George Bell figures Jose Bautista's monster season has got baseball fans in the Dominican Republic interested in the Blue Jays again. Glad to hear it. I still remember fondly when we were king down there in the 1980s - when every kid there wanted to play for the Jays or Dodgers. Took a trip there in 1988 and everyone's advice was bring Jays memorabilia to barter with. I'd love to see the Jays leverage this to strengthen our baseball academy (we still have one don't we?) and our scouting in what is still a talent-rich little country. Remember when it seemed like we had our own little production line of slick-fielding infielders (Griffin, Fernandez, Lee, Liriano...), outfielders (Bell, Berroa, Felix...) and even pitchers (Nunez, Guzman...). It's amazing how much talent we squeezed out of that place under Pat Gillick and Epy Guerrero. Why we ever abandoned that golden goose, I'll never understand.