Sure, the Dodgers have Shohei Ohtani, but can they do this? Members of the Savannah Bananas ball club rock a kick line before a 2025 game in Seattle. (Lindsey Wasson / AP)-
After the Cubs released him from the minor leagues a week before his first child’s birth, former USC pitcher Chris Clarke found financial security and opportunity with the Savannah Bananas’ baseball league.
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Clarke struck out five batters before a record 102,000 fans at Kyle Field, delivering the athletic excellence and choreographed entertainment that define Banana Ball’s unique approach to baseball.
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With new ESPN and Disney broadcast deals, Banana Ball’s innovative rules, year-round contracts and entertainment-first format are attracting audiences seeking spectacle alongside sport.
Steve Henson (LA Times) — Chris Clarke had gone the traditional route, pitching for three years at USC after starring at Newbury Park High, then toiling for six more seasons in the Chicago Cubs’ minor league system after being a fourth-round draft pick in 2019.
But his big-league dream abruptly became a wake-up call last August when the Cubs released him a week before his wife gave birth to their first child. No more paychecks. No more health insurance.
So imagine how jarring it was for Clarke to take the mound in front of a record 102,000 fans in the Texas A&M football stadium Saturday, which had been converted to accommodate (sorry Dodgers) the most popular team in baseball: the Savannah Bananas.
“It was surreal,” Clarke said. “In fact, it was so incredible, I didn’t feel anything. My body went numb. There was a moment in the third inning when everybody was screaming. I couldn’t hear myself talk.”
It was the most people ever crammed into Kyle Field, the nation’s fourth-largest college stadium, trailing only Michigan (107,601), Oregon (106,572) and Ohio State (102,780).
Clarke pitched for the opposing team, the Texas Tailgaters, one of five squads created by Bananas founders Jesse and Emily Cole that serve as touring partners to face the yellow-clad star attraction. All six teams practice at a complex in Savannah, Ga.
The game in College Station attracted the largest crowd in the Bananas’ six-year history, and Clarke shined, striking out five in four innings. He also entertained, as all players in the Banana Ball Championship League are cheerfully required to do.
“The amount of joy it brings to fans and even people online, it’s really something,” Clarke said. “There definitely is a winner and a loser — which holds some weight — but for the most part, fans are there because it’s a really good show.”
Clarke, a 6-foot-7 right-hander, was the third overall pick in the inaugural Banana Ball draft held in November. Tailgater coaches contacted him beforehand to gauge his interest and he told them, “Pick me.”
That level of bold fits right in. Banana Ball is fast-paced, hilarious and maximizes fan engagement. It features innovative rules: Fouls caught by fans count as outs, for example, and batters who walk get to run the bases until all nine defensive players have touched the ball. Choreographed dances, acrobatic tricks, a pitcher on stilts and other antics keep the entertainment flowing.
The Savannah Bananas’ Dakota Albritton greets fans outside Angel Stadium in 2025 while standing on stilts. (Luke Johnson / LAT)
“I like to think of every game as a stepping stone to the next show,” Clarke said. “Whether it goes well or is terrible, we will make it better for next time. Banana Ball is a relaxed culture, so when it comes to the entertainment stuff, there is no fear of failure. We are seeing what works and what doesn’t.”
Guest stars are frequent and on Saturday, the Bananas sent Texas-grown YouTube sensation Tyler Toney, a member of the sports comedy troupe Dude Perfect, to the plate as a pinch-hitter. Clarke struck him out on four pitches: a called strike, a swinging strike, a ball Clarke purposely launched high into the stands for laughs, then strike three swinging on a cut fastball.
It was a rare humbling moment for Toney, who, with fellow Dude Perfect members Cody Jones, Garrett Hilbert, and twins Cory and Coby Cotton, generates more than $20 million annually from YouTube, merchandise and tours.
Clarke had watched Dude Perfect videos religiously when he was at USC and was starstruck to meet them in person.
“Dude Perfect is the reason I failed econ twice,” he said. “I watched every single Dude Perfect video. To meet them and shake their hands was fun. It was the only moment in my life where I was a fanboy.”
