A team with a peel: The Savannah Bananas

ALBUQUERQUE – Like most of his teammates on the Savannah Bananas, Eric Jones grew up playing baseball.

The native of Charlotte, North Carolina, has a resume in the sport that includes time with Minnesota and Seattle minor league clubs, plus some time in independent baseball.

Now 28, shortly after he played at Davidson College (2016-19), he played for the Modesto Nuts, so being a Banana seems appropriate. Jones had a memorable 2022 season as a bullpen catcher for the Mariners, warming up guys like Luis Castillo, Sergio Romo and George Kirby.

“The (Atlanta) Braves were the only local team, and Chipper Jones was my guy — he had my name (Jones),” he said before the Bananas’ April 20 game vs. the Party Animals at Isotopes Park. “I wore a Chipper Jones jersey to school on picture day.”

Coincidentally, Chipper Jones had played at the same Duke City site, when the Sports Stadium occupied that piece of land and Jones was here to play in the 1993 Triple-A All-Star Game.

Eric Jones “was always good at catching, and I always had naturally good hands at picking the ball in the dirt, and a good arm, so it kinda made sense for me, position-wise; I’ve never been the fastest guy,” he said. “I played third base in college, split time between there and catcher. I’m playing first base tonight.”

Behind the plate, “You see everything that’s happening on the field; you understand the game really well from the defensive and offensive ends catching.”

That stint in the Mariners’ bullpen enhanced his proficiency behind the plate.

“It gave me confidence to potentially play the game at that level,” he added. “It’s not that different: You still see the ball; in fact, you’ve got better lights.”

He’s loving his time with the Bananas.

“(Playing with the) Bananas has been amazing,” Jones said. “It’s gotten me on Major League fields.”

The Bananas have played in Houston; they’re soon headed to Fenway Park in Boston, and have games slated for the big-league parks in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

He’s coached his 11-year-old brother’s team, “trying to teach them baseball, get them to work hard and, you know, appreciate the game like I do. It was great; they had some success and got better as players, and hopefully learned about life, too.”

He’s hoping to remain a Banana “indefinitely,” enjoying the time with former Major League stars like Bill Lee (76 years old), Johnny Damon, Bronson Arroyo, Rogers Clemens, Nick Swisher, Jonathon Papelbon.

“It’s good for them, gets them back on the field, and it’s good for us publicity-wise,” Jones said.

Fans loved the Bananas

Isotopes Park was packed Saturday and Sunday, with fans clamoring to see the antics — and actually some talented ballplayers on the field — in the games between the iconic Bananas and the Party Animals.

The whole Banana experience — they don’t play baseball, they play “bananaball,” they stress — is a world apart from the game fans usually enjoy at Isotopes Park.

Singalongs, players strolling through the grandstand, tossing yellow balls to fans, and employing a different set of rules, such as no visits to the mound, batters can’t step out of the box, bunting is forbidden … and if a fan catches a foul ball, it’s an out.

This ain’t your father’s game of baseball.

The two-game trip to New Mexico on the Banana Ball World Tour ended with Albuquerque native Drew Gillespie pitching three scoreless frames to secure a win for his Party Animals and split the series.

Isotopes Park had the third-largest attendance numbers of any Banana Ball games thus far with a guest appearance from UFC fighter Holly Holm.

The Bananas won Saturday’s game, 5-1, when the teams combined for 19 trick plays, which ties the single-game record set on Sept. 9, 2023.

The Party Animals got their bats hot on Sunday and pulled out a 3-2 win behind three shutout innings pitched by former Sandia High School hurler Gillespie. (If a team outscores its opponent in an inning, it gets one point.)

In the sunny day game on Sunday, the Party Animals tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth inning before finishing with 14 runs and earning a 3-2 win. The Animals batted through their entire order in the fifth and seventh innings, putting up 13 of their 14 runs in those two innings alone.

The souvenir stands saw a lot of business each day, with people being yellow and not minding.