Portland Pickles gear up for new baseball season and premiere of new soccer team

Ever since its debut 10 years ago, the wood-bat baseball team the Portland Pickles has been delighting fans with its summer games that feature quirky fan appreciation events, such as a “Redhead Appreciation Night” for the season opener on May 27, or one honoring bee sting survivors.

In addition to its 10th anniversary and winning the West Coast League championship last year, the Pickles are celebrating another milestone. Tomorrow marks the debut of the Portland Bangers, a new soccer team the Pickles are launching. Like the Pickles, the Bangers also feature collegiate-level athletes playing during the summer months.

Jorge Villafaña is the head coach of the Portland Bangers and a retired professional soccer player who helped the Portland Timbers win its first-ever Major League Soccer championship in 2015. He joins us along with Alan Miller, co-owner and president of the Portland Pickles, for a preview of the teams’ new seasons.

Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. The Portland Pickles debuted 10 years ago. In that time, the wood bat summer league baseball team has become a fan favorite in Portland’s Lents neighborhood, with quirky promotions and clever marketing. Meanwhile, the owners are about to debut another team. Tomorrow marks the first game of the Portland Bangers, a soccer club that’ll be playing in USL League Two. Like the Pickles, the Bangers also feature a cheeky mascot and are made up of collegiate-level athletes who will play during the summer months.

Alan Miller is a co-owner and president of the Portland Pickles and the new Portland Bangers. Jorge Villafaña is the head coach of the Bangers. He is a retired professional soccer player who helped the Portland Timbers win their first ever Major League Soccer championship 10 years ago. Welcome to both of you.

Alan Miller: Thank you for having us.

Jorge Villafaña: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

D. Miller: Alan, first – why do you think the Pickles caught on?

A. Miller: We talk about Portland as a really special place and I think that there is a desire to see creativity. And I think what we really tried to do was to invite everyone, create a place that was fun, home and open for everyone to experience what we’re doing. I think people here respect that and they get excited about seeing what we’re doing.

It’s more than just baseball. If you’ve been to a game, there’s a lot of different things going on and we try to appeal to a lot of different kinds of people. And I think that people have really responded to that, and they’ve really joined onto it and really appreciated the things we’re doing. We’ve been very fortunate to have more and more success every year.

D. Miller: You have a background in marketing and advertising. How did that inform the way you approached the branding of the Pickles? I don’t know too many teams – and I’m including teams like the Dodgers and the Yankees, where you just see their logos everywhere – where the success of the branding is as obvious as the Pickles. How did you approach it?

A. Miller: Well, I appreciate that question, because it does involve a really different approach to what we’re trying to do. And I think the real key is that we take this as a brand, as something that is a movement. How do we grow that, and how do we talk about it from the way we would treat almost anything, how do we create our best authentic self? How do we express ourselves in ways that are going to be well received, that people enjoy, that are fun? They don’t all go the way we want, but that’s part of taking risks.

We got into this specifically because we wanted to take a shot at what could people who are marketing centric, who love marketing and love branding, actually go in and create a team, really from not much? We’re gonna build off of this incredible mascot, great stadium and a city that’s really open to new ideas.

D. Miller: For people who haven’t been to a Pickles game, can you give us a sense for the range of promotions or special nights that you have?

A. Miller: Yeah, our season kicks off in a couple of weeks. We have “Redhead Appreciation Night.”

D. Miller: A night to appreciate people who have red hair?

A. Miller: Well, yes. There are talks out there that this is actually a trap to get all the redheaded people into one area.

D. Miller: Where they can be then culled?

A. Miller: Yes. We have had net guns before and I’m not saying that’s actually going to happen. But I’m saying, you got to really do your research if you’re gonna accept the free ticket for “Redhead Appreciation Night.”

[Laughter]

D. Miller: OK, so what else have you done over the years?

A. Miller: We have done everything from celebrating the whale explosion on the coast to actually blowing up a whale in the outfield. We’ve had “Evel Knievel Night,” where a motorcycle flew over Dillon’s head.

