ESSEX JUNCTION, Vt. (AP) – About 5,000 Vermonters got a glimpse of a sports icon many waited their entire lives to see: the World Series trophy carried by members of the Boston Red Sox.

Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo and other Red Sox officials stopped at the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds on Saturday, one of several stops across the state as part of the World Series champs’ tour of New England.

Several thousand baseball fans formed a blue and red mosh pit in front of a stage where Arroyo and company stood. The frenetic crowd, sensible Vermonters all, wore their Sox jerseys over their winter coats to shut out the blustery cold.

Cheers of “Let’s go Red Sox” morphed into “Bron-son, Bron-son, Bron-son.”

“I tell people I’m more comfortable standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium in front of 55,000 than talking to you right now,” Arroyo told fans. He said he felt lucky to play ball in Boston.

“We usually come to the park two or three hours early just to listen to Kevin’s (Millar’s) mouth,” he said, joking about gregarious teammate, first-baseman Kevin Millar. “I can’t imagine playing anywhere else.”

Representing Vermont at the rally were Gov. Jim Douglas, a self-professed lifelong Sox fan, and Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie.

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