CHARLOTTE — Luke Kuechly is known for his preparation. While playing for the Carolina Panthers, the All-Pro linebacker would famously spend hours upon hours watching tape, poring over playbooks, and working on every minuscule advantage he could. So it's no surprise that on Friday night, he was deep in the bowels of Bank of America Stadium warming up his arm.
The Savannah Bananas were in town, gearing up for back-to-back sell-out nights at BoA, and the forever fan favorite Kuechly had been tapped to throw out the first pitch. So with his college friends in tow, and former Panthers teammate Jonathan Stewart offering something akin to encouragement, Kuechly found a make-shift bullpen and practiced two hours before first pitch…then again an hour-and-a-half before…and again half-an-hour before.
Was he nervous?
"No, I'm not nervous," he answered quickly, before laughing at the slight nervous way he said it, as if reassuring himself.
The Bananas are an interactive baseball squad, facing off against their bitter rivals, the Party Animals, who are the Washington Generals to their Globetrotters. The teams weave theatrics, dance breaks, gymnastics, and even stilts into their matchups, capitalizing on viral moments and fan participation in what is still a true baseball game.
With a social media fan base that outpaces some MLB teams, the Bananas and Party Animals—who still play their home games in a small minor league stadium in Savannah with tickets sold out years in advance—now take their act on the road for half of their season. They started by selling out MLB stadiums, then tried their hand at college stadiums. Now, their tour has taken over NFL stadiums. The team had to add an extra night to their Charlotte stop after a quick sellout and increased demand. By the time they leave the Queen City this weekend, they'll have played in front of an estimated 150,000-plus fans.
As Kuechly, Stewart and Greg Olsen waited in the tunnel before first pitch, hordes of kids hung over the side with mementos and sharpies. And while many were excited to see the legendary trio and asked for the requisite autographs and pictures, it was the Bananas players and coaches they most clamored to see, because that's how big this "Banana Ball" game has become.
So, yeah, Kuechly's nerves were understandable. There were a lot of people in the stands to impress.
One person positively giddy when he noticed the former All-Pro linebacker standing in the tunnel though was a Bananas player himself, Eric Jones Jr.
"EJ," the Savannah first-baseman, had on his Panthers' cleats, customized for baseball, his blue and black necklace, and promised to don the Kuechly jersey again for Saturday's game, as well as his Panthers' hat.
Jones is a Charlotte native, growing up in North Charlotte for most of his life, before his family moved to South Charlotte, where they still live. He attended South Meck High School, Davidson College, and was a bullpen catcher for the Seattle Mariners before deciding to join the Bananas.
And on Friday, with the largest friends and family crowd he's ever had at a game (Jones estimated he had to arrange around 40 tickets), he got to play in the stadium that was home to so many of his favorite memories growing up.
"Loved the Panthers my whole life, cried when they lost the Super Bowl in '04 and then in '15 I was in college having the time of my life watching all those playoff games with my buddies and it was just special.
"I hope that we get to play in Charlotte every year. I think it's the perfect spot. The fans are really hungry for it here…one, we need a major league team, but two, we need a Banana ball team right here."
The hungry fans were on display en masse, but Jones had to step away from a pod clamoring for his autograph to take a couple of minutes and meet his own hero.
"I just got to meet (Luke)," Jones exclaimed just after the interaction. "First time I've ever met him, it was amazing. I mean, he was a hero, a legend of the team, was proud to rep his jersey yesterday. I'm going to wear it tomorrow again for picture day."
By the time the Bananas and Party Animals had made their grand entrances—and they were grand—Kuechly was ready for his first pitch. Entering the field to a chorus of "LUKKKKEEEE" that could likely be heard around Uptown, the Pro Bowler sent one over the plate.
"A little high," he noted walking off the field, and a few more times throughout the night because only perfection is allowed, but was quickly gobbled back into fans that realized who exactly was standing in front of them.
Around the third inning, Greg Olsen and Stewart wandered down, in complete Banana regalia and uniforms. The Banana's biggest social media star, Jackson Olsen, was standing on deck when he glanced in the tunnel and saw the former tight end standing there.
Olsen, of the baseball variety, gave a quick shout to the football Olsen to grab his attention, then pointed to the back of his own No. 8 jersey before pointing to Greg's, proudly displaying the twin last name and the double 88.
"We'll have to get a picture," Greg promised as Jackson Olsen stepped up to bat.
The two had met the day before, when rain forced the Bananas to find a different place to practice. Olsen invited the team to Charlotte Christian, where he coaches, and the most popular team on TikTok took batting and fielding practice with a middle school club that reportedly ate up every second and kept the team there for hours after practice was over, asking questions, taking videos, and getting autographs.
The two Olsens took the field together in the fourth inning, playing first and second base, as the elder Olsen tested his glove.
It was Stewart that got the most work of the evening though. After spending much of the evening in a Ken Griffey jersey—and having to assure more than one person that he was not in fact Ken Griffey Jr.—he jogged on the field in the fifth-inning as a pinch runner to a raucous welcome. And when it was time to come home, Stewart raced down the line just like he did so many times before in Bank of America Stadium, with a football tucked in his right arm and running like he'd never stop—and he didn't. He just kept going, through the backstop wall, through the open dugout, and out the tunnel on the other side, his hands in the air in celebration the whole time.
The Savannah Bananas motto is to make baseball fun as the greatest show in sports. That show was the hottest ticket in town this weekend, marrying Panthers legends, current players (who were in attendance), and the theatre that only sports can deliver.
