Cold Spring’s Jordan Barth Shines In The Banana Ball League

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA (WJON News) -- A Cold Spring native is quickly becoming one of the stars of Banana Ball in his rookie season in the league. Jordan Barth is a member of the Texas Tailgaters in the six-team league based in Savannah, Georgia.

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After graduating from ROCORI, Barth helped the Augustana Vikings win a Division II national championship. He played for the St. Cloud Rox for three summers and was most recently on the Sioux Falls Canaries roster.

Back in November, he was drafted by the Texas Tailgaters in the second round as the ninth overall pick.

Barth says there are big differences between playing Banana Ball and traditional baseball.

The pace of the game, the trick plays, not being able to step out of the box when you're hitting, it's so much faster-paced than the game of baseball, it's not even explainable.

Barth says their motto is "fans first entertainment" with a two-hour time limit for games. He says the crowds usually get very loud.

New this year is that the six teams are in an actual league.

Guys still want to win. I've had so many people come up to me at games and ask how much of it is scripted.  Obviously, outside of the entertainment, you think the guy who just hit one 450 feet was planned?  Absolutely not.

He says playing in this wildly popular league, you never know from week to week what to expect, like playing in a pop-up game this past week.

It wasn't even on our schedule, but they announced at 4:00 p.m. for a 7:00 p.m. game that they were going to allow 1,000 fans in to a town of about 5,000 people - so basically like Cold Spring - let 1,000 people in for free.  That was cool, because it was the smallest Banana Ball game ever, on a Thursday, and then on Saturday was the largest.  And we got to experience both.

On Saturday, he played at College Station, Texas, in front of 102,000 people in a game broadcast live on ESPN.

If you told me that I'd be playing in front of 102,000 people, playing baseball on a football field, at 27 years old, I would have absolutely called you nuts.

Barth says his phone blew up with messages from family and friends after the game on Saturday. He hit a home run in that game.

Barth says he's learning a lot as he goes, and he's still getting better at the entertainment piece because he says he can't dance.

Barth has already been named a "Banana Ball MVP" in the inaugural Banana Ball Open, and he's been a "Player of the Week". In 16 games, he's had 58 at-bats with 23 hits and 14 RBIs. His batting average is .397.

Unfortunately, Barth won't be coming to Minnesota this summer; he says the closest he'll get is Idaho.  The Savannah Bananas team will be taking on the Loco Beach Coconuts in August at Target Field.

The season began back in early February and runs through the middle of October.

On Monday, July 13th, the St. Cloud Rox are hosting a Jordan Barth Jersey Retirement Night.

Read More: What Family-Friendly Events To Expect This Summer At Joe Faber Field? |

Barth holds several Rox records, including: hits (99), doubles (25), total bases (144), extra bases (32), and games played (73).