D. Miller: Dillon is the huge green pickle who delights/terrifies kids.

A. Miller: That’s right … and more delighting than terrifying these days.

D. Miller: Especially when they are not four.

A. Miller: Yes. We have gone through this transition now, we’ve seen kids grow up with Dillon. And they start a little hesitant, but by the time they’re graduating elementary school they’re best buds with Dillon.

D. Miller: That checks out with my experience. I definitely saw my kids be terrified and now they like a high-five from Dillon.

Have you turned down any ideas of promotion nights? One of them is “Bee Sting Survivor Night.” There’s all kinds of niche pop culture events. It makes me think that someone says “let’s do this,” and you say “yes.” Do you ever say no?

A. Miller: We do say no, actually. Believe it or not, I have to say there is a line in the sand and we work towards it. Our promotional schedule is less me pointing a dart at something, we work through ideas. And oftentimes things aren’t ready and we’re like, “let’s hold on that until we have something else that makes it really feel complete.” So we have a pretty aggressive schedule. “Bee Sting Survivor Night” is going to be a great one this year.

D. Miller: Literally anybody who has been stung by a bee and who is still alive, they are in your mind a “bee sting survivor”?

A. Miller: They would be. And yes, we’d like to hear their stories. We’ll be telling a lot of those stories. We also have a full hive, there will be bees on site. If there’s any PTSD trauma from that, it may not be your place to be. But we will have real beekeepers as well, so it should be quite the experience.

D. Miller: Let’s switch to the Bangers. I do want to hear more about the Pickles, but what was the idea behind creating a new team? Why do this?

A. Miller: Well, it’s fun for us. We really enjoy the Pickles and we really wanted another challenge. This is Soccer City USA. And our whole staff, they’re huge Timbers fans, they’re huge soccer fans and we always wanted to try to figure out a way to do something the way we wanted to do it, something that works in our vibe and something that we can actually add to the sport. So timing and different pieces came together, like having an incredible coaching staff and having a great place to play. Sometimes all the things just lined up perfectly, so we’re really excited to take off and try something new.

D. Miller: Jorge, what is the USL Two League?

Villafaña: It’s a league where the collegiate athletes have a time off from college, from school, and they have this summer to play, to still be on the rhythm for when they come back to the college. They are just not doing anything, so they prepare. So that’s mainly the reason behind the USL Two.

D. Miller: Is there hope that they’re going to be seen by scouts from MLS? Or is it more just keep playing, don’t have any time off?

Villafaña: No, no. There’s actually like three or four, they are already being seen by the Timbers from here. They have already played for some academies at the pro-level and they are being invited as well to train some days with the Timbers second team. So they do have a lot of exposure locally and going to Washington there’s gonna be more exposure. And you never know, student athletes, these young athletes, they’re on the peak, some of them, of making it. So this preparation can take them to that.

It is a really important, I believe, stage on their soccer career, student athlete career, because it keeps them in shape, but also give them that preparation and exposure that they need in order for them to be looked at for professional teams.

D. Miller: Why did you want to become a coach?

Villafaña: I was in the game for 15 years. I guess it’s not for everyone to be a coach because when you retire, sometimes you’re like, “I’m done with soccer.”

D. Miller: “If I can’t play at my peak, I don’t want to be a part of it anymore” – did you ever feel that?

Villafaña: I think at some point I was like, “ it’s too much traveling, I want to be with my family.” But then as soon as my career, I saw that I was kind of going towards the end. I’m like, “I still want to be connected somehow in soccer.” I’ve been doing it for 15 years, so I wanna be involved. So that passion also came from me by studying the game. How do you prepare? How do you look at the video?

It’s different being a player and a coach. It’s a different perspective of how you look at the game. Because when you play, you go practice and prepare, and I’m gonna play. And then when you coach, you prepare what they are going to train and how they are going to play. So it’s a complete different process. I’m enjoying it. I like it.

