NAVASOTA, Texas (KRHD) — Vincent Chapman, known as the dancing umpire for the Savannah Bananas, made a special appearance at Navasota High School for a Brazos Valley Bombers game.
Chapman umpired the game after more than a year of planning with the Bombers organization. The team's contact, Yuri, first reached out to Chapman in October or November of last year through his bookings email, but scheduling conflicts prevented an earlier visit.
"Last, uh, I think it was last October November he reached out to me. Uh, I have a bookings email and, uh, said, hey, I'm with, uh, you know, the, uh, Bombers here and we'd love to have you and uh unfortunately my, my schedule didn't work out. So yeah, and then Yuri met me in the stands like dude, I've been trying to get you here. So we kept in contact and I'm off for two weeks, banana balls, uh, on vacation if you will, and, uh, I was able to get here on a day off that I have," Chapman said.
Chapman took time before the game to meet with kids and families for pictures and autographs. Fans said he was everything they hoped he would be.
Chapman also spoke about what baseball means to him and the importance of making the sport welcoming for everyone.
"Baseball is a community and I don't care if you're in New York or or Louisiana where you are, baseball is a community and um I love the fact that people are opening up to say, you know what, let's make baseball fun," Chapman said.
In the 5th inning, the team invited kids onto the field to dance the Macarena — the kind of family fun Bombers fans have come to expect.
Fans in attendance said the experience lived up to the hype.
"It's great to just really get back to the community when you can, you know, especially a small town like us, you know, you don't think someone kind of like a celebrity will be here in this tiny town, and it's really cool," one fan said.
Another fan described what the visit meant to their family.
"Boy, we had two baseball loving boys. Absolutely love the bananas. They love when he comes on screen, he dances. They get down, dance with him. So come out here and see him in person is a lot of fun. It's a really cool experience and, uh, kind of just a small town feel," a fan said.
The Bombers play again Wednesday night against the Sherman Shadow Cats in Sherman. Chapman's next scheduled appearance is at Wrigley Field from July 24 through 27.
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