Play ball: Hillsboro names new baseball team the 'Hops'
HILLSBORO, Ore. -– Hillsboro's new professional baseball team finally has a name -- the Hops.
“The name ‘Hops’ recognizes Hillsboro’s proud agricultural heritage and the fact that Oregon is the second largest hop producing state in the United States,” said K.L. Wombacher, General Manager of the Hillsboro Hops. "Hops is also a term used regularly in baseball –- short hop, bad hop, crow hop. We feel ‘Hops’ encompasses several different components we wanted to include in our team name.”
Officials from Short Season, LLC made the announcement Tuesday for its Single-A baseball team. The Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate begins play in a new state-of-the-art stadium in Hillsboro in 2013 and will play 38 home games from mid-June to early September.
After reviewing team name suggestions submitted by fans, Short Season LLC, the owners of the Single-A Hillsboro franchise, decided on a name that had not been used previously by a pro or college sports team.
The Hillsboro Hops logo includes an animated hop plant donning a baseball cap with the letter “H”. The primary team colors will be navy blue, light blue and green.
The team will unveil its uniforms and baseball caps in November and Hillsboro Hops merchandise will be available immediately following the unveiling.
Hillsboro Hops season tickets are on sale now.
It's insulting to Yakima. The Yakima valley produces 2/3 of the US's hop crops, might as well called them the Hillsboro Yakamas.
 @Mark Patrick Lavis But that wouldn't be politically correct since Yakama is the name of an Indian (oops I mean Native American) tribe.
Too bad Milwaukie didn't get their team. They could've been the Milwaukie Marijuana.
No big deal. The franchise will most likely go into the toilet and the taxpayers will be stuck for a huge bill. If they couldn't get enough baseball support in Portland, which they couldn't, then it's doubtful that a minor, minor league team will get any after the first season.
Great. Â Now our local club can get hung out to dry.
hillsboro hops ? WTW, first thing I think of is the hillsboro hisp....oh well !
 @sargerator Well here, I will say it for you. The 'Hops' are so gosch. They should have been named the 'Hillsboro MatrÃcula Consulars', The Parasites, The Leeches, oblahblah's 'Backdoor Immigrants'...
"Gosch", should have been "gauche"!
It would have been nice if they could have classed it up and appealed to the non DUII crowd but at least it's baseball, even if it is short season single A. "Bring the kids; it's free lager night."
Wish we could get an NFL Football team.Â
In Hillsboro? Give me a break!
 @Newsin They'd probably just name them the Portland Pansies and we'd lose every game out of embarrassment to the second-most-poorly-named franchise to the north.
Considering that Hops are not grown anywhere around Hillsboro.........makes perfect sense.........?!?!?
Just speculating here: A team mascot called "Hoppy". Will he be a kangaroo? A rabbit? A grasshopper? A flea? A guy on a pogo stick carrying a six-pack?
@HenryBowman I'm guessing that the mascot would probably bear some resemblance to the icon in the logo.
 @HenryBowman How about a jumping bean?
 @JJT429  Hmm... That may actually be more appropriate than my suggestions.
Naturally follows to have "skips" and "jumps" also, following the "hops"? I can just see them circle the bases now, should they ever get a run. LOL
How offensive! What about the Openophilas that attend the games. Alright Libs, get your lawyers ready, we're going after these bastards.
Is that really the best you could do. Â Why not pick several names and put it up to a vote on a news station or radio station to let the people of Oregon feel like they were a part of it. Â
Poor choice of name.... it sounds like a little kids team.
An "H" name, hmmm? I suppose someone would be offended if they'd chosen "The Hillsboro Hype-sters"?
You have to wonder if they realize that hops and cannabis are so closely related, you can graft one onto the other. THC still only occurs in the cannabis portion only, however.
Meh. Don't forget the goal of every player on a short season single A team is to get off of that team as soon as possible. That said, I've watched a lot of beginning level minor league and it can be a lot of fun - stars of the future and all that.
Personally, I like the name, it fits within a product industry of Oregon. Sure, the area west and south of Hillsboro is wine country, but Hillsboro Winers, doesn't sound very good, and Hillsboro Grapes, that just sounds like a kiddy league team name. If the areas that grew hops could handle a similar baseball team, then I could better understand that perhaps the team name should be reserved for those cities, but they simply aren't of the size to handle this kind of team. And for the detractors, what names would you have suggested? If you can think of a better name, then maybe you should have suggested it, but if you can't think of a better name, sit down, stuff your face with peanuts, and shut up and watch the game.
 @pdxdÂ
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Let's start with animals.
Hillsboro Nutria (we must have 500,000 in the swamp here on 185)
Hillsboro Bears (common sighting recently)
Hillsboro Bucks or Bulls (deer seen all the time a mean looking buck might be cool)
Hillsboro Eagles (common in the area)
Hillsboro Coyotes (common and kinda cool)
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Or
Hillsboro Oaks (common before settlers)
Hillsboro Raindodgers
Hillsboro Chips
Hillsboro Sunsetters
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I could go on. All of those might not be cool, but they are ALL better than Hops.
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@Repoman I would agree with some of those, Nutria doesn't really sound real interesting, no the last 4, though I did think about Chips, but then imagined a team consisting of pocket protectors and science coats, and a mascot either looking like a hard-drive, or a giant lays potato chip. Though, it leaves me wondering if the choice of Hops may have been done to try to lure in local brewers (possibly McMenamins?) to sponsor.
 @pdxd The MicroBrewers?
beware of the hops! really strikes fear in the heart of all opponents lol.... guess it fits right in with our scary ducks and beavers, what is it with oregon and there team names
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That sounds like a better name for a basketball team.
"Hops is also a term used regularly in baseball â- short hop, bad hop, crow hop. We feel âHopsâ encompasses several different components we wanted to include in our team name"
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Ok thereâs a person who has not played baseball since little league.
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Hops is a poor name. No Hillsboro is not known for "hops" because it makes something the world DOES know Intel chips. Why not capitalize on that? And why an "h" word? Sure Hillsboro starts with h, but Portland does not start with B and Arizona and Phoenix don't start with D. It's a dumb reason to choose a name.
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And honestly it really does sound âgayâ.
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The name would be okay if Hillsboro was known as a hop growing area. It is not. That is typically the area from Canby to south of Woodburn. I suppose they will pick "The Bunny Hop" as their theme song and team dance?
@I812 The first song that popped into my head was "Let's Go to the Hop"
@theprodigal Too classy for a baseball team named the Hops! Love the song though ... but its official name is "At the Hop" :)
@theprodigal Well, it wasn't before my time but I was pretty young. The song is one of many featured in American Grafitti, one on my favorite movies.
@I812 Thanks for letting me know the correct title. I'm starting to get up there in age but the song is still a little before my time. I'm familiar with it only because I grew up on "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley"
waitwut? Â Hops? Â That's the best H word they could come up with? Â Â Hillsboro Hellfire would win more games. Â LOL
When I think of Hillsboro I think of Intel and the electronics industry, not agriculture.
wow this sounds gay. really gay.