The other night, the Chicago Cubs' play-by-play broadcasters ate up about 5 minutes of airtime at Wrigley Field trying to figure what to make of the Hillsboro Hops' sneering green logo.

"I got no idea what that guy is" said TV announcer Jim Deshaies. "I've got their website pulled up here. Kinda like the Stanford tree."

Partner Len Kasper wondered if Hillsboro was "beer country or rabbit country."

Barley, the Hops' spirited mascot, responded Wednesday by firing off this tweet to Kasper and Deshaies:

Hey @LenKasper & @JimDeshaies. I’m not a rabbit or a tree. I’m the 2-time NWL mascot champ. But what do you guys know about championships? — Barley T. Crossfitter (@BarleytheHop) September 3, 2014

Ouch! Yes, it has been about 106 years since the Cubs won the World Series.

Well, Kasper wasn't in a fighting mood. In fact, he took it like a champ:

The same couldn't be said for some loyal Cubs fans and Portland area residents, who took some light-hearted (and not-so-light-hearted) digs at Kasper, Barley and me:

@LenKasper @TommyM44 @pdxcommute @BarleytheHop God forbid Len you should know. And you should also know the local bartender in a town of 95K — Ted Gruber (@tedgruber) September 3, 2014

@LenKasper I believe you can file this under the Haters going to hate file — Robert J. Ercoli (@erk73_) September 3, 2014

@LenKasper Len, I'm Surprised you didn't know..Mark Grace is their hitting coach. The H-O-P-S, that is. — taaaaaaaaadddddd (@RichieRobbins) September 3, 2014

@LenKasper lol this is funny. I live 40 minutes from Hillsboro and couldn't even tell you what that thing is. — Jake (@JakeStevens35) September 3, 2014

@LenKasper yeah ... @pdxcommute comes off like a real a-hole. I wouldn't waste much more time thinking about it. — Operation Faithful Braves Fan (@Whitey_83) September 3, 2014

In the end, as someone who just returned from one of many weeks at Wrigley Field, I was compelled to respond:

For all the @Cubs @LenKasper fans giving me hard time abt my @barleythehop story, a photo of my newsroom desk #goCubs pic.twitter.com/f8HRakWCl0 — Joseph Rose (@josephjrose) September 3, 2014

As a playful peace offering, I tweeted this photo to Kasper from Wednesday night's Hops vs. Boise Hawks playoff game at Ron Tonkin Field:

No response.

By the way, congratulations to the Hops, who on Wednesday night swept the Hawks, the Cubs' Class A Short Season affiliate, clinching the Northwest League South Division Series to advance to the championship.

And while the Hops mascot does take a little time to grow on you, he's far from the goofiest mascot in minor league baseball. Click through the slideshow above to get an idea what silly nicknames other towns have given their MiLB teams.

-- Joseph Rose