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In the nine years since the Portland Pickles played their inaugural game, the baseball team has become the most guaranteed good time thanks to some lively play on the field and the goofy fun going on in the stands via promotions like “Dilly Parton Night” or “Strip City Night,” which found team mascot Dillon T. Pickle stalking the grounds in a mankini.
But if you can’t make it to Walker Stadium, the next best thing is watching home games on the Pickles’ YouTube channel (youtube.com/@PortlandPicklesBaseball/streams) and chopping it up with fellow fans in the live chat.
The broadcasts alone are a blast as a small, scrappy camera crew does its best to capture each at bat even as technicians wrangle with bad sightlines and occasionally wonky equipment. Leading the charge is Mike Chexx, the Pickles’ play-by-play announcer. The enthusiasm for each game is infectious, matched only by their bemusement at the shenanigans stirred up by Dillon and the team’s in-house hype man Jeremiah Coughlan and their vocal annoyance at multiple lineup changes or the visiting squad taking the lead.
Better still is enjoying the broadcast in the company of the self-proclaimed Pickles Chat Family. This dedicated crew never misses a home game, providing a running commentary that is knowledgeable and silly while remaining impressively respectful and welcoming to newcomers. And the sheer delight they exhibit when the family members of players join in to cheer on the team can’t be beat.
See the rest of Willamette Week’s Best of Portland 2024 here!