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PORTLAND — JD Urso figured out quickly that being a member of the Loco Beach Coconuts was less about maintaining a baseball focus and more about creating a vibe. Baseball is an uncontrollable game. You could hit four hard line drives in a game, each one right at a fielder, and go 0 for 4. Playing Banana Ball is a relief, Urso said.
“My job’s no longer trying to go get four hits. It’s try to build fans for Loco Beach and Banana Ball as a whole,” Urso said Friday afternoon, a few hours before the Coconuts took on the Texas Tailgaters at a sold-out Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field. “We have the opportunity before and after games to be out on the plaza, meeting these fans. The stories I’m hearing, the people I’m meeting, it’s so rewarding.”
The roving party was in Portland all weekend. Fans arriving early were treated to a concert by the three-piece band that accompanies the Coconuts on tour. Players from both teams signed autographs and posed for photos.
Urso’s story isn’t much different from a lot of the ballplayers who make up the rosters of the six teams travelling the country playing and promoting Banana Ball, the brand of baseball popularized by the Savannah Bananas. Grow up playing baseball, they quickly adjust to the new rules.
Banana Ball is an up-tempo brand of baseball wrapped around a party. What started with the Savannah Bananas is now called The Banana Ball Championship League. There’s a 2-hour time limit for games. Bunting is strictly forbidden. If a pitcher throws ball four, the hitter doesn’t take first base. He can sprint to first and beyond, if he can make it before every player in the field touches the ball. If a fan catches a foul ball, the batter is out.
“As a hitter, I believe in being a little more patient. Because of the ball-four sprints, I can now get to second base on a walk. I try to get deep in counts,” Urso said.
When he was done playing at the University of Tampa, where he won an NCAA Division II national championship for his head coach and father, Joe Urso, in 2025, Urso looked to stay in the game. He reached out to Chase Achoff, a former rival at Rollins College who now plays for the Party Animals, another Banana Ball team. That led to an opportunity last season to join the Visitors, the team the Bananas set up to introduce players to their version of the game.
Kaden Bowler is also in his first season with the Coconuts. Bowler played at Utah State, and after graduating in 2022, he worked as a touring musician, playing guitar for country acts including Kane Brown and Shaboozey. The baseball itch never went away, though, and last year he signed on as a guitar player with the Tailgaters’ band.
Playing music was fun, Bowler said, but if you can still play baseball? You have to try. Of course there’s an adjustment to the rules that you can’t really make until you start playing games.
“There’s definitely a learning curve. There’s a lot of guys who come in and struggle at first, me included,” Bowler said. “There’s so many different rules to the game. It moves to a different pace. It’s a different sport. It’s not even the same sport.”
Bowler spent much of the game Friday riding a custom-built surfboard equipped with a wheel. When he learned he’d be assigned to the Coconuts this season, Bowler and his father, Paul, kicked around ideas that would be fun for the fans. His dad came up with the surfboard and built it while fighting cancer.
“He literally went from the hospital, to building it, back to the hospital,” said Bowler, who wore a teal Sea Dogs hat Friday.
Bowler sent a video of himself riding the board to Jesse Cole, the owner of the Bananas and the league. Cole loved it, and Bowler’s trademark bit was born. He’s known to take at-bats on the board and ride it to first base.
For all the frivolity, there’s still a game to be played. They keep score, and the Coconuts won 3-2 on Friday. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Urso ripped a double to the gap in right center. After reaching second base, he extend his arms and shimmied, as if riding an invisible surfboard.
Above everything else, the game is about making sure everyone has fun, from the fans to the players. For the players who took the game so seriously their entire lives, it looks like they’re having a blast playing Banana Ball.
“We absolutely are,” Urso said. “It’s a dream job, and now my goal is to stay here as long as I can.”
