Hillsboro Hops | |||||
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Minor league affiliations | |||||
Class | High-A (2021–present) | ||||
Previous classes | Class A Short Season (2013–2020) | ||||
League | Northwest League (2022–present) | ||||
Previous leagues |
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Major league affiliations | |||||
Team | Arizona Diamondbacks (2013–present) | ||||
Minor league titles | |||||
League titles (3) |
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Division titles (3) |
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Team data | |||||
Name | Hillsboro Hops (2013–present) | ||||
Colors | Navy blue, green, light blue, white | ||||
Mascot | Barley | ||||
Ballpark | Ron Tonkin Field (2013–present) | ||||
Owner(s)/ Operator(s) | Short Season, LLC | ||||
General manager | K.L. Wombacher | ||||
Manager | Javier Colina |
The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They play their home games at Ron Tonkin Field, which opened in 2013.
As early as 2011, the Yakima Bears, a team of the Northwest League in Yakima, Washington, started exploring options to relocate after a lack of progress on a new ballpark to replace their below-standard Yakima County Stadium and to escape a declining local economy. [1] Following a failed proposal to move to Vancouver, Washington, the team received an offer to move to Hillsboro, Oregon, in June 2012, with plans to start play in 2013. [2] The city and team reached a deal, with city council approval on June 5, [3] and approval by the league and the franchise on June 8. [4] The city signed the agreement with the team on June 26, [5] [6] with approval by Major League Baseball coming in August. [7] Groundbreaking for a new 4,500-seat stadium took place on September 21, [8] and the team's name, Hillsboro Hops, was announced on October 16. [9] The Hops replaced the Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League, who relocated to Tucson at the end of the 2010 season. [2] The Portland area went without minor league baseball in 2011 and 2012.
The Hillsboro Hops' first game was played on the road against the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes on June 14, 2013, a 3–2 loss. [10] Ryan Gebhardt had the team's first hit and Brian Billigen earned the first RBI. [10] Their first win came on June 17 in the Hillsboro Ballpark home opener against the Eugene Emeralds. [11] The inaugural home opener was attended by a sellout 4,710 fans, who watched Jordan Parr hit the first home run in the Hops' history. [11] [12]
Barley, the team's mascot, was introduced on June 28, 2013. [13] The Hops set the franchise attendance record in 2014, when their games were attended by 138,732 people. [14] They also won their division and the league championship. [15] The team was managed by J. R. House, whose coaching staff included fellow-former major leaguers Doug Drabek and Mark Grace. Hillsboro swept the championship series against the three-time NWL defending champion Vancouver Canadians. The team set another franchise attendance record in 2015 with 143,412 (an average of 3,774 for 38 dates) while winning a second consecutive league title. [16] [17]
The Hops hosted the NWL All-Star Game in 2017. [18]
On August 28, 2019, the Hops clinched a playoff berth for the sixth straight season breaking the Northwest League record previously held by Vancouver at five straight seasons. [19] They faced the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in the divisional round, were they won the series 2–0, and advanced to Northwest League finals for the first time since 2015. [20] In Game 1, Hillsboro entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 3–1 but put up four runs in the inning including a walk-off 3-run home run by Andy Yerzy. The Hops were defeated in Game 2, losing 9–1, but bounced back in Game 3 with a two-run ninth-inning rally to snag the win. The Hops were shut out in Game 4, losing 6–0. Then in Game 5, Hillsboro captured their third NWL title, and their first since 2015, winning the series 3–2. [21]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Minor League Baseball season was cancelled. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Hops were organized into the High-A West along with five other teams previously of the Northwest League. [22] They continued as the High-A affiliate of the Diamondbacks. [22] In 2022, the High-A West became known as the Northwest League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. [23]
In January 2023, it was announced that Veronica Gajownik had been hired to manage the Hops, which made her the first woman to manage a minor league Class High-A baseball team, [24] and the first openly LGBTQ manager in minor or major league baseball history. [25]
The team competes as the "Sonadores de Hillsboro" as part of minor league baseball's "Copa de Diversion" program. [26]
Season | PDC | Division | Finish | Wins | Losses | Win% | Post-season | Manager | Attendance | |
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Hillsboro Hops | ||||||||||
2013 | ARI | South | 3rd | 34 | 42 | .447 | — | Audo Vicente | 135,167 | |
2014 | ARI | South | 1st | 48 | 28 | .632 | Defeated Boise in division series 2–1 Defeated Vancouver in championship series 2–1 | J. R. House | 138,732 | |
2015 | ARI | South | 1st | 45 | 31 | .592 | Defeated Salem-Keizer in division series 2–1 Defeated Tri-City in championship series 2–1 | Shelley Duncan | 143,412 | |