He’s also a breadwinner again for his family. The burgeoning popularity of Banana Ball has made the gig more lucrative than playing in the minor leagues.
The Savannah Bananas’ Dakota Albritton pitched on stilts when the Savannah Bananas played the Firefighters at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on May 30, 2025. (Luke Johnson / LAT)
“I’m making five times as much and playing half the time,” Clarke said. “My contract is also for 12 months of the year. In affiliated baseball, it’s only six months. So, there’s that. I’ve never met anyone in baseball who has had the luxury to spend time with a newborn child. To come to Banana Ball and actually feel like there is respect, a culture and guidelines, that was something I hadn’t experienced.”
It is also giving him notoriety. Twenty-five Banana Ball games this year are being streamed on the ESPN app and Disney+, with select games airing across ESPN networks and ABC. The first Bananas broadcast on ABC will take place at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., June 27 and 28. The games have been sold out since October.
Highlights from Saturday’s game flooded social media and traditional outlets alike. Family friends and former teammates reached out to Clarke. What was it like pitching in front of 100,000 people? Are you improving your dance moves?
“The entertainment side of it takes pressure off performance,” he said. “Performing well is still very much there, but there is a level of relaxation that makes it easier.”
Clarke admits he thinks back to USC and the 2019 season, when he posted a stellar earned-run average of 1.03. He also occasionally misses the heightened competition and quest to make the major leagues of affiliated baseball.
He pitched two seasons in triple A and is only 27. Would he leave Banana Ball next year if an MLB team offered him an invite to spring training?
“I’m not in a situation to close any doors,” he said. “That’s the mindset that got me here. I wanted to investigate Banana Ball and I told them I’d give them a full year for us both to evaluate it. Either way, I think it’s a win. Just comes down to what’s best for my family.”
Meanwhile, more games in packed stadiums await. In addition to a handful in football stadiums against the Bananas, the Tailgaters will play three games a week against other Banana Ball League teams throughout the summer, mostly in minor league baseball stadiums from Tulsa, Okla., to El Paso, Texas, to Nashville, Tenn., to Charlotte, N.C.
Exponentially larger crowds than those venues are accustomed to are a given.
latimes.com
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I’am on an Illini basketball site quite often. Over the past several weeks I’ve run into posts about USC that are very favorable. Today someone posted the following……
Crazy to me that nobody will have USC preseason top 10.
Have any of these new USC kids ever played together before? Does USC have even one player who makes everyone else on the court better? Plus the jury’s still out on Muss at USC as anything even good.
USC basketball has lacked chemistry, culture and achievement for almost my entire life compared to the really good programs. Nobody ever expects much from USC basketball. Unfortunately, it’s a reputation that’s very well-deserved.
Hence, I would not put USC basketball on any pre-season top 10 list. Too much room for failure as always.
I hear you. I’ve never followed USC basketball much. Since these comments are being made I’ve reviewed the talent on the team. As you know…..Its loaded. Musselman seems like a dude that might have potential…..but we know all about potential from the football side. I will point out that my Illini team had never played together until they met up at Illinois 12 months ago. The point guard was a freshman from Kansas. The center, PF were from overseas. The SF had played at CAL the prior year and the SG had been at Illinois but was a transfer the… Read more »
The Illini (22-13/12-8) got bounced by UK in the second round of the tourney. Not bad at all.
But frankly I’m more of a USC women’s basketball fan these days. I guess I’m a frontrunner! 😉
LOL…..you’re referring to the women. For a second there you had lost me.
Heck, if the women win maybe it will spill a little dust onto the men.
I understand, as a long suffering USC basketball fan, a program that is cursed. But it appears Muss has assembled quite a roster, and the pick up today from South Dakota State was a pleasant surprise. And Muss has 3 returning starters, which is 3 more than the last two years. If Muss can’t get production, and at least a tournament appearance from this team, I think I will give up.My heart can’t withstand it any longer.
