Alex Ziegler's trick catches helped make him the Savannah Bananas' first baseman

Alex Ziegler did not arrive at first base through a conventional position change. In a short video, Savannah Bananas owner Jesse Cole says he first noticed Ziegler's trick catches online during the offseason. After asking what Ziegler was working on, Cole put him at first and saw him make a catch behind his back.

The Bananas' current roster lists Ziegler, No. 10, as a first baseman from Butler, Pennsylvania. The same profile says he has several world records and lists his Instagram handle as @zigzigzog. That gives the clip's origin story a current roster anchor: the player Cole describes is Alex Ziegler, and first base is his listed Banana Ball position.

Cole's story keeps moving after the first experiment. He says the catch raised the standard for the players around Ziegler, who began trying aerial catches and catches without a glove. The video is less a scouting report than a quick explanation of how the Bananas build a roster around the skills that make their version of baseball feel like a live show.

The same conversation points to the team's other unusual roster choice. Cole introduces Derek Klena as a full-time Banana who came from Broadway. Klena's own biography identifies him as a Savannah Bananas pitcher and featured vocalist, after Broadway roles including Christian in *Moulin Rouge!* and Nick Healy in *Jagged Little Pill*. CBS also profiled Klena's move from the stage to the Banana Ball field in April.

That combination explains why a first baseman's glove work can become part of the product. The Bananas' own description of Banana Ball foregrounds choreographed dances, unusual walk-ups and scoring celebrations alongside the game itself. Ziegler's trick catches fit that format because the defensive play is also a performance, while Klena's baseball and theater background gives the club another way to connect the roster to the crowd.

Cole ends by asking what the next player might add after Ziegler's catches and Klena's singing. The question captures the Bananas' approach to player discovery: find a baseball skill or performance ability that gives fans a reason to watch the next moment unfold.