2016 | ARI | South | 2nd | 42 | 33 | .560 | Lost to Eugene in division series 2–1 | Shelley Duncan | 131,851 | |
2017 | ARI | South | 1st | 41 | 35 | .539 | Lost to Eugene in division series 2–0 | Shawn Roof | 128,416 | |
2018 | ARI | South | 1st | 51 | 25 | .671 | Lost to Eugene in division series 2–0 | Shawn Roof | 130,286 | |
2019 | ARI | South | 1st | 48 | 28 | .632 | Defeated Salem-Keizer in division series 2–0 Defeated Tri-City in championship series 3–2 | Javier Colina | 133,605 | |
2021 | ARI | West | 4th | 52 | 60 | .464 | — | Vince Harrison | 110,384 | |
2022 | ARI | N/A | 4th | 60 | 70 | .462 | — | Vince Harrison | 150,792 | |
Division winner | League champions |
The Hops play their home games at Ron Tonkin Field. [27]
Rich Burk was signed as the team's radio announcer on KPOJ (620 AM). [28]
Players | Coaches/Other | |||
Pitchers
| Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
| Manager Coaches
60-day injured list
7-day injured list |
The team name is a reference to the plant used in beer brewing (Oregon is the second-largest hop-producing US state by volume), [29] as well as to various baseball terms such as the short hop, bad hop, and crow hop. [9] No previous professional or collegiate sports team has ever been called the "Hops". [30] The team's logo includes a hop cone wearing a baseball hat, evergreen trees, and Mount Hood. [31] Team colors are green, navy blue, and light blue. [29] The Hops' mascot is Barley, who is green with a blue baseball cap. [13] (Barley is another plant used in beer brewing.) The team's branding and logo was named by Ballpark Digest as the best in Minor League Baseball for 2013. [32]
In March 2013, the team announced a three-year deal with BridgePort Brewing Company to be the official beer of the Hops. [33] [34] Advantis Credit Union, Les Schwab Tires, Nike, Tuality Healthcare, and The Oregonian were the founding sponsors. [35]
Level | Team | League | Location | Manager |
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Triple-A | Reno Aces | Triple-A West | Reno, Nevada | Blake Lalli |
Double-A | Amarillo Sod Poodles | Double-A Central | Amarillo, Texas | Shawn Roof |
High-A | Hillsboro Hops | High-A West | Hillsboro, Oregon | Vince Harrison |
Low-A | Visalia Rawhide | Low-A West | Visalia, California | Javier Colina |
Rookie | AZL D-backs | Arizona League | Scottsdale, Arizona | Rolando Arnedo |
DSL D-backs 1 | Dominican Summer League | Boca Chica, Santo Domingo | Jaime Del Valle | |
DSL D-backs 2 | Ronald Ramirez |
The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The league operated as the High-A West in 2021, then resumed its original moniker in 2022.
The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium. They are currently the only MiLB team based in Canada.
The Eugene Emeralds are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their home games at PK Park.
The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their home games at Volcanoes Stadium. From 1997 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Northwest League as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. With the reorganization of baseball after the 2020 season, the Volcanoes were not offered a player development license with any Major League Baseball club, though the Volcanoes promised to continue play in 2021, a promise they kept in forming the Mavericks League.
Benjamin Wayne Petrick is an American former Major League Baseball player. A native of Oregon, he grew up in Hillsboro, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area. After reaching the Majors, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and retired in 2004, returning to Hillsboro to coach at his old high school. As of 2013 he has been a consultant for the Hillsboro Hops, a minor-league affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, helping the team's young players acclimatize to life as a professional baseball player. He is the author of the book 40,000 to One.
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Hillsboro Stadium is a multi-sport stadium in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb west of Portland. Opened 25 years ago in 1999 and owned by the city of Hillsboro, the award-winning stadium is part of the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex located in the northeast part of the city, adjacent to the Sunset Highway.
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Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players of the minor league affiliates of the Arizona Diamondbacks:
Portland Beavers Ballpark was a description of a new stadium in Portland, Oregon, or in an outlying city that was being planned for the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League of Minor League Baseball. The ballpark idea was abandoned in October 2010, with no location ever determined for it; several locations were rejected due to public criticism.
The Portland Beavers was the name of separate minor league baseball teams, which represented Portland, Oregon, in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). The team was established in 1903, the first year of the PCL.
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The Yakima Bears were a minor league baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Yakima, Washington. The Bears competed at the Class A Short Season level as members of the Northwest League from 1990 to 2012. Following the 2012 season, the franchise relocated to Hillsboro, Oregon, and became Hillsboro Hops.
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