Whatever USC basketball accomplishes that’s actually any good is just gravy to me. UCLA has beaten us eight of the last 10 times and they last scorched us by 20 points with no problem. USC fans still talk about the Paul Westphal ’71-72 team with absolute reverence — which also couldn’t beat UCLA when I was in school. In fact, during Westphal’s three years on the Trojan varsity, USC still never beat UCLA, probably because Westphal was the only USC player Wooden ever really wanted. You get my drift. No wonder I never went to a USC basketball game. Frankly,… Read more »
Only 10 are above .500, the other 58 struggle. Even Indiana, NCs, are .225. We are in a new era, the elites will be changing. USC is at .365, is USC better than IU? Of course not.
It’s sobering to look at USC in the CFP era, which started in 2014. The program has basically been crap with the exception of one Darnold-led Rose Bowl win ever since Pete Carroll left. USC seems to go through these down spells, like when UCLA beat us eight years in a row from ’91-98 and when we couldn’t handle Lou Holtz at ND.. GA, ORE, TCU and UW have now taken the place of USC, TEXAS, MICH and MIA, even though the ‘Canes just played for the NC and are heavy faves to win the ACC and challenge for a… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more with you on this topic, Allen. But now we are in our 13th season of sucky mediocrity.
i predict that at the end of the upcoming ‘26 season, Cohen and Bowden will convince the BOT and the president that it is time to eat Riley’s contract.
Riley has plateaued in his ability to succeed in a tough conference. He doesn’t build a tough culture and his ridiculous contract of the century has removed any incentives for him to change for the better.
Hey GT, as our resident data hound, I bet you can prove my assertion that those SEC stats are inherently biased due to SEC bias, particularly over the past 20 years when they’d have half their conference in the preseseason top 25. And west coast negative bias surely hurt the P12/16 in a similar but opposite way.
Sorry VT, I don’t think the numbers support your assertion. The SEC has been very good prior to NIL and the west coast has been weak. Of the 10 with a winning record 5 of them have 10 of the 12 CFP NCs, 3 of them are SEC who have 6 CFP NCs. Outside of Oregon and Washington, who on the west coast has been any good? The BIG10 is now the top conference. We’ll see if the west coast members can get a NC.
Arizona St 20-24……that is a surprise.
This is completely different from Pete Carroll. He rarely lost the big games. Texas is the only one I can think of and they should have won that game. They gained almost 600 yards against Texas and with 8 minutes left they were ahead 38-26. Not to mention the play where Vince Youngs knee hit the ground before he lateraled to Selvin Young who scored the TD and they didn’t call it. Even if USC had held them to a field goal, USC would have won 38-37. PC lost a lot of games to teams he shouldn’t have lost(Oregon State,… Read more »
The loss to TEXAS was the worst one for USC football I have ever witnessed. Shocker, huh? I bet most of us are there. We had so many opportunities to put the game away but just couldn’t do it. Ryan Ting blew a ridiculously easy pick near game’s end that would have sealed the deal. Reggie Bush went wild and blindly flipped a damaging backwards lateral which gave the ball to TEXAS in the 2nd Q. Just a recklessly dumb, momentum-changing play. Then with the game totally on the line, Lendale White gets stuffed up the middle with Bush, the… Read more »
That year SC had one of the greatest offenses ever. They gained almost 600 yards against a Texas defense that was ranked 9th in the country in 2005. But that year their defense was not a typical PC defense.
As I remember the defense was pretty weakened by injuries. PC did a heckuva job holding them together but just came up short. And the brain farts on offense, Reggie and whoever called White up the middle.
White up the middle was just fine. Reggie on the sidelines, when he could have been the best decoy in the world, was beyond bizarre, and directly led to the loss. So close, yet so far.
Yes the play that was called was a mistake. Put Reggie back there as well, fake the pitch to Bush and hand it to Lendale, we win. That would be on Kiffin.
As great as PC was, he(or his assistants) made some major mistakes. That call against Texas and the call for the pass right over the middle in the New England game cost him another NC and another Super Bowl victory.
True….they were hit by the injury bug that year on defense.
