Another Portland-related story came in for the TV comic treatment during the Thursday episode of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Toward the end of his opening monologue, Colbert joked about it being the first day of summer, which means baseball.

(“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” streams on Philo, which offers a free trial; on Fubo, which also offers a free trial; and on Paramount Plus.)

Colbert segued into talking about the New York Mets, the McDonald’s mascot Grimace throwing out a first pitch at one of their games, and then joked about this not being the first time a McDonald’s mascot helped out the New York team.

“Back in 1986, the Hamburglar was their coke dealer,” Colbert said. Switching to baseball’s minor leagues, “and the minor leagues of drugs,” he went on to note that the Portland Pickles have become the first sports team to legally sell THC products at games, as an Oregonian/OregonLive headline flashed onscreen.

Colbert was referring to The Oregonian/OregonLive story that told readers that “the Portland Pickles will become the first sports team in the United States to legally sell cannabis-based products at live sports events.”

As The Oregonian/OregonLive story explained, “The baseball team announced Tuesday an exclusive partnership with Cycling Frog, which sells THC-based (derived from hemp) seltzer drinks. The team said it will begin selling the drinks at Walker Stadium on June 18.

“The drink - which contains 2 MG of THC and 4MG of CBG per can - will be available in passionfruit and lemon flavors at the ballpark.”

Colbert didn’t mention passionfruit or lemon flavors, but he went on to say that Portland Pickle fans “won’t be sparking up in the stands, you’ll be sparkling up, because instead of smoke-able products, they’ll be selling THC-based seltzer drinks.”

That might sound odd, Colbert said, “but remember, Coca-Cola used to have cocaine in it, and ginger ale originally contained the blood of a redhead.”

— Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, kturnquist@oregonian.com or @Kristiturnquist

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