Banana Ball brings its fun brand of baseball to Midland
Midland will celebrate America's 250th anniversary with a unique adaptation of the national pastime.
The Banana Ball craze hits Momentum Bank Ballpark when the Texas Tailgaters face the Party Animals in a three-game series Thursday through Saturday with each contest starting at 7 p.m. The entire series is sold out.
Banana Ball, the zany style of baseball popularized by the Savannah Bananas, has resonated with fans nationwide as a barnstorming tour that has sold out 100,000-seat football stadiums.
The Banana Ball website says the goal is to make baseball fun which includes no bunting, batters stealing first base, no walks allowed, no mound visits, no stepping out of the batter's box, a two-hour game time limit, and the batter is out if a fan catches a fly ball.
If a batter gets four balls, he sprints to first base and can keep running. The ball doesn't become live until every fielder - except for the pitcher and catcher - touch it.
Banana Ball has been frequently described as baseball's version of the Harlem Globetrotters.
"I think the talent of Banana Ball, the product with Banana Ball is the ability to interact with fans more so than any other sport," said Texas Tailgaters coach Joe Mikulik, who spent 41 years in affiliated baseball as a player and a manager. "I think the players, the coaches, the staff, the entertainment teams, I think everybody has an innate ability to reach out to fans like none other. In pro ball, we signed autographs, but it wasn't as intentional as it is here. This is more intentional. To me, the main of our business is fan-first entertainment and that's no joke. It goes above and beyond for the fans from the price to the ticket to players and coaches signing before games and after games, during games interacting with fans, it's a very unicorn sport that they've created and I'm participating in now, and I love every minute of it. It's been a lot of fun."
The most fundamentally different rule in Banana Ball might be how the game is scored.
The first eight innings, the winner of each frame gets only a point no matter how many runs they score in a match play type of format. If a team scores nine runs in the top of the first and outscores the home team, they only get awarded for one point. Neither team gets a point if the inning is scoreless and ends in a tie.
The format changes in the ninth when all the runs count.
"You can't really run away with anything," Party Animals outfielder Jake Skole said. "In the ninth inning, all the runs count, so it seems like you have an at-bat at the end of our game that could mean the ballgame for your team. If you play a full baseball season, you might get 20 or 25 of those at-bats all year where you are in a one-run ballgame or tie ballgame. It seems like we get one every time."
Other wacky rules include a fan representative being able to challenge one umpire's call by holding up a "Fan Challenge" sign and a Golden Batter Rule that allows a team to pick their best hitter to bat in any spot once a game.
Tall City baseball fans may recognize Mikulik, who played for the Texas League's Jackson Generals in 1991-92 and was the manager of the Frisco RoughRiders from 2015-19.
Mikulik is a YouTube sensation with several videos of him arguing with umpires from his affiliated baseball days, which include him throwing bases like Lou Pinella, sliding into bases and kicking dirt.
Mikulik said he finally found his calling coming to Banana Ball after never making it to the majors in 41 years.
"My wife Candy helped me with the decision," said Mikulik, who said he played when baseball clown Max Patkin and the San Diego Chicken were actively performing. "She saw where Banana Ball was going and I did a little bit, but I wasn't totally sold on it. However, my wife, we had a long talk, and she pretty much said I need to do this. I'm so glad that she helped me make that decision because it's the best thing I have ever done in sports. It's so much fun. It's so electric. The atmosphere is so good. It's a little different. The rules are different from a regular baseball game. Everybody goes 'hey, when is your next game?' I go well, my next show is Thursday in Midland. I call them shows. I don't really call them games because I played enough games and I managed enough games in regular baseball. This is more of a show."
Skole may also be recognizable to Midland baseball fans as he was the 2010 first round pick of the Texas Rangers and played for the RoughRiders in 2014-15.
Skole said he was drawn to Banana Ball because of the fun aspect and how well the players are treated by the Banana Ball operators.
"It's just a cool business model where they put the fans first and we get to reap those benefits a lot of the times by having a really good time," said Skole, 34.
"The best part for me is I still get to put a uniform on and compete every night," Skole added. "That's definitely my favorite part."
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.