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Anyone who grew up being a baseball fan knows there are nine defensive positions on the field. As a player, you might play more than one over the years, or you might find that one spot on the diamond that speaks to you. Bronson “Bronny” Balholm, who today plays for the iconic Party Animals professional baseball team that has become famous through the Savannah Bananas, knew from a young age that the number two spot on the field – catcher – was the spot for him.
Raised by his mother Cathleen, an avid baseball fan and former baseball catcher herself, one might say Bronson was born to wear the catcher’s gear and mask when he steps out onto the field.
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“I had a love for baseball from a young age and it is all tied to my mom. She was a catcher, and my grandfather, her dad, was a catcher. She always told me growing up that catcher is the best position on the field,” said Bronson. “Anytime we’d go to a ball game, or we’d sit down and watch some baseball, we’d always be watching the catcher to see how he was setting up, what decisions he made, and just every move he was making.”
Growing up, Cathleen and her father went to Los Angeles Dodgers games together. On their way to the games, they would drive passed the field of West Los Angeles (Calif.) Little League, sparking her strong desire to grab a baseball glove and run out onto the diamond with the boys.
“Women and girls couldn’t play then, which made me sad. So, every day, my dad would come home from work, and he would play catch with me, throw batting practice and work on my catching drills,” said Cathleen. “On weekends, we would go down to watch the Little League games, and I would try to sneak in and catch the bullpen. I wanted to get in any way I could.”
Cathleen did not have the opportunity to play with a team until she joined her high school baseball team. After graduation, she attended Arizona State University (ASU) where she played intramural baseball and served as the bat girl for ASU’s Division I team.
“I wish I could have played more, and I have regret tied to that, but I am also happy that women are able to have those opportunities now,” said Cathleen. “I love watching the growth across all women’s sports and seeing female athletes getting the recognition they deserve. I hope every girl out there takes advantage of playing, because there’s so much to learn from sports, even if you don’t go play at a higher level. That’s why I really pushed my three kids to just play and have that experience.”
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While Cathleen did not get to live out her own baseball dreams, she has been successful in passing her love of the game onto her son, whose journey behind the plate began on the fields of North Scottsdale (Ariz.) Little League. These early years on the field not only established his passion for the game that would carry him into his career today, but it gave him a community and lifelong friends.
“Being at our Little League fields was the thing to do growing up,” said Bronson. “We’d check the schedule to see who was playing and go down to the fields to watch the older kids in Majors, who we all looked up to, play with our snow cones in hand. It was so fun, and it was where I made my lifelong friends and established a great relationship with my Little League coach, who I still talk to today.”
Today, Bronson has traded in his Little League uniform for a Party Animals’ uniform and a Tee Ball for a Banana Ball, inspiring the next generation of baseball fans in a unique and exciting way. Since his start in the 2024 Banana Ball World Tour, Bronson has made countless memories that could top the list of favorites – including his first appearance in Arizona, just minutes away from where he played collegiate baseball at ASU – but, at the top of the list is a memory he made with the person who inspired him from the start: his mom.
“The best on-field moment I have had is when my mom went up in the booth during our second time in Arizona and she called pitches for an inning. Growing up, as we were watching games, she was always praising the good cutters by the pitcher and the good calls by the catcher. So, it was honestly one of the coolest moments ever to have her up there in my ears talking to me as we were playing a ball game,” said Bronson. “And we ended up putting up a zero and won the inning, so she has a great management record. Being able to share that with my mom was wonderful.”
Off the field in his Party Animals career, Bronson tries to find fun experiences to share with the fans, or his “Banana Land family,” too. One such experience takes place before every game, and the idea for it sparked when Bronson was not able to be on the field with his teammates due to an injury and instead had to be in the stands with the fans.
“I was trying to think of things I could do through the stadium, because that’s what we do when we are not playing, which can be more fulfilling than even playing sometimes. My sister and mom had this idea to host a mid-game spa day. We got some nail polish and face masks and cucumber slices and the little finger separators and I just went around the stadium and had different fans participate in different steps of my spa day,” said Bronson. “I started with a little girl who wasn’t as smiley and into the game as everyone else and asked her to paint my nails pink and by the time we were done she had this huge smile. It was one of the most fulfilling days.”
The nail painting series did not end once Bronson was back on the field. Before every game, Bronson still finds a fan in the stadium to sit down and paint his nails.
“My mom taught me at a young age that catchers should have some color on their nails to help pitchers see their signs late at night. So, I continued nail painting with fans before every game. It’s become a moment where I get to sit down with a fan and look around the stadium and be like, wow, this really is beautiful. I get to play in front of all these fans in these amazing stadiums around the country but still have these little moments with fans,” said Bronson. “The nail painting is an experience for me where it all kind of slows down right then and there and I get to really appreciate the life I live more than ever.”
Even though Bronson will be seen on tour once again this season wearing “Party Animals” across his chest, it’s his Little League years and the mother-son bond that baseball has given him and Cathleen that Bronson will carry with him as inspiration on the hard days.
“The love of the game is developed during Little League,” said Cathleen. “I think during the hard times, because you know, baseball is a game of failure, I always remind him to come back to that love that he had in Little League and to remember that feeling and that joy the game gave him during his Little League years.”
Bronson, the Party Animals, and everyone involved with Banana Ball make sure to bring the FUN of baseball to life every single day. Learn more about Little League’s core value, FUN, and how we live it out each and every day by visiting LittleLeague.org/Who-We-Are.