Before they were Reds, they played for Dayton

Sure, it’s Class A baseball, and most of the teams the Reds assemble here lose. Look closely, though, and three or four years into the future, the best of those prospects are the core of the major-league team.

If there are good prospects, the Reds will be good. If there are bad prospects, you see nine-year losing streaks.

Even on some bad Dragons teams, there have been top-notch prospects. The best part is, even though they were here just a short period of time, they took to us. We took to them. We’ve become friends, not just rooters for athletes cheered from afar.

Joey Votto and Jay Bruce are two guys you know from collecting their autographs before games along the third-base line. You talked with them, maybe had lunch or dinner with them.

When they made the major leagues, they said hello when you greeted them at Great American Ball Park, maybe even asked about your families.

When Votto played here in 2003 and ’04, you didn’t know he’d become a leading candidate for the National League’s MVP award. But you know it now, and you know him, too.

Jay Bruce had a tremendous season with the Dragons in 2006, and that team didn’t even make the playoffs. Yet Bruce’s walk-off homer to win the division-clinching game was a milestone for Dayton residents as well as those in Cincinnati.

Three players who played for the Dragons were regulars for the Reds this year — first baseman Votto, right fielder Bruce and center fielder Drew Stubbs (’07).

Three other position players — catcher Ryan Hanigan (’02, ’03), shortstop Paul Janish (’05, ’06) and outfielder Chris Heisey (’07) — were major contributors.

Johnny Cueto (’06), Homer Bailey (’05) and Travis Wood (’06) spent much of the season in the starting rotation. Logan Ondrusek (’06), Jordan Smith (’07) and Carlos Fisher (’06) worked out of the bullpen.

Juan Francisco (’07) and Chris Valaika (’07) also contributed.

Is it a thrill to see the regional favorite Reds win again? Sure. And many of those Reds played here. They’re going to the playoffs as the Cincinnati Reds, but also as representatives of us, where we have a minor league team, the Dragons.

It’s where stars of the future begin their careers.