D. Miller: Has becoming a coach changed your perspective of the coaches you had in the past?

Villafaña: Absolutely. That’s kind of where I’m coming. So when you are a professional, everything’s given to you, right? You show up, you get there, you do your pre-workout and you start. Being a coach, you have to prepare everything for them in order to be ready for the game. And when you’re a player, you don’t think about that. You don’t think about the after hours. After practice, you have to prepare the next practice. I come extra early if you have to do something different to tweak something different for the players. Once you get into that realm of being a coach, you go back … and I’m like, “oh well …”

D. Miller: “... I should have been nicer?”

Villafaña: “… I should have been nicer.” [Laughter]

D. Miller: Jorge, how do you turn a bunch of soccer players, who haven’t played together as a team before, into a team in a really short period of time?

Villafaña: It’s a really good question. And it’s not easy, but it’s doable. It’s not easy because they don’t know each other. They never played with each other.

D. Miller: They can’t read what they’re doing, or sort of know it because “I know when this guy does this, I know where to go.”

Villafaña: Yeah. But they are good players. So once you have an understanding … I think it’s just a few concepts for me, a few organization things. Because you don’t have time to get them dialed in on the methodology and the way I see it. But bring that energy, bring that effort. We’re gonna do this, this, and we’re gonna go.

Also, having players that are from here locally, you’re trying to bring them and push them into, “This is the community, you’re playing in front of your family, you’re playing in front of your community. You represent this university, you represent this college, the city is behind you. It’s a brand new team, a new year. We can make history.” Just trying to bring the best of them and trying to glue them together as quickly as possible.

Some of the teams up there in Washington, they’ve been doing it for a few years, a lot of years – they kind of are glued together. Our main objective right now is just to bring them as strong as possible together, so we can have a great opportunity to compete and do something good this summer.

D. Miller: Alan, at Pickles games, the way baseball works, every half inning, every three outs, there’s a break and there’s time for some kind of way to engage fans maybe who don’t care as much about the baseball as others. There’s some kind of event, a race of some kind, the announcers can make jokes. Soccer doesn’t have that same system of breaks in the action. And I think there’s maybe less of an American tradition of silliness at soccer games than there is at minor league baseball parks or independent leagues like the Pickles play in.

Can soccer be as zany as pre-professional baseball?

A. Miller: Well, there is an argument to be had that soccer actually is more impactful from a fan perspective. Soccer fans, a lot of places around the world, are used to making a lot of noise, banging on drums, playing a really annoying instrument. There is the passion and energy that goes into it.

D. Miller: Right … and much more focused though on the game itself. Which is not always the case at Pickles games, where kids are running around in the berm and, as you were saying, you make an effort to make this be a fun event for people who don’t even necessarily care about baseball. With soccer, do you have a different approach? It’s more about what’s happening on the field?

A. Miller: I think we’re gonna learn a lot of different ways to do that. Right now, we’ve got about a 90-minute pregame, we’ve got a halftime, we’ve got postgame. We have opportunities to have fun and trying different things. We don’t want to be disrespectful to the game in any way, so we don’t want to do anything that might hurt or contribute to anything that would be negative. So we’re gonna work on our cheers. I think we’re going to try to figure out how we can best support the team the same way the Pickles do. When we get into the late innings and we’ve got Rally Gators and everyone’s stomping their feet, that won us a championship last year. So if we can be great fans and support our team, that’s our goal. And what zaniness comes out of it, that’s up to our supporters.

D. Miller: How important is the quality of play to your bottom line? This is a business and I know that, for example in Major League Baseball, when a team is doing well in one season, if they go to the playoffs or something, there’s a good chance they’ll sell more season tickets the next year. Is it the same for the Pickles? Or do you have a different business model?

A. Miller: We’ve never been able to count on what our team will be. We’ve gotten better every year because we’ve had more visibility and our coach Mags is a great recruiter. We’ve got a guy coming in this year who’s 6’4”, 240 pounds from the Dominican Republic, who just hits bombs. So that’s a lot of the hard work that we put into it.

