Hillsboro Hops

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 and are the High-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They play their home games at Hillsboro Ballpark (formerly Ron Tonkin Field), which opened in 2013.

Hillsboro Hops
Team logoCap insignia
Minor league affiliations
ClassHigh-A (2021–present)
Previous classesClass A Short Season (2013–2020)
LeagueNorthwest League (2013–present)
Major league affiliations
TeamArizona Diamondbacks
(2013–present)
Minor league titles
League titles (3)
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2019
Division titles (3)
  • 2014
  • 2015
  • 2019
Team data
ColorsNavy blue, green, light blue, white
       
MascotBarley
BallparkHillsboro Ballpark (2013–present)
Owner(s)/
Operator(s)
Short Season, LLC
General managerK.L. Wombacher
ManagerJavier Colina

History

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-by-season records

Northwest League (2013–present)

SeasonPDCDivisionFinishWinsLossesWin%Post-seasonManagerAttendance
Hillsboro Hops
2013ARISouth3rd3442.447Audo Vicente135,167
2014ARISouth1st4828.632Defeated Boise in division series 2–1
Defeated Vancouver in championship series 2–1
J. R. House138,732
2015ARISouth1st4531.592Defeated Salem-Keizer in division series 2–1
Defeated Tri-City in championship series 2–1
Shelley Duncan143,412
2016ARISouth2nd4233.560Lost to Eugene in division series 2–1Shelley Duncan131,851
2017ARISouth1st4135.539Lost to Eugene in division series 2–0Shawn Roof128,416
2018ARISouth1st5125.671Lost to Eugene in division series 2–0Shawn Roof130,286
2019ARISouth1st4828.632Defeated Salem-Keizer in division series 2–0
Defeated Tri-City in championship series 3–2
Javier Colina133,605
2021ARIWest4th5260.464Vince Harrison110,384
2022ARIN/A4th6070.462Vince Harrison150,792
  • The 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Division winner League champions

Ballpark

Hillsboro Ballpark scoreboard

The Hops play their home games at Hillsboro Ballpark.[27][28]

Radio

Rich Burk was signed as the team's radio announcer on KPOJ (620 AM).[29]

Roster

PlayersCoaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 12 Zach Barnes
  • 29 Billy Corcoran
  • 30 Yilber Diaz
  • 20 Spencer Giesting
  • 45 Gunnar Groen
  • 31 Dillon Larsen
  •  9 Yu-Min Lin
  • 24 Will Mabrey
  • 10 Carlos Meza
  • 15 Junior Mieses
  •  7 Peniel Otano
  • 25 Dylan Ray
  • 41 Eli Saul
  • 17 Avery Short
  • 23 Listher Sosa

Catchers

  •  8 J.J. D'Orazio
  • 27 Gavin Logan
  • 28 Shane Muntz

Infielders

  • 39 Julio Carrion
  • 37 Sheng-Ping Chen
  •  4 Joshua Day
  • 38 Jonathan Guzman
  • 11 Gary Mattis
  • 43 Ivan Melendez
  • 14 Channy Ortiz
  •  5 Jesus Valdez

Outfielders

  • 35 Kevin Graham


Manager

  • -- Javier Colina

Coaches

  • 18 Gabriel Hernandez pitching
  • -- Mark Reed (coach)
  • 33 Ty Wright (hitting)

60-day injured list

  • -- Jhosmer Alvarez
  • -- Diomede Sierra

7-day injured list
* On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster
~ Development list
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporarily inactive list
Roster updated January 28, 2024
Transactions
→ More rosters: MiLB • Northwest League
Arizona Diamondbacks minor league players

Branding

The team name is a reference to the plant used in beer brewing (Oregon is the second-largest hop-producing US state by volume),[30] 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".[31] The team's logo includes a hop cone wearing a baseball hat, evergreen trees, and Mount Hood.[32] Team colors are green, navy blue, and light blue.[30] 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.[33]

Sponsorships

In March 2013, the team announced a three-year deal with BridgePort Brewing Company to be the official beer of the Hops.[34][35]Advantis Credit Union, Les Schwab Tires, Nike, Tuality Healthcare, and The Oregonian were the founding sponsors.[36]

Minor league affiliations

LevelTeamLeagueLocationManager
Triple-AReno AcesTriple-A WestReno, NevadaBlake Lalli
Double-AAmarillo Sod PoodlesDouble-A CentralAmarillo, TexasShawn Roof
High-AHillsboro HopsHigh-A WestHillsboro, OregonVince Harrison
Low-AVisalia RawhideLow-A WestVisalia, CaliforniaJavier Colina
RookieAZL D-backsArizona LeagueScottsdale, ArizonaRolando Arnedo
DSL D-backs 1Dominican Summer LeagueBoca Chica, Santo DomingoJaime Del Valle
DSL D-backs 2Ronald Ramirez

References

Preceded by Northwest League franchise
2013–present
Succeeded by