Bob Chesney, Savior of UCLA Football? Jim Alexander (OC Register) — It’s not reflected in the win-loss columns yet – that first true test isn’t until Sept. 5 when UCLA opens its season against Cal in Berkeley, a rivalry from the legacy Pac-12 renewed – but the buzz is growing louder. Bob Chesney and his staff have made huge inroads in recruiting, surging to No. 4 nationally and No. 2 in the Big Ten behind USC in the 24/7 rankings and luring nine four-star recruits as of last weekend. That would be nine more than the program recruited a year ago.… Read more »
Been keeping an eye on UCLA’s recruiting and some of the player feedback on Chesney. The writing is on the wall truthfully. What he’s doing on the recruiting front, coupled with his fundamentals / discipline first mandate, isn’t the greatest news for us. They have a very reasonable ( I’m being nice ) schedule thus they can end with a 10-2 easily. Guess it helped their program he recruited in California right away unlike, well you know.
I hate to admit it, but I could easily seeing ucla winning 9 games this year. The coaching is substantially better, and the roster has been upgraded. On Garry P’s old board, there are posters saying they don’t care, ucla can’t beat us, and beating a great bruin team is all the sweeter. I think they are foolish and misguided. A dramatically improved bruin squad could beat USC on the field and for recruits. Does anyone think Riley is a better coach than Chesney? I hope Chesney is poached away from ucla after a few seasons
I was thinking the same thing. Hope Chesney gets poached. Unfortunately that will accelerate if he gets to put on his resume as beating the Trojans with regularity.
I bet UCLA will fight very hard to keep Chesney. He also might be incredibly grateful to the school which gave him his first shot at big time college football. I know I would. That sentimentality works well with a lot of people. And like it or not, UCLA itself is a huge brand in a fantastic location. If 100 plus-year door mat IU could pony up to keep Cignetti, why wouldn’t UCLA do exactly the same to keep Chesney if he turns out to be very successful? I think they would unless they want Rose Bowl attendance to drop… Read more »
Why? Maybe the question is, “Can they?” As part of the UC system they may have constraints that IU doesn’t.
I get the impression too many USC fans are “whistling past the graveyard” when it comes to UCLA football. UCLA just got themselves a helluva coach. As I said, I’d give them Lincoln Riley in exchange for Bob Chesney right now and so would a lot of other fed up Trojans I know. UCLA has many very, very rich alums. It’s those same types who routinely paid big extra bucks to Pete Carroll every year to keep him on board at USC. It’s just simple business. UCLA stupidly tried to go cheap with DeBong Foster and look what it got… Read more »
Chesney may become a great coach. He may become the next Cignetti. But he may turn out to be a bust. It’s to early to tell. There’s always the Peter Principle that you guys are always talking about. I could probably find a lot of examples of people who won big at the lower levels where the opposing coaches were OK but nothing to scream about. But you get to the power football leagues, they’re paying you a lot of money and if you don’t produce, they hand you your bags and say ‘take the next train to Clarkesville’. His… Read more »
UCLA first focused on Jedd Fisch, a former UCLA OC in 2017. But getting him would have required a reported $10 mil buy-out. Then UW suffered a bad Nov 13-10 loss to woeful WIS in Madison. Fisch got ditched. Bob Chesney’s five-year, $33.75 mil contract is viewed as a “bargain” for UCLA, which only owed James Madison $1.25 mil to buy out Chesney’s contract. He starts at $5.4 mil in 2026 and his pay increases by $100,000 annually, reaching $5.8 mil in 2030. His buy-out if he is fired without cause is 75% of the remaining salary, with a mitigation setoff.… Read more »
He may become a star in the coaching ranks. I’m just saying that it is too early to tell. He’s definitely a good recruiter.
I’d take Bob Chesney over Lincoln Riley for USC’s head coach right now. Sorry, I just would. Right now. No questions asked. Chesney’s a builder everywhere he goes. Riley’s a one-trick coat tails rider. You think Lincoln Riley could win at the places Bob Chesney has? Ya right. Salve Regina, Assumption, Holy Cross and James Madison. What QBs who could go anywhere they want in the country, would ever want to play for LR at those places, two of which I’ve never even heard of. Lowly, in the gutter 3-9 UCLA was beating Riley and sluggish, flat, mistake-filled USC at… Read more »
USC overpays him like royalty hidden behind twin gates in Rolling Hills Estates. His record, however, merits a cardboard mattress somewhere along Vermont Avenue.
