A shirtless Erik Bakich, a walk-up to the plate riding a horse and choreographed dances. All that can only be found in Banana Ball, which made its way to Clemson on Thursday night as the Savannah Bananas took on Clemson baseball in an exhibition matchup at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
The excitement behind Banana Ball is not just about the game that takes place on the field, but the theatrics that players take part in to create additional entertainment. The Tigers participated in many of those theatrics throughout the game, and the performances of a few players stood out amongst them.
Before the game began, the coaches of each team had a martial arts-style weigh-in. As Clemson head coach Bakich made his way to the scales, he suddenly ripped off his jersey, to the delight of the crowd.
That was only the beginning. Soon after, Jay Dillard, donning a cowboy hat and a pair of boots, made a grand entrance on horseback as he made his way to his first plate appearance. Dillard said it was the first time he had ridden a horse since he was just 12 years old.
Later, in typical Banana Ball fashion, Dominic Listi secured a behind-the-back catch in what would usually be a routine flyout to left-center. In celebrating, the Tigers cleared the dugout and ran into the outfield as if they had just won the World Series.
“At the last second, I was just like, ‘Oh, I got to do the trick play.’ I had forgot about it,” Listi said. “I forgot that we were all rushing at each other, so I was just overwhelmed with joy.”
Speaking after the game, Bakich detailed how getting to let loose in a game like this has helped the team mesh during the offseason.
“The huge positive is how much tighter the circle gets going through this together,” Bakich said. “I noticed that it felt like our team was becoming closer by doing this together.”
As for the shirtless weigh-in at the start of the game? Bakich hopes that it is what fans remember least about Thursday’s game.
“I hope it gets deleted,” he said jokingly. “But, you know, it’s all good. You look like an idiot, and if it creates opportunities for our players, I’m all in for it. I’ll go shirtless whenever we need to.”
While the Tigers may have fallen short in their Banana Ball debut, Bakich made it known that the result was not based on the game’s score but on the exposure for each of his players.
“We’re not measuring the win today based on the scoreboard,” he said. “There’s so many wins in today’s whatever you call it. For our players to get exposure to three million followers that they (the Savannah Bananas) have and have their content, their plays and all the cool stuff they did go viral on social media, and what that will do in putting the spotlight on them.
“Tonight is a huge win, promoting and highlighting our team,” he added.
With the spotlight on the program, Bakich feels that recruits should look at Clemson and not only see a successful team, but a team that has fun being successful.
“Every recruit out there should know, come to Clemson, we’re going to do awesome stuff like this,” he said. “It’s going to be electric.”
Bakich saw a vision for this game as a chance to give his players the spotlight and to further put themselves on the map. According to Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole, the Clemson baseball coach was actually the driving force behind bringing the Bananas to Clemson.
“Coach Bakich started this with Clemson baseball,” he said. “He’s a big fan of Banana Ball, he had the idea of if we could play at Memorial Stadium. We started having those conversations, and the question we asked is, ‘Why not?’”
Thursday’s game was historic for the Bananas, as it was their first-ever game against a collegiate team. The game follows an announcement last month that the Savannah Bananas will face the Party Animals in Clemson at Memorial Stadium next April.
As the stadium makes the transition from the gridiron to a baseball diamond, it will be yet another first for Banana Ball. The game will be the first in a football stadium, and Cole could not be more excited about the upcoming event.
“We always love doing things that people have never done before,” Cole said. “We love experimenting, trying things and testing things, and saying ‘how can we create an experience that’s truly special?’ And that’s what I think Memorial Stadium and Death Valley is going to be.”
