Hello, friends.

Have you ever heard of a story that goes from “TikTok Boy” to a unicycle to the Savannah Bananas?

If so, I want you to drop everything and tell me immediately. If not, stay along for the ride and say hello to Max Fries. 

The baseball creator recently graduated from Earlham College where (while dominating his final two seasons) he grew a social media following to six figures and parlayed the online fame into a coveted shot in the Savannah Bananas organization.

You can follow Fries on TikTok and Instagram.

Let’s dig in.

How He Got Started

Fries didn’t start posting on TikTok to become a creator. He did so while home from college on winter break because, after going through “some stuff personally,” he wanted to lend a hand the way others had throughout his baseball journey.

He started posting daily on TikTok in December of 2022, and within a couple of weeks – when a video hit 400,000+ views – he knew he had something. By the end of his baseball season, he had racked up 20,000 followers. He kept his content authentic to himself and proceeded to blow up over the summer before his final year of college, reaching 100,000 followers. 

“I try my best to respond to comments, respond to DMs,” Fries tells me. “Just being that person to inspire the next generation because I didn't play at a big school. I'm not Mike Trout. I'm not Bryce Harper. But using my platform that helps inspire that next generation has been really, really beneficial to me and something that's changed my life forever.”

The Newest Visitor

It’s easy to default to the idea that a creator wants to make that their full-time job. For some, however, the best-case scenario is to use that platform and influence to create an opportunity that otherwise would not exist. Fries did exactly that – and he can partly thank his mom, a long-time Savannah Bananas superfan.

This past December, she told her son that she wanted him to find a way to get their attention. Fries said he’d try to think of something. The next day, he walked into the living room and saw a unicycle, and she told him he would learn to ride it as a gag.

“I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, you're serious?' Fries says. “She's like, 'I'm dead serious. This is going to work.’”

And it did.

Fries began a TikTok series: Riding a unicycle everyday until I get a contract from the Savannah Bananas. They didn’t go viral. But in February, he got a direct message on Instagram from a man named Berry Aldridge claiming to be a recruiter for the Savannah Bananas. Fries initially believed it was a prank. Nope! 

Aldridge extended an invitation for Fries to join a new team, the Visitors, set to play six games against the Bananas and Party Animals in June. The idea, Aldridge told Fries, is to evaluate the Visitors players over a month to potentially add them to the organization which now has three teams (with more likely on the way).

“I'm like, 'Dude, this is unbelievable.' So I, of course, signed a contract and all that stuff,” Fries says. “Then I graduated in the first week of May and got down here around May 27, and I've been in Savannah ever since. It’s surreal, for sure.”

Content Never Sleeps in Savannah

Many pro teams don’t have any creators on their rosters. The Savannah Bananas, though, are nearly entirely made up of creators.

Some, such as Jackson Olson or Coach RAC, have well over a million followers. Others are smaller. But just about everybody is trying to create content.

“You go in there, there's tripods everywhere, there's phones everywhere,” Fries says. “Guys will pull you, like, 'Hey, dude, I need you for a video.' I literally walked in the locker room yesterday and I got asked a question for a TikTok.”

The creature culture is one of collaboration and upbeat energy. Fries, now with nearly 150,000 TikTok followers, has shared tips and tricks with those newer to the platform, and he and his teammates have had opportunities to collaborate with players from the Bananas.

A huge win-win: Such a strong culture around content creation only serves to benefit the Bananas. Along with playing during games, the players on each roster also effectively act as marketers for the (already incredibly strong) Banana Ball brand. Everybody wins.

Not Always Easy

Long before Fries joined the Bananas organization, he was known as “TikTok Boy” by enough people that he has consistently leaned into it.

While up to bat, somebody from an Earlham opponent yelled “Strike out, TikTok boy.” Two seconds later, Fries cracked a three-run home run. As you may imagine, the video went “mega-viral.”

That wasn’t a lone incident. Plenty of other players on opposing teams chirped at him because of his social media posting. Even his friends were asking him what he was doing posting TikToks.

“To see it snowball from that to where it is now a year and a half later, I would've never believed this was the path I'd be on, or this opportunity would come from that,” Fries says. “I’m so fortunate I did because I would never have gotten this opportunity if I didn't start just putting myself out there and being myself and starting to create content.”

What Comes Next?

Fries, despite his sizable TikTok following, is still in the early stages of expanding his online presence.

Until recently, he was only posting on TikTok, and the growth there had begun to slow down. He has started prioritizing posting on Instagram over the past month, and suddenly that is quickly growing with him now sitting at 36,000 followers. He’s considering launching a YouTube channel, too, but hasn’t pulled the trigger yet.

On the business side, he has been able to treat it like a handy side hustle with some brand deals. Most notably at the moment, he is an ambassador for BRUCE BOLT. As his following grows, so too will those types of opportunities – especially if he can turn his stint with the Visitors into a full-time spot in the Bananas organization.

A big thank you for making Creating Sports a part of your day, and an even bigger thank you to Max Fries for spending some time to offer his insight on how social media led him to the Savannah Bananas.

We’ll be back here on Thursday. If you’re not subscribed, subscribe now so you won’t miss anything in the Creator x Sports realm!

Talk soon,

Colin