Wearing a red superhero cape, Savannah Bananas’ right fielder Reese Alexiades turned a routine fly-ball into an acrobatic flip-catch on the first pitch of Banana Ball in St. Louis on Friday night, and with that, two hours of frantic baseball and sensory overload was off-and-running. The first half-inning featured two sing-a-longs, two trick catches and three runs on three hits – including a two-run bomb down the left field line punctuated by a team dance party at home plate – all inside of six minutes.
I went to the game with reservations: I’m a baseball purist that is alarmed when my 11-year-old recounts trick plays on YouTube in the same way I recited batting averages. But before Banana Ball the players-turned-social-media-superstars were among the tiny fraction of baseball talent to reach the highest collegiate and professional ranks. So, I interrupted a sweltering but jovial morning workout to ask several Bananas how they transitioned from Type-A competitive ball players into baseball’s carnival barkers.
Their response was universal: This is competitive baseball.
“Obviously, you see a lot of the celebrations, the people that perform and special guests, but the competitive nature is still there – alive and well,” St. Louis native Noah Niznik said, hours before realizing a childhood dream as the starting pitcher in front of Busch Stadium’s largest crowd of the summer. “We play with some fire, get competitive, talk trash a little bit when we’re on the field, it has that real feel still.”
Noah Niznik pitches for the Savannah Bananas at Busch Stadium | Photo courtesy of Savannah Bananas
Ryan Kellogg – a left-handed Canadian whose trademark is “throwing” pitches with a hockey stick while wearing a winter beanie – won 11 games for Arizona State as a freshman starter and he pitched a gem in the NCAA Super Regionals against a loaded Cal State Fullerton lineup. “I think we ended up losing that game 1-0 on a bunt that I messed up, so I’ll take the hit for that one,” he said. Kellogg pitched for Canada’s national team, coached by former Cardinals’ great Larry Walker, and reached Triple-A in the Chicago Cubs farm system. But among his favorite accomplishments is getting the starting assignment for the Savannah Bananas at Minute Maid Park in Houston last spring, the first Banana Ball game in a Major League stadium.
“Getting to be the one – hey, we’re trusting you with this, this is a big moment for the Bananas and Banana Ball,” he said. So, getting to start that first game, and look up and see 41,000 people, it was crazy.”
Still, Kellogg knows there are Grinches in Savannah’s Who-ville, but he’s seen grumps like me turn into Banana Ball believers before.
“I think it can grow on (skeptics) because there are some people that come out, they’ve seen some of it on TikTok, but they haven’t seen the full experience – the in-stadium experience is so much different than what you get on the broadcast,” he said. “And then you realize how good the baseball is – the whole thing kind of comes together for them.”
“We’re not making a mockery of the game, we’re playing competitive baseball but we’re adding fun,” he continued. “We’ve created something that people want to see – so to sell out 40,000 seats means we’re doing something right.”
As 44,000 plus crammed the streets of Ballpark Village hours before showtime, er, first pitch – I opened my mind. Maybe the Bananas’ antics are a modern-day twist on showmanship that traces back to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ “Sym-Phony” band, or Bill Veeck’s wild promotions, or The Wizard’s backflip on Opening Day in St. Louis. With the Bananas trailing the rival Party Animals atop the Banana Ball 2025 World Tour standings, the player’s insistence that games are unscripted and competitive was convincing. I decided to give this brand of baseball a chance.
Adam Wainwright pitches for the Savannah Bananas at Busch Stadium | Photo courtesy of Savannah Bananas
Niznik retired two batters with flyballs caught with flips on the first two pitches, but the hometown kid soon ran into trouble. A two-out double and an RBI single opened the scoring, then Party Animals slugger Bryson Bloomer – who nearly broke the NCAA record for consecutive hits (14) at Murray State during the 2020 season – launched a two-run bomb to give the Bananas’ nemesis a 3-0 first-inning lead. Savannah failed to score in the bottom frame, and the Party Animals took an official 1-0 lead, as each inning is worth one point, a rule designed to keep the final result in doubt. Meanwhile in Arizona, the St. Louis Cardinals fell behind 5-0 after three innings, allowing Cards’ fans to safely tune out the rest of a sleepy 7-3 loss.
I was intrigued by the quirks of Banana Ball as the game continued.
Pitchers must deliver the ball within 6 seconds, nearly eliminating the deliberate chess match between pitcher and batter but showcasing talents of pitchers that are effective working quickly. Once Ball 4 is thrown, all nine fielders must touch the ball while the batter runs the bases – the outfielders moved dangerously shallow when the count reached 3 balls, a strategy that helped hold runners at first base on a walk, but left ample hitting room for the batter in a hitter-friendly count.
Niznik surrendered a lead-off double in the fourth inning but induced a flyball from the next batter. Rather than fire a throw to hold the runner, the Bananas’ centerfielder backflipped after the catch and the Party Animal advanced to third base with one out. Trick plays are tallied on the scoreboard, too, and the stunt gave Savannah a 6-0 lead on that score – I asked Savannah’s media relations official how trick plays factor into the end result, and under current Banana Ball rules, they don’t.
Her answer was a reminder that I was making the mistake of taking Banana Ball too literally.
With 30 minutes remaining on the two-hour game clock, I put down my pencil and enjoyed the scene. The crowd was lively, and the music playlist was varied, as 44,000 plus belted out “I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas”, then Whitney Houston’s “I Want to Dance with Somebody”, and curiously, the Burger King commercial jingle that ended with a rousing “You Rule!”. Perhaps I wasn’t the intended audience for that, but when Adam Wainwright relieved Kellogg in the late innings, I joined a packed house in an ovation that’s been absent in St. Louis since 2022. Waino gave up a single, but Uncle Charlie ended the threat with a flyout to center. Waino had a big grin and so did everyone else.
Moments later, the Bananas finished off a win, and the crowd roared. Kellogg was right – there was no mockery, but there was a heck of a lot of fun.
