How did you get to be on the Bananas?
In the spring of 2021, I was wrapping up my final year of college baseball at the University of Hawaii and had turned down multiple minor league free agent contracts the year before. With no opportunities to go pro, I focused on completing a master’s degree in finance and took a job at a beachfront hospitality company in beautiful Waikiki. While there, I sat behind a desk but had the glorious perk of surfing every day for the next two years. During this time, I also became involved with middle school ministry at my church and was inspired by how children spoke about their dreams and goals. Through my students’ enthusiasm, a seed was planted about playing baseball again, and by the fall of 2023, it became an itch I had to scratch! Feeling like I’d left something on the table for myself, I heard rumblings about an action-packed, fan-fun based team called the Savannah Bananas. Ironically, my parents attended a game and found it to be outstanding entertainment with quality baseball. Sold! From there, my social media feed was flooded with their content, and I scoured their website for tryout details. Unfortunately, I’d missed the deadline for that year but figured I’d reach out anyway, given there was nothing to lose in trying.
I hired my little sister's roommate to edit together a submission video that included clips from my coach at the University of Hawaii, my finest college highlights, and a couple crazy media responses. Off it went, and wouldn’t you know it, an email response from the Bananas to set up a private tryout hit my inbox in less than two hours! But therein, I had problems: 1. I hadn't touched a baseball in months. 2. I was high on painkillers after undergoing my second labrum repair surgery of the year less than 2 days prior! See, I was injured in the fall of 2019 while at Georgia Tech, and played through it. Given I was still covered by the team's insurance, I decided to get my non-throwing arm repaired, but the surgery failed, and I needed a second one less than six- months later. To train for the Bananas, because I couldn’t miss out on this opportunity, I did the Koko Head Stairs Hike, and took a bag of baseballs to the local park every day after work, threw them against the fence, picked them up and walked back to my spot. All that surfing I’d done kept me in solid shape to maintain pitch speed in the low to mid 90's at my tryout, which was enough for the Bananas to offer me a temporary contract. That led to a full-year contract and some of the greatest experiences of my life!
What's an average day like for you?
An average Bananas game day involves waking up around 9 am, having a huge breakfast, and cup of coffee. Thanks to our travels, I’ve sampled some of the best breakfast joints in this country, and much life surfing, consider that another huge job perk. When I have downtime, I edit videos and plan new content. Our team buses head to the field around 11:30 am, with our World Tour Logistics team already churning out another delicious meal. Food is a big part of the Bananas culture. The first meeting of the day, a staff chat for our entire organization, happens at 1 pm, as team owner Jesse Cole and team president Jared Orton, get us locked in and fired up with stories and shoutouts across all departments from recent events. From there, we roll straight into entertainment meetings, rehearse our run celebrations, hitter/pitcher intros, and other OTT (Over The Top) moments we have planned for the game. After that, we head directly to baseball practice, which lasts about an hour-and-a-half. During the following hour of downtime, I usually lift weights, occasionally take a quick nap, but always have another cup of coffee. At 4:30 pm, we assemble for VIB or Very Important Bananas, which is a special and intimate experience for our first 100-150 fans of the day. We take time to chat, sign autographs, take pictures, and make these fans feel like they’re a big part of the game, which they are! Then, it’s our Fan March, and showtime, with promotions and entertainment that take us right up to 7 pm, and BananaBall! With a two-hour limit in place, the game is always over by 9 pm, which gives us time to sign more autographs, and take more pictures in our Plaza Party outside the stadium. Everything is wrapped up by 10:30 pm, when we have dinner (World Tour Logistics with the food win once again!) and make our way back to the hotel. Sleep. Wake up.
Do it all again the next day.
Have you always been able to dance or is this a learned skill?
No, I have not always been able to dance, and I give abundant credit to Maceo Harrison, Zack Frongillo, and Brenna Johnson for helping me find my groove. They have spent dozens of hours teaching me how to shimmy, shake, and discover a dance style. Just the other day, a fan asked me, "Are you the guy who did the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Dance?" I happily replied, "Of course I am!” To think that less than a year ago I was sitting at a desk, and now I’m being recognized for my dancing skills. Life can be funny that way.
What does Fans First mean to you?
Fans First means doing anything and everything to create the best possible experience for the people who attend our shows. Our team mission is in direct conflict with how many businesses and corporations treat their customers today. The Bananas have cultivated a winning culture of working and celebrating together, creating moments and priceless memories for families and fans, and recreating that on a nightly basis. There is no better team, group, or company in American that puts their fans first the way we do, and I am deeply proud to now represent this principle in my own life.
What's your favorite Bananaball rule?
My favorite rule, and one I consider to be the greatest in all of sports, is this: When a fan catches a foul ball, the hitter is out! Our fans know they are one foul ball away from having an enormous impact on the game. It makes them feel like part of the team, and part of the night. They are always on guard, waiting for that ball to come their way so they can make the catch! The crowd goes wild every time.
Tell us about one or some of your favorite moments with The Savannah Bananas.
There are so many to choose from, so I’ll go with the most recent one. I had the privilege of being a lead coach for our recent BananaBall Camp in Cleveland, Ohio, where 900 kids turned out for baseball and fun for 12 hours. It was a crazy day, and by the grace of God, one of the teams I coached had a very special player named Brycen Judah. I had connected with Brycen and his family earlier in the season and knew him to be an amazing teammate and fierce competitor, who took all that energy and earned the title ‘Hype Man of the Year' on his travel baseball team. I’d stayed in touch with Brycen all year through the power of social media, but on this particular day, he had something special for me. Presenting me with a custom glove, Brycen had it decked out with logos from his team, which was called Arrows, and Psalm 127 stitched onto the thumb. That illustrates children as arrows with the purpose of furthering the good news of the Bible. It was as humbling a moment as I’d ever had, knowing that Brycen loved me, looked up to me and my teammates, and chose to honor me in this way. The next day, I watched Brycen and his team in action, and as he wrestled an inflatable alligator during his walkup to the batter's box, I knew he was having the time of his life. He's from Florida, after all!
How do you help others be their best.
Simply put, I'm a motivator. I believe in encouragement, celebrating accomplishments, and constant positive reinforcements to pull out the best in my teammates. This happens everywhere and all the time, from playing catch with a teammate on off-days with no one else in sight, to conversations in between innings when the score is close and there are 45,000 fans in the stands. I try to be the same guy with the same voice every day to help my teammates be their best.
If you won the lottery, what would you do?
Well, I don't think I would tell anyone, and would give much of it away, but beyond that, I would absolutely buy a Toyota Tacoma, pay off the rest of my home loan, and then get lots of Waffle House.
Recommend a few of your favorite songs, books, podcasts or videos.
I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan. You can’t listen to his music and not want to groove a little bit. Kenny Chesney is my favorite country artist, and I love Jack Johnson, and have done lots of volunteer work on his farm way up on the north shore of O’ahu. As for podcasts, I listen to Theo Von and Joe Rogan.
How can fans connect with you in social media. Do you really read comments and dms?
On social media, comments are the best way to connect. It’s wild and unbelievable to see youth teams recreating some of my videos, especially the ones that mimic me telling my teammates that I love them and calling my teammates by the wrong names. They’re hysterical! My direct message boxes are flooded but I try to keep up with them as best as I can.
Follow Andy Archer: https://www.instagram.com/archdaddeh24
Comments