Photo byJose Francisco MoralesonUnsplash

In the verdant state of VT, otherwise known as Vermont, nestled amidst towers of maple trees and rolling hills blanketed in the summer's green or winter's white, there thrived a special tribe of kids. Not just any ordinary kids, mind you. They were the valiant Vermont Vipers, a team of pint-sized baseball players with hearts as big as their fun-sized gloves. Their leader was an imaginary character, known as Sluggo the Squirrel. Sluggo didn’t have wings, but boy could he fly around the bases! He wasn’t your average squirrel, you see; he wore a baseball cap backwards, had a tiny baseball bat strapped to his back, and a colossal love for the great American pastime. Sluggo and the Vermont Vipers would meet every sunny afternoon at their sacred ground, a cozy baseball field tucked away in the heart of a maple forest. Their laughter echoed through the trees as they swung their bats with great vigor and chased after the balls with unyielding determination. Each kid believed that they were the next Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle and that Sluggo was their secret weapon. He was always there, cheering them on from the sidelines, sometimes from atop a maple tree, sometimes from the benches. A whisper of a tail in the wind, a flicker of a furry ear behind a glove, and just like that, Sluggo made baseball incredibly fun and a little bit magical. In Vermont, baseball wasn’t just a game, it was an adventure. And with the Vermont Vipers and Sluggo the Squirrel at play, it was a spectacle that even the maples would sway to, rustling their leaves in applause.