Vienna’s Danny Hosley, 25, is in his third year pitching for the Savannah Bananas, a wildly popular team that tours the country playing “Banana Ball.” It’s part baseball, part theater, part choreographed dance performances — and a whole lotta fun. The team takes to the field at Nats Park on June 27 and 28, and we spoke to Hosley about how he’s excited to once again play in front of a hometown crowd.
Would you describe the Savannah Bananas experience as more of a baseball game or a performance?
I think there’s definitely some aspects of performance. We have some scripted [performances and some] scripted player entrances and walk-ups. But at the end of the day, it is still a game, and it’s kind of like two brothers fighting it out every time we go on the field, because nobody wants to be on the other side of the scoreboard. So, it’s kind of like a little bit of the best of both worlds. We’re trying to put on the best show in the country.
What’s the most challenging part of the job for you?
It can be frustrating going zero for three [at bat] in a game and making an error. And then after the game, having to kind of put on a smile and see some fans. So, it kind of cheers you up at the same time too, seeing some of those happy kids out there saying, “Hey, you did great out there today.”
What MLB stadium were you most excited to play in?
I was a Red Sox fan growing up, so [playing at Fenway Park] — I got to check that off my bucket list. But I would say DC [Nats Park], just because it was more of a hometown game for me. And I had all my friends and family out for that one, and they had a really cool entrance set up for me for that game last year. I got to ride around in a Secret Service helicopter around DC the day before [the game], and then they filmed that whole day. And then in the ninth inning, when I entered the game, they put up a [kind of] Secret Service entrance walk-up. So it showed me flying around the city [and then the helicopter] bringing me to the stadium. And then security escorted me out to the mound, which was pretty cool.
Has it been difficult to learn the choreography?
If you ask my old teammates, they’d probably be surprised that I was doing this. They wouldn’t say I was much of a dancer. But I think now, three years into this, I’ve become quite the dancer. I love going to a wedding now, because I always feel like I’ll turn up the dance floor. I’ll hear a song, and I’m like, ‘Oh, wow, I know a dance to this.’ People are like, “Where’d you learn that?” I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s now my job.’
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Feature image courtesy the Savannah Bananas/photo by Quinn Kreller
This story originally ran in our June Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
