack (don’t ask how I know that), various events going on involving fans, and other things I don’t completely remember because there was just so much going on!

Oh, right, and there’s a game being played.

As mentioned before, the game is no more than two hours long thanks to the clock; our game ended 12 minutes early thanks to several quick walk-offs by the Bananas (Mark Buehrle would be proud). I’d describe the game experience as “What would happen if you let baseball players be silly on the field...and also if they were all sleeper agents (several moments in the game felt like the players all heard a trigger to do something)”. Part of the game involves the players making “trick plays” such as doing a backflip while catching the ball or throwing/catching it behind their back. Honestly...this part is actually good IMO; it showcases the physical abilities of the players as well as their body coordination.

I must say, though, that the thing I found most interesting about the game was its speed: less so the two hour aspect (though that does help), but more the fact that every inning can end in a walk-off. It adds a lot of excitement to each inning and, alongside the points system, helps keep the game close (and the fans engaged). Sure, it creates the somewhat weird situation of the sudden rule change in the ninth/final inning, but that’s just a small concession to pay for having higher levels of engagement. The Golden Batter and designated runner also feed into this, as it adds a strategic element of trying to ensure that runs are scored (MLB actually considered implementing their own version of the Golden Batter, but fans vehemently rejected the idea).

I didn’t get to see it live, but the ball four sprint is another interesting rule. For the batter, it can become a press your luck gamble if you think you can get past first; for the fielding team, it adds an element of strategy/positioning once the batter gets to ball three (which is much more intense if there are runners on base and/or two outs).

The Bananas also try to make each stop unique by having a few special guests play for them (something I believe the Harlem Globetrotters also do from time to time). For our game, the guest Bananas were:

• Doug Flutie: a former American football quarterback best known for his Hail Mary pass in 1984 (which lends its name to a street in his hometown of Natick, MA). He was supposed to only throw the first pitch, but he insisted on staying in for a whole batter - and got the out!
• Bill “Spaceman” Lee: A Red Sox pitcher from the 70s who’s also been a frequent “guest Banana”. He once had a health scare DURING a Banana Ball game, but thankfully, he’s still here!
• Jackie Bradley Jr.: A former Red Sox outfielder who, in all honestly, wasn’t actually that good...he also served as the Bananas’ Golden Batter™.
• Johnny Damon: Boston’s greatest enigma as he helped break the Curse in 2004...but also won a World Series with the Yankees five years later...plus from what I’ve heard, he’s more politically aligned with Curt Schilling than most Red Sox fans (though at least Damon didn’t leak that a teammate was dying from cancer).

There were different guests for the other game played the day before ours: Brock Holt (the first MLB player to hit for the cycle in the postseason), Keith Foulke (who was pitching when the Red Sox recorded the final out of the 2004 World Series), Matt Barnes (can’t tell you much about him except he pitched for the Sox at one point), and the All-American Rejects (yes, the band - they did a few songs on the field).

In case you were wondering, the Bananas won. On some level, that’s not really that important as the main driver here was the entertainment, but given that there is a league on the horizon as well as a playoff/championship series later this year...

That sweet sweet merch

Everyone knows that merchandising is one of the most important aspects for any sports team (especially one where tickets are at a premium), and the Bananas are no exception to that rule².

One of the things that the Bananas have been known for over the years is having FREE SHIPPING on online merchandise purchases (if you’re in the U.S.), and when you get your stuff, it usually comes in a bright yellow box and with other free goodies (I’ve gotten stickers and drink koozies in the past). However, I’ll briefly mention the Red Sox, as they are the main tenant at Fenway Park.

The main Red Sox Team Store is not inside Fenway Park itself, but rather across the street. There are a ton of interesting things here, but if you’re looking for a hat or non-authentic jersey...I honestly don’t recommend buying them here as they’re pretty overpriced (case in point: an on-field hat here will set you back $55...and it’s not even made in the US as New Era ceased American production a while ago). There are other stands/stores both inside and outside of Fenway, though the main store still has the widest selection (and the prices aren’t better). Notably, the main store is not accessible without a ticket during events, as the section of street it’s on is closed to the public; there is a smaller store outside of the ticketed area that’s only open during games and not within the ticketed area, but I don’t know if it was open as I forgot to check (I’ve only been inside it once, and most times I’m in the area it’s closed).

I already had a few Bananas jerseys and hats from their time in the Coastal Plain League (read: they look pretty much like the current uniforms but with an additional CPL logo), so I didn’t really think I’d need anything from them (the hat and jersey I wore to the game both come from their CPL era). However, I was interested in FirefIghters hats (and MAYBE jerseys, but they’re sublimated, which I don’t like), but wasn’t sure if I wanted to lug them around Fenway (and then later the rest of Boston) for a whole day (which I ended up doing anyway - you’ll see why). Thankfully, the “main” merch stand had “early access” hours in the days before the game, and since I had time due to a bunch of schedule rearrangements, I decided to check it out the day before my game.

I ended up getting:

• Logo balls for both the Bananas and Firefighters (not available online); they also had their game ball at a bunch of the stands but I already have two I ordered online
• A special “Fourth of July” t-shirt (limited time item, though it was available online)
• A large novelty ball (which is surprisingly dangerous as it’s the size of a dodgeball and not soft, and also not available online)
• A Firefighters hat
• Fans First: a book written by Banana Ball creator Jesse Cole

However, the most expensive “item” I ended up getting was...30 minutes of parking: I should have believed the garage when I saw them post their event rate outside...even if there was a Target entrance inside the garage (I guess it’s to “balance out” getting nine and a half hours of $7 validated parking on game day).

That night, I found out that the Bananas had a special Fourth of July hat with a special “SB” logo that’s rarely seen anywhere. Since I had also decided to get a “Banana Ball World Tour” shirt, I decided to revisit the merch tents when I arrived for the game (I should also note that I didn’t recall seeing the Fourth of July hat the first time). The first thing I learned upon arrival, however, was that the merch tents were PACKED.

Well...the Bananas tents were packed (but the lines moved fast). The main Firefighters tent was rather empty, and they had a special Fourth of July hat too (which I DEFINITELY didn’t recall seeing the first time). I got both hats and the World Tour t-shirt, then found out something rather unfortunate: merch stands for the Sox and both Banana Ball teams were open inside the K Club area pregame as well, and the lines were MUCH SHORTER - something I wished I knew beforehand (though strangely, the venue specific info page actually implied merchandise would NOT be available here). Against my better judgment, I ended up getting another Bananas hat I didn’t yet have inside the park (a hat with a green brim, which is my only “Sunday” item that’s available online).

I also checked out some of the merch areas in the middle of the game, and there were NO LINES to be found (as everyone was busy watching the game and/or trying to get concessions). I ended up getting my final items: both teams’ mini bats, as they weren’t online when I checked. I don’t recall seeing any hoodies for sale, but it was 90 degrees that day, so...

I am NOT adding up how much I spent over the two days, but it’s not a small number (especially if you throw in the parking)...

UP NEXT:

My verdict on Banana Ball.

CONCLUSION