They Grew Up Pirates Fans, Now They’re Bananas

Pittsburgh Pirates fans will get something unusual at PNC Park this weekend when the Savannah Bananas take over for two sold-out nights.

The traveling show is bringing its brand of “Banana Ball” to the city for the first time, and two Pittsburgh-area natives will be at the center of it. Butler’s Alex Ziegler and Raccoon Township’s Ryan Cox will don the bright uniforms in front of family, friends and a ballpark packed for baseball of a very different kind.

Ziegler has spent years refining tricks that look too smooth to be real, moves that “would make a Jedi proud,” according to King Jemison of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The return home carries extra weight for Ziegler, who said, “Probably going to get a little teary-eyed a couple times,” as transcribed by Jemison. His father, Bruce, was recently declared cancer-free, making this weekend even more meaningful.

Cox, a Hopewell High School graduate, took a more traditional baseball path before finding his place with the Bananas. He earned a reputation as a sure-handed shortstop through college and independent leagues, then reinvented himself with trick-play videos on social media.

Now nicknamed “The Glove Magician,” he has logged more than 500 defensive tricks in Banana Ball games.

Both players see performing at PNC Park as the culmination of their childhood dreams. For Cox, who once said he wanted nothing more than to be the Pirates’ shortstop, this weekend is the closest thing to that wish.

Their homecoming highlights baseball’s playful side, showing how the sport can inspire joy while still honoring its competitive roots.

For a city that has long tied its identity to the Pirates, it is a reminder that baseball in Pittsburgh can still bring people together in fresh and unexpected ways.