Frank Moscatiello knows the grind of professional baseball all too well. His journey has taken the Rocky Point native to all kinds of places during the past eight years — from the backwoods of West Virginia to the beautiful landscape of Quebec City.

He has embraced every hurdle with the same vigor. He has accepted failure, embraced victory and showed a resilience and perseverance known only to the ones who can move forward against all odds.

At every level of his baseball experience, Moscatiello has been told, "No you can’t." And the 5-7 righthanded pitcher has responded with "Yes I can!" The naysayers have only fueled his drive.

After successful high school and collegiate careers, Moscatiello embarked on an odyssey through professional baseball — all at the independent level — looking for that one shot in a major league organization.

It never came.

No MLB organization offered that shot. Unfazed, he continued to live the dream to play the game he loves. He was giving it his all — and it was not giving back.

Most would quit. Moscatiello forged on.

And then his journey took a strange turn — a wonderful twist.

Moscatiello, 29, sent in an application for a tryout with the Savannah Bananas in Dallas last October. He got the invite and took his fastball, which has reached 98 mph, to Texas.

“I couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” he said. “The Savannah Bananas are famous. They have fun, love baseball and play in front of huge crowds. It looked cool.”

He knew if he performed well enough, he’d be entered into the Banana Ball draft. Six teams in the Banana Ball Championship League potentially could call his name.

He drew interest from two teams — the Savannah Bananas and Indianapolis Clowns.

“I got a call that my name was put in the Banana Ball draft,” he said. “The Bananas and Indianapolis Clowns called and interviewed me. They wanted to get to know me — see what kind of person I was and check out my character and personality. They did their research from Rocky Point High School through indie ball.”

Moscatiello was selected in the sixth round of the Banana Ball draft by Savannah.

“It was a blessing,” he said. “It’s an entirely different baseball opportunity. It’s exciting. Let’s go Bananas.”

His father, Frank Moscatiello, said he cried when he heard the news.

“This kid worked every day, his entire life, to play ball,” he said. “My heart broke for him every time they looked past him. He’s 5-foot-7 but he pitches like he’s 6-foot-7. He’s been disappointed at almost every turn. Most people would walk away, but that would be too easy. He’s learned valuable life lessons in independent ball — and how cruel and cutthroat life can be. But he is so mentally tough and would never give up.”

The Savannah Bananas were founded in 2016 and played as a collegiate team in the West Division of the Coastal Plain League in South Carolina.

In 2018, they added an alternative Banana Ball format as an exhibition barnstorming team that had a fan-friendly format with player-fan interaction, dancing and tricks.

As Banana Ball became more popular, the collegiate league team folded in 2022. The Savannah Bananas organization concentrated on the Banana Ball brand, emphasizing showmanship, fan participation, dance, circus antics and quick-paced games — almost a baseball version of the basketball Harlem Globetrotters.

This season the inaugural Banana Ball Championship League will consist of six teams: Savannah, and the Indianapolis Clowns, Texas Tailgaters, Loco Beach Coconuts, Firefighters and Party Animals.

Moscatiello will go from playing in grungy old minor-league ballparks to a schedule that includes venues among the finest in the United States. Talk about serious culture shock.

A sampling of the places the Bananas will play include the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans on March 14-15, Petco Park in San Diego March 21-22, Anaheim Stadium March 27-28, Yankee Stadium April 25-26, Truist Park in Atlanta May 8-10, Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati June 19-21, Wrigley Field in Chicago July 24-26 and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts Aug. 28-29.

“Frankie is a fantastic underdog story,” said his agent, Kristen Rennie. “He’s a grinder and Banana Ball is about the grit and the grind for the players. You think you know what you’re getting yourself into — until you don’t.

"It’s an amazing opportunity. The players need to seize the moment, build a following and get out on social media and become a personality, a fixture to the brand. You can’t make this up. The time is now for them. They need to leverage the opportunity, the entertainment experience. It’s a baseball experience, a real game, but there’s gymnastics, dance routines and trick plays — all for entertainment.”

The Bananas open spring training in historic Grayson Stadium in Savannah, Georgia, this coming week. The season begins at Doak Campbell Stadium, home of the Florida State Seminoles, in Tallahassee, Florida, on Feb. 28. They’ll play the Tailgaters in the season opener before a sellout crowd of more than 67,000 fans.

According to Rennie, tickets are sold out everywhere the Bananas play. The waiting list has more than two million names. And there is a lottery for tickets at every game.

Moscatiello, a Newsday All-Long Island selection, graduated from Rocky Point in 2014 and St. Thomas Aquinas College in 2018. He was the Pitcher of the Year in 2017 and 2018 and earned All-American status in 2017 as the Spartans played in the Division II College World Series.

“Forgetting for one second about the baseball ability, my godson is a humble, down-to-earth guy,” said Lou Thristino of Coram. “Frankie embodies all that’s right with the purity of sports, win or lose, pass or fail. He’s the underdog who never gave up. He’s the guy who gets passed over year after year despite proving himself at every stop and still doesn’t quit. Not even those grueling 14-to-16-hour bus rides deterred him.”

Moscatiello understands that he’s in the entertainment business now. The journey that delivered him to Savannah had stops in the Can-Am League, American Association, Frontier League, Atlantic League and the winter leagues in the Dominican Republic and Mexico. He also had a stint with the Long Island Ducks.

“I have a great hat collection, for sure,” said Moscatiello, referring to all the teams he played for. “And I was never treated better than when I played in the Dominican. I was surrounded by all the big-leaguers and they were great. It was almost like a paid vacation because I got zero appearances before getting released.”

The Dominican release hit him hard. He was coming off a great year in the Frontier League, earning relief pitcher of the year honors, and was named the community player of the year for the Quebec Capitales.

“This was the route that he didn’t expect to travel,” said his mother, Andrea Moscatiello. “It’s baseball and it’s super-exciting and that’s all he ever wanted to do. He’s doing what he loves. It’s an opportunity that can open some doors.”

Moscatiello said throwing from 60 feet, 6 inches is the same with the Bananas, but learning the dance routines and some gymnastics is new.

“I joined a gymnastics class and learned a backflip,” he said. “And I nailed it. The dances are just like pitching; you have to find your rhythm.”

Moscatiello knows success isn’t linear. His journey is proof of that. There have been many disappointments, and he always has gotten back up.

“I write my grandfather’s name on my cap and do a sign of the cross for him every game,” Moscatiello said. “He’s not here to see this. But he’d be so proud because he knew the journey here was not easy.”

Former Rocky Point baseball coach Andy Aschettino saw something special in Moscatiello when he was a ninth-grade pitcher.

“His competitiveness was different, it was off the charts,” Aschettino said. “We brought him up to the varsity team and no moment was too big for him. He had a great impact, always up for a challenge. He had the mental makeup of a winner. He was resilient.”

Aschettino said he believes being small in stature stunted Moscatiello’s chances to play in major-league baseball.

“The size issue was out of his control and stood in his way his entire life,” Aschettino said. “What Frankie has done is incredible. He’s been grinding for years, and look at him now.”

He’s a Banana!

Long Island's Own

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