The Hillsboro Hops will wear specially designed jerseys and caps for four games this summer, temporarily rebranding the baseball team as the “Soñadores de Hillsboro.”

“Soñadores” translates to “Dreamers.”

The Class-A franchise announced the marketing push Monday, part of a broader Minor League Baseball initiative known as the “Copa de la Diversión," or Fun Cup. According to the baseball league’s website, the effort is intended to have franchises “embrace the culture and values” that resonate most with their region’s Hispanic or Latinx communities. Latinx is a gender-neutral term for people of Latin-American descent. Seventy-two franchises are wearing specially designed jerseys at some point this season.

Hops officials said the team created the name and logo last summer, in conjunction with Nike and a committee of LatinX and non-Latin representatives. Ivan Hernandez, the franchise’s Latino outreach coordinator led the process.

When asked if the name is a nod to the Dreamers, the generation of young adults who are undocumented and brought to the country as children, Hops President K.L. Wombacher responded via email, “Soñadores is in reference to everyone who has a dream.”

“Our players have dreams of playing in the big leagues, our young fans have dreams of being pro athletes, doctors, firefighters, etc.,” Wombacher said. The team said in a statement that it believes the logo will “be a unifying connection among all ethnic backgrounds.”

According to the most recent American Community Survey census figures, about one-quarter of Hillsboro residents identify as Hispanic or Latinx and roughly one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home.

Wombacher said the team conducted a lot of research and field testing before selecting the name and logo for the 2019 season.

As part of @MiLB National Campaign Copá de la Diversión, “Fun Cup” , we will become “Los Soñadores de Hillsboro, “Dreamers”, during this seasons LatinX nights. All of us have a dream. We are all dreamers. #MilBesDivertido #TodosSomosSonadores pic.twitter.com/GIbpL8ZDde — Los Soñadores de Hillsboro (@HillsboroHops) March 18, 2019

It features an Alebrije, those bright, mythical creatures that originate from Mexico that have become the basis for parade floats, piñatas and other iconography across the country, particularly the Oaxaca region.

In the email, Wombacher said, the creatures appear in dreams and “all Alebrijes are different and unique in Hispanic culture just like dreams.”

According to Wikipedia, Alebrijes date back to the mid-1930s when Pedro Linares, a Mexican artisan, created the creatures after falling ill and conjuring them in a fever dream. He later recreated the mythical animals with papier-mâché and cardboard and decades later the style spread through Latinx communities.

Wombacher said the logo has some hidden touches as well, such “diamond shapes that represent graduation caps and the flame pattern at the end of the tail which symbolizes the flame on the Statue of Liberty.

The jerseys will make their debut June 28 and will be worn in three additional games throughout the season.

Each of those games will include special promotional themes.

June 28: El chavo del ocho night - A generational family comedy show

July 20: Salsa dancing night

July 30: Taquiza or Taco-fest

August 18: Texan and Mexican music night - Featuring music from La reina del, The Queen of Texmex, Selena Quintanilla.

The team already posted special merchandise on their online store.

-- Andrew Theen

Staff Writer Eder Campuzano contributed to this report

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@andrewtheen

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