But we don’t count on being good. I think we have to be entertaining, and if we’re good, that’s a bonus. We want to be good. We’re there all summer, we’re excited to watch everyone win. But we have to be prepared that we’re not going to – how are we entertaining for people that aren’t as engaged in every moment? The short answer is, winning’s great and it really helps, but we have to plan enough to be entertaining without it.

D. Miller: Can you tell us about the lawsuit that you recently filed against Disney?

A. Miller: Most of what we wanted to say is sort of in the actual filing of the lawsuit as well. We’re optimistic that this will be sorted out by the attorneys, over a short period or a long period of time. We feel very good about where we are.

D. Miller: For people who missed that statement, correct me if I’m wrong about the basics, but Disney has a newish animated series about a baseball team called the Pickles and they’re selling Pickles baseball team merchandise. And you’re saying, “Hey, this is our team, this is our logo. You got to stop. This is our intellectual property.” Did I more or less categorize it correctly?

A. Miller: Yeah, we’ve had the trademark for the Pickles for a long time and we’ve always defended those trademarks. I think if anybody wants to look at it, they can see the great similarities in it and be able to create their own impression as to whether it was stripped from ours or a different thing. But we feel very confident this will all be sorted out.

D. Miller: What’s it like to go up against a company that’s worth, as of yesterday, $200.16 billion? And if my math is right, it means that their decimal point, $160 million, I assume that’s more than the combined value of the Pickles and the Bangers, probably by a lot. What’s it like to go up against a corporate behemoth?

A. Miller: You know, we’re always up against a corporate behemoth. We look at every single game we play as playing against a corporate behemoth. We’re always the underdog, that’s where we want to be, that’s where we like being. We’re the community, we’re the neighborhood, we’re for the people. And if other people act poorly, it’s our responsibility to stand up for everyone. And I think that’s what we’ve always done. That’s why everyone is welcome at our games, that’s why we make such an effort to be a very inclusive environment. We’re always going to stand up against things that we find are unjust or not right, and take causes when they’re important to us.

D. Miller: Jorge, how are you feeling about the season opener, the first game tomorrow night?

Villafaña: Excited. I think the community has really come out and showed their support. I’m a little bit sad that not all of the Portland area is going to go, because the venue doesn’t support as much.

D. Miller: You’re saying that 600,000 people can’t be there?

Villafaña: Yeah, there’s so many people that have told us, “I can’t get tickets, I can’t get tickets.” So you can imagine the atmosphere that is gonna be there tomorrow, that it’s gonna be sold out. But then I’m pretty sure we’re gonna have thousands more out there that would want to be there.

So that really gets you going, right? Because the support is there, the atmosphere is gonna be there, the players are ready, everyone’s ready. It’s Soccer City, right? So giving them something apart from the Timbers, they probably were wanting this, they’re waiting for this, and we don’t have it. Another team, maybe create something different – it’s bringing this summer, it’s taking it by storm. I can’t wait and I know a lot of people can’t wait either.

D. Miller: Are you ready to have the game start and to not be running on the field?

Villafaña: Yeah. [Laughs] Some of the players were joking around as well, like, “we might need you at some point during the second half.” I said, “I can’t do both! If it happens, I can try to do it.” But it was just a joke.

But I’m also really excited to start watching it from the bench. I can tell you that it’s more stressful than playing, because you see something and you kind of want to be there and do it.

D. Miller: But it’s not part of your job anymore.

Villafaña: Yeah, it’s not your job anymore. It’s a different thing being outside watching it than actually playing it.

D. Miller: Jorge and Alan, thanks so much.

Villafaña: Thank you for having us.

A. Miller: Thanks for having us.

D. Miller: Jorge Villafaña is the coach for the new Portland Bangers, United Soccer League Two team. Alan Miller is the co-owner and president of the Portland Pickles and now the Portland Bangers.

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