I don’t think anyone could honestly say Riley is better. Chesney has won at multiple schools. We still don’t know if Riley is even a good coach. If SC loses to fucla next year, I don’t see how Lincoln survives
Couldn’t agree more about Chesney’s coaching stops and his ability to build wherever he goes. He has the coaching foundation to execute “rebuilds” or truthfully perennial bottom dwellers. His chops come from his mentors and frankly having no choice but to demand fundamentals and discipline to survive. Riley? Developed and stuck with an offensive concept but that’s where the growth stopped. He is the counter to Chesney in almost every way. Handed the keys to a blue blood, with all the recruiting done, he simply wanted to call plays. Anyway, what most of the Trojan fans who are in denial… Read more »
Just hold off on the high expectations as yet. It’s UCLA remember, the basketball school? Everything is just ducky right now before the 1st preseason practice begins. Whoever is appearing to give the green light over there in supporting football, the other part of that administration is just laying in the weeds until the dark side says no. If Chip had gotten the support he needed-wanted, it’s likely he would still be across town. It is unfair to judge Cheney during the first season. Maybe part of the 2nd one. But show me the money as Shaq used to say.
I don’t think Chip Kelly had it in him to be even close to great at UCLA: “Given where the program was coming from – six seasons with Chip Kelly, who never seemed enthusiastic about recruiting or publicizing the program or really much of everything beyond X’s and O’s.” This is all 100% true. The UCLA admin finally understands after 25 years of utter futility playing .500 football and going absolutely nowhere, that their past approach just doesn’t work. Bruin football has decided to finally step up to the plate. UCLA is totally kicking butt in a lot of sports this… Read more »
I don’t think they should be getting too jacked up in Westwood yet, but how could you NOT be better than you have been in recent years under burnt-wood Chippy and his clueless replacement. Eventually UCLA is going to be better, even good, maybe, in one year, great at football. But sustained success depends on them beginning to play a better pay game, in coaches salaries and NIL. Otherwise, they’ll catch lightning in a shot glass once in a while, but that’s about it. If UCLA comes out and stubs their toe early this season, and/or if top programs come… Read more »
I seem to be the only guy around here who is totally sold on Bob Chesney and what he will do for UCLA. Very interesting. As I’ve already said here many times, I think the UCLA upper admin has finally gotten the message of where their past 25-year long drought in football, with the exception of a couple of Jim Mora years, has gotten them. By all accounts, their NIL support is working just fine. Excellent, actually. In fact, what they are doing in recruiting is incredible right now and the months of April/May for the Bruins has been fantastic.… Read more »
I think I am more of a “show me” guy, Allen. What we have now over there right now is a much better showing in recruiting, which is frankly overdue for a program located at a top school in a media capital like LA. But, if LR is doing his job, he’ll be licking his chops to flip a few of those four-stars between now and signing day. That is PC’s two-for-one philosophy — something LR has said he subscribes to. Only, until now, there hasn’t been much to go after over there. So we’ll see. And SC will not… Read more »
The numbers seem murky but UCLA NIL for football is up to $10 million and revenue sharing of $13 million. USC is spending $15 million on revenue sharing for the entire team and $12 million in NIL for just the 2026 recruits. So my guess is USC is still out spending UCLA.
I don’t see why people think UCLA’s schedule is so easy. Really? Trips to Eugene and Ann Arbor don’t look easy to me. Minneappolis may be tough too. The Gophers went 8-5 last season and beat USC in 2024 there. The Terps also beat USC in College Park in 2024, so they can obviously get up for people, at least periodically. Chesney is flat out a better recruiter than Riley. Riley’s never had a big rep as a recruiter based on my research. At OU, he didn’t need to be. At USC, he’s gotten a lot of kids because of… Read more »
I hope it’s 8-4, because if it is 9-3, that will most likely be at our expense! Chesney can out-recruit LR, so could you and me! But can he out-recruit Bowden?! Ha.
