By: Eliana Hebert
WJPZ staff got the chance Saturday for a behind-the-scenes look at the Banana Ball game in NBT Bank Stadium. From rehearsals to interviews, the Firefighters and Texas Tailgaters bring the energy… and the trick moves.
The teams separately practiced their mid game tricks and dances. While the Tailgaters danced to “I Like It” by Alesso and Nate Smith, the Firefighters mascot, Bo the Beaver, jumped rope while on a ladder.
Z89 Correspondent Elizabeth Gottlieb interviewed a player from each team. Caden “Peanut” Green of the Firefighters and Jonathan “Sunshine” Luders of the Tailgaters, both infielders for their respective teams.
Peanut, as he prefers to be called, discussed the origin of his original name. “When I was younger, I was just always the little guy running around on the baseball field”. He says his dad gave him the nickname first, and after a little league coach caught on to it, it stuck ever since. Showing off his trick play the “Peanut Special”, the Firefighter made it look easy calling it “quick and simple”… however the Z89 staff were unable to pull off the ground ball, toss between the legs, and catch all together.
Sunshine’s nickname on the other hand, comes from the classic sport drama “Remember The Titans”. The Tailgater says similar to the movie’s quarterback, “When I was younger, 9 or 10 years-old, I had long blonde hair”, with a teammate’s dad saying both his looks and personality matched those of the character. Sunshine brought the nickname to “bananaland” with him and it has stuck ever since.
Taking a look at Luder’s unicycle, not only does he hit on it, but there’s another special aspect… what’s on the wheel. “Every city has a different poster board” that fans get to sign. This is something the player thinks is a “great idea”, upping fan interaction and bringing joy to the kids.
Around 3:30 p.m., the Firefighters fulfilled part of their responsibility as the headlining team. The players walked out in uniform accompanied by a drum line to greet fans as they filled into the select access area before entering the stadium itself. As ticket-holders arrived, the team took pictures, signed autographs, and connected with their supporters.
The sold-out stadium housed approximately 11,000 fans both Friday and Saturday, nothing new for the Banana Ball league which has been selling-out every stadium now through the end of their season.
After these Syracuse matches, the Texas Tailgaters stand second in the league and are expected to make it to the playoffs while the Firefighters are last in the league but still have upcoming games in Michigan and Missouri.
