Disney Celebrates America: How Savannah Bananas are bringing baseball's past into the future

"We need more people to know this story," the Bananas owner said.

America is going bananas for Savannah Bananas baseball!

Founded in 2016, the exhibition team has become popular for its own high-energy, fan-focused spin on the sport known as Banana Ball, that sees players, coaches, and umpires break out into elaborate dance routines, musical performances and circus-like antics in the middle of a competitive game.

In the last few years, the Savannah, Georgia-based baseball team has soared in popularity; its videos have become social media sensations and second baseman Jackson Olson is even joining this fall's "Dancing with the Stars" cast.

Watch "Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness" from 8 to 10 p.m. ET on Monday, June 29, on ABC. In this coast-to-coast event, Disney Parks and attractions are the portal through which America's greatest stories, triumphs and traditions are celebrated.

Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas and the creator of Banana Ball, has since expanded his vision from one team into the six-team Banana Ball Championship League.

"To see the growth and now have six teams playing all over the country ... to see millions of fans watching our games through Disney and ESPN, is amazing," he told ABC News' primetime special, "Disney Celebrates America: The Pursuit of Happiness."

Banana Ball's 2026 tour will see them play 190 games across 45 states, where they’ll perform to sold-out crowds of over 3 million fans.

"My first experience with the Bananas ...  I was blown away. You couldn't take your eyes off the field," Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, told ABC News.

"And the minute I saw what they were doing, I instantly connected it back to the Negro Leagues, and specifically the Indianapolis Clowns," he said.

Kendrick's experience at that game would become the first step towards an eventual partnership between the Bananas and the Negro League Baseball Museum.

Founded in 1990 by a group of former Negro League players, the Kansas City, Missouri, museum is dedicated to preserving and celebrating the rich history of Black baseball and its impact on the civil rights movement in America.   

Kendrick noted how the Negro Leagues "were born out of the ashes of American segregation."

"They had been shunned from the Major Leagues, not because they weren't talented enough... but simply because of the color of their skin," he said. "So what did they do? They created a league of their own."

After the founding of the Negro National League in 1920, it quickly gained popularity with fans as it became known for its faster, more aggressive play style in comparison to Major League Baseball at the time.

Kendrick remarked that, "When you went to a Negro Leagues game, you couldn't go to the concession stand, because you might miss something that you ain't never seen before."

One of those teams, the Indianapolis Clowns, "essentially became the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball," he said, noting that players would often dress up as clowns to entertain the crowd before, during and after games.

The Clowns won four championships in the 1950s, but those titles were set against the backdrop of a historic shift in the Negro Leagues. After Jackie Robinson became the first African American player recruited to MLB in 1947, the popularity of the Negro Leagues fell, as fans followed the best young Black and Hispanic ball players to MLB. 

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In 1959, the Boston Red Sox became the last MLB team to integrate, and by the early 1960s, the Negro Leagues disbanded. It would take until 2020, the 100th anniversary of their founding, for MLB to officially elevate the Negro Leagues to Major League status and incorporate the stats of its trailblazers into their record books, with the MLB calling it "long overdue recognition."

"The Bananas visited the museum in 2022," Kendrick said. "And when Jesse saw the small display that we have on the [Indianapolis] Clowns, I think that's when the epiphany occurred."

After learning the history of the Clowns, Cole recalled feeling that more people needed to know this story.

"So why not bring them back?" he said.

With the creation of the Banana Ball Championship League and two new expansion teams added in 2026, Cole chose to honor baseball's past by paying tribute to the Negro Leagues through the rebirth of the Indianapolis Clowns.

"We want to make sure every single Clown that ever wore that jersey is proud of what we're doing," Cole said.

Clowns pitcher Nick Wilson recently discovered that his grandfather played in a Negro League.

He reflected that, "It's just unreal and unbelievable to be able to carry on this kind of legacy."

Former World Series champion and current Clowns center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. added, "It's a responsibility and a privilege to not only honor the ones before us, but to ... be able to pass on to the next generation, as well."

As Kendrick sees it, "The story of the Negro Leagues could have only happened in America ... while America was trying to prevent them from sharing in the joys of its national pastime, it was the American spirit that allowed them to persevere and prevail."

"It's a story that transcends race, it transcends age, it transcends gender," he said. " ... And I'm thrilled ... because the history has come back to life."

ABC News' Jhasua Scicchitano and Sebastian Leyva contributed to this report.

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