The Banana Ball World Tour baseball circus entertained many in Indianapolis this weekend. It featured the renewed Indianapolis Clowns, playing for the first time in their namesake city.
Banana Ball’s Indianapolis Clowns are the country’s sixth team to play the game that blends competitive baseball, dance and theatrics. The franchise launched in 2020, and tickets are notoriously difficult to get due to the high demand.
Frank Zappia said both he and his wife signed up for a ticket lottery, for Chicago and Indianapolis, to increase their chances. He won tickets for Saturday. She did not even hear back. Zappia drove down from Mishawaka with his sons and one of their friends for the game.
“If you can’t have a good time at Banana Ball, something’s wrong with you,” Zappia said.
Fan Annie Drake said a friend of hers signed up for a Banana Ball fan club when the franchise started, and she has been able to get tickets that way. Drake said her friend offered her tickets to take her grandsons Jaxton and Will to the game.
“I just love baseball,” Drake said. “I used to play softball, and now my grandson plays. I love that these teams break the rules.”
Jaxton wanted to watch a game in person since he first started watching The Savannah Bananas – Banana Ball’s first team – on Youtube years ago.
“I’ve been wanting to see it for like 5 or 4 years. And every time they come to Indiana, we’re somewhere else for summer,” Jaxton said.
He said being from Indianapolis, the Clowns give him something more to love about Banana Ball.
The Indianapolis Clowns lost both of their home debut games at Victory Field. The Party Animals won with a score of 6-2 on Friday, and 4-1 Saturday.
HISTORY
This is not the city’s first Indianapolis Clowns team. The original team was part of the Negro Leagues. Some players became baseball icons, including Hank Aaron and Satchel Paige.
Women also played on the team. Famous female players include Mamie Johnson and Toni Stone, the first woman to play professional baseball. Today, Banana Ball also has women players.
The original Indianapolis Clowns were known for their blend of baseball and Vaudeville-style comedy. Banana Ball creator Jesse Cole said the Clowns are the team that inspired him to create the performance-slash-sport that now brings in millions of dollars, and according to Cole, also has a waitlist of about 14-million people hoping to get tickets.
“They [the Clowns] changed the game,” Cole said. “They made baseball about more than who wins and loses. They made it about the entertainment – the fun, the jokes, the pranks. When I heard the story about the Indianapolis Clowns at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, I was so inspired.”
Much like today’s Banana Ball Teams, they are consistently compared to the Harlem Globetrotters. In fact, sports legend Reece "Goose" Tatum, was signed to both the Clowns and the Globetrotters in the 1940s.
The Indianapolis Clowns began in 1935, in Miami Florida as entertainers. They then became serious ball players and rebranded twice before relocating to Indianapolis and becoming the Indianapolis Clowns.
They are known for “barnstorming.” The term is borrowed from pilots who, after World War One, would travel to rural locations to spread excitement about flying by doing stunts planes and engaging with residents of rural towns.
Like those pilots, the Indianapolis Clowns took their show on the road and made baseball accessible for people in rural areas.
The Clowns continued to play in the Negro Leauges, even after the integration of Major League Baseball by Jackie Robinson in the late 40s. The Indianapolis Clowns eventually won the league title in 1950.
Performance-slash-sport
While teams rely on acrobatics and occasional dance routines to keep fans entertained, the baseball is real, and the competition is real. The teams have performance practices, where they learn dances or work on other entertainment skills, but they also have baseball practices. They also practice separately as teams.
Banana Ball players have all played different degrees of competitive baseball before joining. This year, the Indianapolis Clowns introduced Jackie Bradley Jr. on their debut roster as centerfield. Bradley Jr. was a professional MLB player with the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. He said he knew very little about Banana Ball before joining, but his daughter was a huge fan.
Bradley Jr. said the energy and love from fans in Indianapolis were palpable after the team's first game in the city.
“We have a very unique opportunity, not just to educate others, but ourselves as well,” Bradley Jr. said. “Not only are we living it, but we’ve also gotten the opportunity to meet some former players and hear directly from them what it was really like, not just read it.”
Correlle Prime plays first base for the Clowns said there’s a lot of rules to mind when it comes to Major League Baseball – from the trim of your beard to how to style your pants. He said something very important for him has been his ability to contribute to something new.
“Being able to be in an early time with a new sport and being able to help pioneer a new team, that brings me a little more fulfillment than trying to achieve a Major League-level. This is my major leagues now,” Prime said.
Banana Ball has many of its own rules. Each team aims to achieve a high number of trick plays, also on the scoreboard, next to runs – because they’re just as important. This includes one rule where every team member has to touch the ball that’s in play before a runner can be tagged out. It’s extremely helpful that the announcer for the night explains these things for fans as they happen.
Prime is also one of the players helping the team curate its image. He spent two years with the Savannah Bananas and now guides the Clowns to make sure they’re representative of the Banana Ball mission.
Prime doesn’t shy away from discussing the history of the Clowns, the Negro Leagues, or Major League Baseball, but he said there’s conversations to be had about all institutions today, and the way they deal with racism.
“There is a sentimental aspect to this franchise and what we’re bringing to light. And it is uncomfortable for a lot of people – black people, white people, there’s a lot of uncomfortable conversations that people don’t particularly want to have,” Prime said. “A lot of these problems exist in different ways today. So we just want to spread joy and bring people together.”
A big component of the Banana Ball franchise is interactions with fans. Teams hold meet and greets with players before games. This weekend those moved outside to the parking lot of Victory Field. Fans of both the Clowns and the Party Animals got signatures and took pictures. Kids and adults alike were excited to recognize some of their favorite players.
Players take on different personas before the game. This weekend, they were radio broadcasters from the 1950s. They interacted with the crowd, brought people on the field for games, quizzes and dance-offs.
The new Indianapolis Clowns also paid homage to the original Clowns team. Negro League Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick called out the iconic open “Let’s play ball!,” and the team revived some of the original clown routines.
Games are currently streamed for free on Youtube, which owner Cole credits for Banana Ball’s popularity. Disney-PLUS recently announced it will stream The Banana Bowl in October, as well as some games throughout this season. ESPN also streams some of the games.
