Hours before the wholesome family environment of Banana Ball took over ESPN Disney’s Wide World of Sports for two sold-out shows this weekend, the Washington Nationals’ director of communications was fired for blackballing pitcher Trevor Williams from social promotions due to his religious beliefs.
The players on the six teams in the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) are not under any constraints when it comes to promoting their Chrisitan beliefs on social media.
“I believe that everyone should be able to share how they believe. I think that belief is the most powerful thing in the world,” Fans First Entertainment owner Jessie Cole said before the news of the Nationals scandal broke. “As an organization we don’t go out and say this is where we are in this world, but we support our players. I think our players have a great platform, a great opportunity to spread [their faith]. I’m grateful that they’re doing it in such a positive way.”
Robert Anthony Cruz of the Savanah Bananas team, whose team did not play at Disney this weekend, is known for his faith messages on his Instagram handle “coach.rac” which has 951,000 followers. He has led revivals around the country in cities with the Bananas were playing.
“He is a leader and has a very strong voice,” Party Animals player Tanner Thomas said of Cruz. “There are a lot of people that look up to us in this organization traveling and playing in front of sold-out crowds in MLB and football stadiums. This is the perfect opportunity to spread the love of the Lord.”
After the national anthem, the majority of players from the Loco Coconuts and Party Animals gathered at the center of the infield to pray before the game.
“It’s the guys coming together and understanding that we’re on. This path because the Man above put us here,” Party Animal and Orlando native Mike Ballard said. “We are playing for the fans, but playing for something that is greater than everybody, which is the Lord.”
Dalton Mauldin, another Florida native, also speaks about his faith to his 185,000 followers.
“One of my favorite things about playing here is I’m encouraged to not only be a better friend and teammate, but to be a better Christian every day,” Mauldin said before the Nationals news broke. “Our goal is to love on people like Jesus loves on us and just spread the Word.
“A lot of people come up to us after the games and talk about our walk with Christ. That’s really cool that we are making that way; especially with their kids.”
The organization is a huge supporter of foster kids through their non-profit Bananas Foster. At every BBCL game, a local foster family is honored on the field. Cole noted his wife Emily is the backbone of the charity after growing up in a big family. She kept telling him there were over 400,000 children in foster care and people needed to do more. Cole and his wife acted and became licensed foster parents to this day.
“We became licensed foster parents in the middle of COVID,” Cole recalled. “We experienced the challenges of foster care, all the limitations that there are, and it’s hard for every group that’s involved. “We had two daughters who joined us and reunification didn’t work out. We then adopted our two daughters.”
The Coles just didn’t think that was enough. They needed to do more. The Banana Fosters mission is to celebrate the foster care community while educating and inspiring others to get involved.
“In nonprofits most people talk about all the things that are wrong, and they don’t necessarily celebrate the things that are right,” Cole said. “At every single stadium we honor a foster family that has been made a huge impact in that community, whether they’ve brought in 50 kids, 100 kids, whether they have adopted, whether they have helped reunification, whether they bring sibling sets.
“To see stadiums across the country giving standing ovations to these families is one of the most heartwarming moments I’ve ever been a part of. Knowing hundreds of people have become foster parents and honoring these families makes us have tremendous purpose in what we’re doing.”
