Read the story of two Jacksons who are showing how Banana Ball is creating a new kind of baseball star, where personality and heartthrob status matter just as much as performance happens on the field.
Jackson Olson, an infielder for the Savannah Bananas, is used to performing in front of thousands of people.
Jackson Olson has danced on baseball fields, entertained crowds between plays, and turned a night at the ballpark into something closer to a live dance recital. But when Olson steps onto the ballroom floor for Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars on ABC beginning Wednesday, September 16th, he will be entering a different kind of performance.
Olson was playing against the Loco Beach Coconuts this past weekend, and I had a chance to speak with him before the game. When asked whether he is more nervous about performing in the ballroom or dancing with the Bananas, Olson had a clear answer.
“I would say definitely the ballroom floor,” he said. “I didn’t think it was gonna be that big of a difference. It’s like, okay, I’m dancing here, dancing there, but there it’s very difficult. It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
The answer is ironic. Olson has built his career around a version of baseball where dancing is part of the job. Now, that same baseball player is preparing to compete in a dance competition.
But perhaps the transition isn’t as unexpected as it sounds.
Olson said years of memorizing Banana Ball dances have helped him learn his Dancing with the Stars choreography.
“Honestly, the memorization is definitely going to help,” Olson said. “Memorizing moves with the Bananas has helped me for that Week 1 dance.”
After a recent Bananas rehearsal, Olson decided to test himself by going through his ballroom routine without music.
“I’m like, let’s see if I can just do the dance with no music all the way through,” he said. “I did the whole thing and I’m like, all right, cool. Now it’s about perfecting those moves and making them look really good.”
A baseball player preparing for a dance competition might sound unusual. In Banana Ball, though, it almost feels normal.
And with one Jackson about to take over the ballroom, there’s another Jackson who has become a heartthrob across America: KJ Jackson.
When I first saw Savannah Bananas infielder KJ Jackson at Gillette Stadium, he was sitting on the turf along the thirdbase line. He looked exhausted after a 12-hour day of rehearsals followed by a baseball game.
KJ was surrounded by the usual chaos following a Banana Ball game with fans screaming for photos and autographs, but he seemed to have found a moment to sit down and catch his breath. When I approached him for an interview, I wondered if I had caught him at the wrong time. Maybe he was too tired.
Then he stood up.
“It’s all right,” he said, preparing to talk.
Almost immediately, dozens of fans began screaming KJ’s name over and over. He hadn’t done anything to get their attention. He had simply gotten to his feet.
“Just standing up causes that.”
For a moment, the baseball player looked less like an athlete walking off a field and more like a teen idol arriving on a red carpet.
In Banana Ball, the line between baseball and entertainment is deliberately blurry. The players are more than athletes who happen to entertain the crowd. Entertainment is part of their job, and sometimes it is what makes fans remember them just as much as what happens on the field.
When the Game Becomes the Show
Olson preparing for the ballroom and KJ drawing screams simply by standing up are two very different examples of how Jacksons in Banana Ball have become lore. Its players are dancers, performers and personalities fans come to fawn over.
In baseball, reaching the highest level has long been called making it to “The Show.” Banana Ball gives that phrase new meaning by making entertainment part of the game itself. There’s no business like show business, and in Banana Ball, there’s no business quite like Banana business.
Kim Tauro ’28 is a Tewksbury resident and Austin Prep student with a strong interest in sports journalism. Her published stories includes “Three Goals, Two Brothers, One Team,” featuring Austin Prep hockey players Mason and Logan McGovern; “Alex Herbert Reaches 1,000 Saves, Anchors Autin Prep Hockey,” featuring goaltender Alex Herbert; “Fope Ayo Takes a Shot at Division I Basketball,” featuring University of Michigan commit Fope Ayo; and a profile of Austin Prep boys basketball coach Sean Ryan. Kim received honorable mention in the 2026 Will McDonough Sports Journalism Contest and is a member of the Austin Prep Sports Operations Club.