The mascot of the Portland Pickles, a US college baseball team, has gone missing. That’s how it is. She was last seen in a large suitcase inside a black bag. The team asks that she appear and that, if they return her, they will ask no questions.
It seems like a story for the script of a comedy series, but no, it is a real problem that affects the portland pickles since February 1, after a trip to the Dominican Republic.
After more than a week of waiting, the team’s general manager, Ross Campbell, reported the disappearance of the mascot’s costume, named Dillon T. Pickle, to the local police.
According to Campbell, upon returning to the United States, they placed the pickle costume in luggage on the Delta Airlines flight that took them back from the Caribbean to Portland, Oregon, after connecting in New York.
But the 25-kilogram bag never reached its destination, says the Wall Street Journal.
The same outlet published statistics saying that airlines lost or mishandled 4.6 out of every thousand bags in the United States. The data is from November 2021. This is more than the same as in 2020, although it is below pre-pandemic levels, according to the Department of Transportation of that country.
We call on the people of #pdx to help us find him. We are offering a reward for any information and a “no questions asked” return of Dillon back to our office. pic.twitter.com/1uJPOe3yMF
— Portland Pickles (@picklesbaseball) February 9, 2022
The costume, according to Campbell, cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
Portland Pickles urgently needs the costume because it has to appear on TV for the promotion of the season that begins in June.
In desperation, the team is begging on Twitter for the missing pickle.
Portland Pickles: Theft, Loss, or Digital Marketing Strategy?
Some don’t think it’s true. The team is known for their pranks on the Internet.
But Campbell assures that this time the story is real and that it is not a digital marketing strategy or a social media action.
Dillon The Pickle has had many rides without incident. He was in Canada, in Mexico, in Spain and in France.
When asked by Delta Airlines, the airline says that after a week-long delay in New York due to weather conditions and flight cancellations, the bag with the mascot was delivered at dawn last week.
Police versions assure that it could have been stolen before the team picked it up from the porch of the offices in Portland.
“The team is not going to press charges if you bring Dillon back,” Campbell said.