HOUSTON – When Tre Jones meets new people and they ask what he does for a living, he starts simple: “I play baseball.”
But there’s nothing simple about what follows.
“Then they always ask, ‘Who do you play for?’” Jones says. “And I say, ‘Have you ever heard of the Savannah Bananas?’”
The Houston native has found himself at the center of baseball’s most viral sensation, playing for the Texas Tailgaters in the innovative Banana Ball league. It’s a role he earned not just with his bat, but with his guitar.
Where His Baseball Journey Began
“I fell in love with baseball pretty early on,” Jones says, crediting his father for introducing him to the sport.
Baseball runs deep in his family. His great-great-grandfather played in the Negro Leagues. But Jones’ path to professional baseball took an unexpected turn.
Blake Wyatt, Jones’ former coach at Jersey Village High School, remembers when Jones first arrived as a freshman.
“He weighed about 75 pounds, about 5’ 2″, couldn’t even get the ball out of the infield,” Wyatt recalls. “He was tiny, he was small, but we kept him around because he was a good baseball player.”
By his senior year, Jones had transformed.
“He was a monster,” Wyatt says. “He was my number one guy, my team captain, the guy everybody looked up to – your prototypical captain of your baseball team.”
Grinding Through College Challenges
After graduating from Jersey Village in 2018, Jones headed to Texas A&M Corpus Christi, where his college career got off to a challenging start.
Redshirted his freshman year and sidelined by COVID in 2020, Jones refused to give up.
“I would go to the cage at night almost every single day,” Jones remembers. “I think there was one point where I didn’t take a day off for about a year and a half – getting swings in on Christmas, Thanksgiving, whatever it may be.”
His persistence paid off with strong performances in his final years at Corpus Christi.
Then, seeking to play closer to home, he transferred to the University of Houston for his final year, earning his MBA along the way.
‘Tennessee Whiskey’ and a Second Chance
When the MLB draft came and went without his name being called, Jones found himself at a crossroads.
That’s when friends started suggesting an unconventional path: the Savannah Bananas.
“They know I play the guitar,” Jones explains. “I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years. I started when I was around four or five years old.”
His parents bought him a $40 Walmart guitar, expecting it to be a phase.
Instead, it became a lifelong passion – and eventually, his ticket to professional baseball.
When applying to the Bananas, Jones was told they didn’t want to see his baseball highlights.
Instead, he sent a video of himself performing “Tennessee Whiskey” on guitar.
“Tennessee Whiskey got me a job with the Bananas,” he says with a laugh.
Built for Banana Ball
Now, Jones travels the country with the Texas Tailgaters, Banana Ball’s newest team, where he’s part of something unprecedented in baseball history.
The Tailgaters feature a player band, with Jones on guitar, performing before, during, and after games in sold-out major league stadiums.
“I’m a part of something that’s bigger than me,” Jones reflects. “I really have an opportunity to be a role model for younger kids that look up to me every time that we have a game.”
His former coach isn’t surprised by Jones’ success in this entertainment-meets-baseball format.
“I think it was invented for people like Tre,” Wyatt says. “He can talk to a complete stranger and make that stranger feel like they’ve been friends forever.”
A Homecoming In Houston
This weekend marks a special homecoming as Jones returns to play at Daikin Park, where he grew up watching Astros games.
More than 40,000 fans will pack the stands, including about 50 of Jones’ family members and friends.
When asked if he’d leave the Bananas if the Astros called with a major league offer, Jones’ answer might surprise some.
“That would be hard to give up,” he says of his current role. “I get to play the guitar, and I get to play ball. I think I’m staying where I’m at.”
Looking ahead, Jones plans to release music after the season, working on songs with his teammates.
It’s just another chapter in a baseball career that’s anything but conventional.
“Baseball is honestly more hard for me to not make it my entire personality,” Jones reflects. “But I think I have to kind of take a step back and say that I’m not only just baseball, I’m a lot more than that.”
For now, he’s found his perfect stage – one where he can showcase all his talents, from crushing baseballs to playing country music, often in the same inning.
And he’s doing it all while helping to revolutionize America’s pastime, one sold-out stadium at a time.