HERRIMAN, Utah — Herriman City is having a moment in the spotlight after one neighborhood named after Boston Red Sox players went viral.
“I think it was the Planning Commission process back in 2021, and I'm a baseball fan myself. So, I noticed one of the names, and I thought, "Oh, that's very similar to a Red Sox [player],” said Jonathan LaFollette with Herriman City.
It turns out the developer was a big Red Sox fan, and LaFollette always hoped someone would notice it.
“When developers have property they want to develop, they will submit plans for that subdivision or neighborhood to the city for review," he said. "In their plan, they include proposed street names. They get to choose those and propose them, and unless we have a significant issue with the streets, we'll usually give it a thumbs up.”
After a couple years, someone finally noticed the neighborhood on social media.
“I started getting texts from, interestingly, my baseball friends — not even a work text — and said, 'Hey, this subdivision that you told us about a few years ago is starting to gain some attention,'" LaFollette said.
It all started when a baseball fan was touring homes in the area and tweeted about it. From there it caught on and even reached the Major League Baseball account.
“We have a strong youth baseball culture, but it's not a place a lot of people think of in association with baseball. So it's been fun to see that, and I guess Herriman's kind of having a moment here with the baseball world," LaFollette said.
Several minutes down the road, Fox 13 News was able to break the news to the Herriman High School baseball team.
“I just heard about it I'd say about 20 minutes ago… \I think it's great, honestly, just knowing that there's a bunch of people hearing about the town is amazing," said player Easton Webb.
"Everyone here is a really good community. So getting put on the map like that, everybody kind of recognizing who we are is awesome," added Mason Greeno.
Being a first-year coach at the school, it was a moment Jason Crawford would never forget.
“Baseball is awesome; it's so small, and so when you have one thing that that gets like excitement, it grows like crazy," he said, "to be spoken about in playoff baseball is huge."
The news didn't stop there. A few minutes form the school, James Young, owner of The Pub Sports Bar in Herriman, was sharing in the excitement.
“I've lived here for 25 years and I didn't even know that," he said. "It's perfect to have something this cool go viral, and it's all over the country. We love the camaraderie that comes from sports, and it brings people together. It's why I own a sports bar.”