Pickles’ mascot ‘Dillon’ mugged in Lents

UPDATE: Dillon found, safe and sound | How will our beloved outer East Portland baseball team, the Portland Pickles, survive the tragic loss of their cheerful mascot? Maybe you can help rescue him after being snatched …

Here’s Dillon T. Pickle, mascot of the Portland Pickles baseball team, shown in happier days, at during a baseball game, in the Lents neighborhood, at Walker Stadium. East Portland News archive image

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Although the Portland Pickles Baseball team, who play in the West Coast League – a premier collegiate summer baseball league – in the Lents neighborhood at Walker Stadium, lately the team along with their cheerleading mascot, Dillon T. Pickle, got in some off-season play in the Dominican Republic.

But, Dillon got “mugged” when he arrived back home, in Lents.

“Along with the team, Dillon made it back into the United States, landing in New York,” the team’s general manager, Ross Campbell, told East Portland News.

It wouldn’t be a Portland Pickles game with out Dillon leading the crowd in cheers. East Portland News archive image

“Then, he successfully made his way through customs,” Campbell continued. “Dillon was scheduled to return home to Portland on January 31. However, that is not what happened.”

Delta Airlines claimed that Dillon somehow got lost in the system.

Then, on February 8, after the Pickles’ office closed for the day – an office located in a residence, not far from Walker Stadium – a delivery driver dropped Dillon off on the front porch in a bag, without any notification.

Here’s a still frame from a video, capturing this thief in the act of stealing Dillon. Courtesy Portland Pickles

Then, as recorded by the front door video camera, at 4:58 a.m., a man brazenly walked up to the porch and stole the duffel bag containing a sleeping Dillon. Why was he in a duffel bag? It’s well known that cats, dogs and oversized pickles travel in humane containers.

“This has turned from a mistake by the airline, into a crime,” Campbell said. “It’s so sad; we’re hoping our community comes together to identify this criminal – and more importantly, to help return Dillon to us in good condition.”

Asked about the future baseball season, Campbell mused, “We’re focused on getting to the bottom of this, and getting Dillon back, before even considering holding ‘tryouts’ and recruiting at our ‘farm clubs’.”

UPDATE: Dillon found, safe and sound
With hopes of securing the safe return of Dillon, sponsors stepped up posting rewards, including $1,000 (in pickle products) from Wickles Pickles, Portland Trail Blazers tickets from Deschutes Brewing, pizzas from Atlas Pizza, and gift cards to Foster Outdoor, Lardo, Grassa, 503 Distilling and many more.

Although Dillon was recovered safely on February 16, this treasure trove of awards will go unclaimed.

Portland Pickles General Manager Ross Campbell and Assistant GM Parker Huffman welcome a slightly worse-for-wear Dillon T. Pickle at this press conference.

“We’re excited and happy about this,” said the team’s General Manager Ross Campbell at an impromptu press conference held the morning of February 17 in Northwest Portland.

“After nine days of Dillon being missing, an unnamed individual came to Voodoo Doughnuts, at the NE Davis Street location, yesterday noon and dropped off the bag [containing the Dillon mascot costume],” Campbell announced. “He said he wanted to remain anonymous which is fine with us, because it’s always been, since the start, ‘no questions asked’ – we just wanted our pickle back.”

That person said he saw kids playing with the bag on a public bus, according to Pickles’ Assistant GM Parker Huffman. After the kids got off the bus, without the bag, the individual went over to inspect what they were playing with. That’s when the do-gooder saw the world-famous pickle head, took custody of t he large black bag, and dropped it off at Voodoo Doughnuts.

Ready to cheer on his team once again, is Dillon T. Pickle.

By the way, their season starts on starts on May 31, again at Walker Stadium in Lents Park. For more information, see the official Portland Pickles Baseball website: CLICK HERE.

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