When I was a kid growing up in Brooklyn, like all of my friends, I obsessively followed the Brooklyn Dodgers. We knew the names of all the players, their batting averages, who they were playing, etc. As mayor of Burlington I was pleased, in 1984, to help bring minor league baseball back into the city. The team, the Vermont Reds, an AA affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, turned out to be very successful. It won a number of league championships, had very strong fan support and produced some great major league players including Ken Griffey, Jr. and Barry Larkin.