Frisco is going bananas this weekend. Banana Ball, the traveling, entertainment-first version of baseball made social-media-famous by the Savannah Bananas, is coming to Riders Field on Friday and Saturday. Normally the home of the Frisco RoughRiders, the park will host a two-game set with each starting at 7 p.m., though fans may want to arrive early for the so-called \u201cGreatest Pregame in Sports.\u201d<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t be the Bananas on the field specifically, though that doesn\u2019t seem to have affected demand for tickets. The game will instead be played between the Party Animals and the Texas Tailgaters, the first time the Tailgaters have played the role of the headliner in a Banana League game. \u201cA little over a year we\u2019ve been working with [the Tailgaters] to get them lined up and bring them here to Frisco, bring them here to North Texas for the first time,\u201d said Scott Burchett, the general manager of the RoughRiders.<\/p>\n
The Tailgaters are, for now, the only Banana Ball team in Texas, and are wrapping up their inaugural 33-game schedule by hosting a trio of series in minor league parks around the state. They\u2019ll play in San Antonio next weekend at the home park of the San Antonio Missions, and the following weekend in Round Rock at Dell Diamond, home of the Rangers\u2019 Triple-A affiliate, the Round Rock Express. And if you\u2019re trying to get in the building for any of those, you might be out of luck. The Bananas have been selling out games at major league ballparks and even NFL stadiums, so you can imagine how hot the tickets were for the 12,000 or so spots that Riders Field holds. According to Burchett, both games have long been completely sold out. There are still limited tickets available to RoughRiders season ticket holders, but otherwise you\u2019ll be left to the secondary markets if you\u2019re trying to watch Banana Ball this weekend, with ticket prices on StubHub, SeatGeek and the like starting at around $200 each.<\/p>\n So expect a packed house at Riders Field — and if you know anything about Banana Ball, you know that might serve the home team well. Banana Ball is known for its unique rules and quirky differences from traditional baseball, perhaps the most famous of which being that if a fan catches a foul ball, it\u2019s an out. Fans in attendance are encouraged to bring their gloves — they might get a chance to come down with a game-changing snag.<\/p>\n The players are probably best known for their in-game and even mid-pitching-windup dance moves, but they\u2019re certainly more than a dancing troupe out on the diamond. The rosters are composed mostly of former college baseballers, several of whom were drafted and spent multiple seasons in the minor leagues. The Tailgaters\u2019 manager is Joe Mikulik, a longtime coach who spent seven seasons in the Texas Rangers\u2019 minor league system and served as the manager for the RoughRiders and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, the Rangers\u2019 Single-A team at the time.<\/p>\n The Bananas also have a knack for bringing out surprise, pop-up members of the roster, though. When they played at Rate Field in Chicago, it was former White Sox battery mates AJ Pierzynski and Mark Buehrle subbing in to work an inning together. In Anaheim, former Angel Troy Glaus ripped a base knock in the banana-yellow uniform in a surprise pinch-hit appearance. Burchett said that there are some \u201csurprise activities\u201d planned for the weekend, but he\u2019s keeping them surprises for now.<\/p>\n Other rules include ejections if a player attempts to bunt and a Home Run Derby-esque \u201cShowdown Tiebreaker\u201d rather than extra innings, but the fun isn\u2019t limited to between the lines. Banana Ball aspires to cut down the \u201coften criticized lulls and lengthy pauses\u201d of the traditional game, according to the website, and in-game entertainment like the senior citizen dance team and the \u201cBanana Baby\u201d help to hold the attention of the younger crowd in attendance.<\/p>\n In short, expect bunches of banana-fueled fun in Frisco this weekend. \u201cThey\u2019re rolling out all the stops for the Tailgaters,\u201d Burchett said. \u201cI got the opportunity to see these teams play in Baton Rouge at LSU a couple weeks ago and it was an absolute blast. Whole family had a wonderful time, my seven-year-old daughter, who didn\u2019t know much about it going in, was asking if we could go to every Banana game.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: What is Banana Ball? Introduction to Banana Ball Frisco is going bananas this weekend. Banana Ball, the traveling, entertainment-first version of baseball made social-media-famous by the Savannah Bananas, is coming to Riders Field on Friday and Saturday. Normally the home of the Frisco RoughRiders, the park will host a two-game set with each starting at 7 p.m., though fans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":12517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/52Y4VTVU4ZGR7D6MFWUSU4FURU.jpg?auth=c10f0aa1f0e18e5a9907ea4f36fbb5b18dc04872555911b033027a5d152080a0&quality=80&width=1200&height=630&smart=true","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12515"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12515"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12515\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12518,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12515\/revisions\/12518"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<img loading="lazy" style="aspect-ratio:4958 \/ 3305" sizes="(min-width: 1300px) 403px,
\n(min-width: 768px) 30vw,
\n60vw" srcset="https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/F7ZRNONL3NEQXJH6WST3JMROYM.jpg?auth=ce10f1179a3f9abbc68d9837ea3ac79a2b4914856a893c58c6d26315d83fab8e&quality=80&width=250<\/a> 250w, https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/F7ZRNONL3NEQXJH6WST3JMROYM.jpg?auth=ce10f1179a3f9abbc68d9837ea3ac79a2b4914856a893c58c6d26315d83fab8e&quality=80&width=430<\/a> 430w, https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/F7ZRNONL3NEQXJH6WST3JMROYM.jpg?auth=ce10f1179a3f9abbc68d9837ea3ac79a2b4914856a893c58c6d26315d83fab8e&quality=80&width=830<\/a> 830w" class="dmnc_images-modern-image-module__QFaG- max-w-full h-auto text-white dmnc_images-modern-image-module__9Zlll bg-gray-light object-contain" width="4958" height="3305" src="https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/F7ZRNONL3NEQXJH6WST3JMROYM.jpg?auth=ce10f1179a3f9abbc68d9837ea3ac79a2b4914856a893c58c6d26315d83fab8e&quality=80&width=430<\/a>" alt="Players from the Texas Tailgaters participate in a "Red Solo Cup" game."\/>
\nPlayers from the Texas Tailgaters participate in a "Red Solo Cup" game.
\nCourtesy Fans First Entertainment<\/p>\nTicket Information<\/h2>\n
What to Expect<\/h2>\n
The Players<\/h2>\n
Surprise Activities<\/h2>\n
Other Rules and Entertainment<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
\nA: Banana Ball is a traveling, entertainment-first version of baseball made social-media-famous by the Savannah Bananas.
\nQ: Who are the teams playing in Frisco?
\nA: The Party Animals and the Texas Tailgaters will be playing in Frisco.
\nQ: Are tickets still available?
\nA: Both games have long been completely sold out, but there are still limited tickets available to RoughRiders season ticket holders.
\nQ: What are some of the unique rules of Banana Ball?
\nA: If a fan catches a foul ball, it\u2019s an out, and players will be ejected if they attempt to bunt.
\nQ: What kind of entertainment can fans expect?
\nA: In-game entertainment like the senior citizen dance team and the \u201cBanana Baby\u201d will help to hold the attention of the younger crowd in attendance.
\nQ: Can I still get tickets?
\nA: You can try checking secondary markets like StubHub, SeatGeek, but be prepared for higher prices starting at around $200 each.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"