My friends (and also my enemies, I guess), we have reached a point in the summer all baseball fans dread. The strange doldrums of late August when you haven’t quite come to terms that fall is looming.
I mean, it’s still hot out, summer activities abound, and there’s still baseball to be played. But the baseball drought of fall and winter is tapping you gently on the shoulder. Sweater weather is coming.
Look, I’m not trying to bum anyone out, especially myself. But it’s important to remember we only have two homestands left this season. So if you haven’t yet made your summer pilgrimage to Nat Bailey Stadium in 2022, get ye to the ballpark!
And if you happen to hit up The Nat August 23 through 28 then here’s a handy-dandy series preview for you. You are very welcome.
Visiting team
The Hillsboro Hops. The team that graciously hosted our ballclub for the 2021 season for pandemic-related reasons. Which was a very nice thing to do. Too bad we have to beat them so badly.
Major League team
The Hops are a minor league affiliate for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Diamondbacks are a type of Rattlesnakes. At least the western versions are. There are also Eastern Diamondbacks that are pit vipers? Anyways, let’s just say it’s a confusing nickname for a bad team.
What happened last time
The last time The Hops came to town, we swept ‘em! That’s right, The C’s won all six games. Let’s hope for a late August repeat of that action, please and thank you.
3 facts about Hillsboro and the Hops
In an effort to better understand our enemies, here are three facts about the city of Hillsboro and its baseball squad.
1. Because Hillsboro (which is in Oregon) is in the Portland Metropolitan Area, the Canadians likely have to pass through Vancouver, Washington to get there when playing road games. Which I always find to be a kind of surreal experience. There’s a whole other bizarro Vancouver down there.
2. There are a lot of tech companies, apparently. So many that Hillsboro is part of an industrial corridor that refers to itself as The Silicon Forest. A la Silicon Valley. What’s next? Silicon Mountain!?
3. The city was originally called “Hillsborough” but sometime in the 1800s people got tired of writing the “ugh” and it morphed into the “Hillsboro” we know today. There was never any official name change, people just started saying: “What are we doing with all these extra letters?” and just stopped using them. Kind of love that, admittedly.
Player(s) to watch
The Hillsboro roster houses two of the Diamondbacks' top 10 prospects: Shortstop Jordan Lawlar (ranked third on MLB Pipeline) and Third Baseman Deyvison De Los Santos (ranked sixth on MLB pipeline). Both with quality ballplayer names to boot.
The penultimate homestand is upon us. I’ll see you at The Nat as we soak up every bit of baseball we have left.