Thank God for Bowden. But there’s something really special about a head coach who can close the deal like Lou Holtz, Pete Carroll, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and Ed O.
Those types can hypnotize, and we’ve had two of ’em, and I had the privilege of seeing both in action. I’d much rather love my HC than the team’s GM if I were a recruit. JMHO.
A person can’t help but think Chesney was hired due to his coaching with Cignetti. He took over the James Madison program just like Riley took over the Oklahoma job from Stoops’ well oiled machine and ran with the residual. UCLA in football is not a landing spot for HC’s. It’s a “next step to a destination job. The money will always be a problem at UCLA. You think the RoseBowl is going to let them walk away from a long term contract? I don’t. That and sharing some money with CAL with take money away. And don’t count on… Read more »
Bob Chesney never coached with Curt Cignetti. He only succeeded Cignetti for two years at JMU out of a 16-year head coaching career and has a 132-51 record (.721). Cignetti hasn’t had anything to do with Chesney. Before Chesney took over JMU, he had completely turned around in spectacular fashion Salve Regina, Assumption and Holy Cross. The guy is a total turnaround artist: Salve Regina had experienced eight consecutive losing seasons prior to Chesney’s arrival. Assumption had only two winning seasons in the 17 years prior to Chesney. Holy Cross went 4-7 in 2017 and had only one winning record… Read more »
Amazing how some of these smaller colleges keep coming up with such great coaches like JMU and Montana State and Montana and South Dakota State and many others.
It’s an interesting dynamic.
The best head coach I ever had was my Pee Wee Pop Warner coach, an amazing architect from Newport Beach named Rolly Pulaski who had been a huge Shrine Bowl-type star at Newport Harbor before he went to USC on a football scholarship. Rolly was awesome and led us Costa Mesa Cowboys to the Southern Calif championship title in our first year.
It makes you cherish your best experiences. You never know when lightning may, or may not, strike again.
awesome
I believe when Cignetti left JMU for Indy he took some of JMU’s best players. So Chesney had some rebuilding at JMU as well. A year later he wins the Sun Belt and is in the CFP. Chesney is easily light years ahead of DeBong and will make UCLA a solid team in a short time. How good? We’ll see. Will Riley rise to the opportunity/challenge or will Chesney take him out?
You and I both know that Riley is gonna have his hands full with Chesney, who is a defensive-minded coach and made his bones coming up through the ranks as a superior DC. Chesney has also always used a balanced approach to his coaching, always paying much more attention to the three facets of the game as opposed to QB/offense-minded Riley. Also, Chesney’s DC he brought along from JMU, Colin Hitschler, is excellent by all accounts. Riley’s smart enough to know he now has a majorly dedicated threat (unlike Chip Kelly or that idiot DeBong) across town who has already… Read more »
Banana Ball For 2026 (May 8 – Sept 27, major events extending into October), there are six Banana Ball teams competing in a barnstorming format throughout the U.S. They now play their wildly popular, entertainment-driven exhibition games across 45 states and roughly 75 stadiums nationwide, including numerous MLB and NFL stadiums. The Six current Banana Ball Teams Savannah Bananas Party Animals Firefighters Texas Tailgaters Loco Beach Coconuts (New for 2026) Indianapolis Clowns (New for 2026) The Firefighters are a dedicated Banana Ball team in the Savannah Bananas organization that travels and plays exhibitions against other teams. Rather than being based in one… Read more »
Key Banana Ball Rules — Win the Inning, Get the Point: Each inning is a separate contest. The team with the most runs in an inning gets one point. The final inning allows all runs to count, and the highest point total wins. — Two-Hour Time Limit: No new inning starts after 120 minutes. — No Stepping Out: Batters must stay in the box; stepping out results in a strike. — No Bunting: Bunting is prohibited and results in immediate ejection. — Steal First Base: Batters can steal first base at any time, including on walks or wild pitches. —… Read more »