San Antonio mascots serve up layers of fun
On Friday, I traveled to San Antonio's Wolff Stadium to see the hometown Missions take on the Corpus Christi Hooks. The next day, I received an email from a reader named John Hartwell. It read, in part:
You were in San Antonio last night? ... You undoubtedly saw what in my humble opinion is the GREATEST MINOR LEAGUE MASCOT OF ALL TIME, Henry the Puffy Taco. One of my buddy's sons got to chase the Taco last week, which I believe officially counts as one of the Greatest Honors of All Time.
Yes, there's a Missions mascot named "Henry the Puffy Taco" and, yes, he inspires that kind of adulation. Henry, who possesses a head of lettuce and a yellow, green and red midsection of radiant foodstuffs, very well may be the strangest-looking mascot in Minor League Baseball. During every game, at the conclusion of the sixth inning, he appears on the field and is chased around the basepaths by a young fan. Henry inevitably gets tripped up and the young fan inevitably overtakes him, celebrating victory by standing on his suddenly immobile corpus -- it's a San Antonio tradition! (Although, there was one memorable occasion in which Henry the Puffy Taco actually won -- and revenge was two decades in the making.)
In 2000 the Missions added another mascot to the mix, one "Ballapeño." Though Ballapeño has a stronger ballpark presence than his puffy counterpart, he nonetheless is, as the team puts it, "green with envy" over Henry's popularity. As his baseball card states, "Ballapeño has been rumored to specifically pick the Taco Chaser every evening, and unconfirmed reports have spotted him laughing in the dugout as Henry bites the dust night after night."
Some clarity is needed here. Who, really, are these mascots, and how did they come to be? When I was in San Antonio on Friday, I spoke with Missions assistant general manager Mickey Holt and received the answer to these pressing questions.
MiLB.com: Let's start with Henry the Puffy Taco. What's his ballpark origin story?
Mickey Holt: When the Missions were down at their old home of V.J. Keefe Memorial Stadium, there was a restaurant just around the corner called Henry's Puffy Tacos. They claimed to have invented the first puffy taco.
MiLB.com: Okay, but what is a puffy taco?
Holt: A puffy taco is a corn tortilla that's been dropped in the fryer. It doesn't get to the consistency of a regular tostada that's crispy like a chip. They fry it just enough where it's got a consistency -- it's shaped like a taco shell but still tastes like a tortilla. When they fry it and drop it in that grease, it puffs up and you've got two layers but a pocket in between that's just air. It's a unique thing to San Antonio.
• Check out more photos of Henry the Puffy Taco and Ballapeño »
MiLB.com: And Henry's invented it?
Holt: They claim to have invented it, but there's a couple other restaurants here in town that make the claim, too. But they were around the corner and they really wanted to promote their mascot, this puffy taco. One of our assistant [general managers] at the time worked with them to create this taco race, where the taco always loses. He always gets close, but he never wins.
[Henry] wasn't even our mascot, but he became our mascot. … We had the Puffy Taco for years, but it got to the point where we were sending him out on appearances to promote the Missions. Nothing against the restaurant -- we love the restaurant -- but we realized we needed our own identity, our own mascot.
Our president [Burl Yarbrough] said "San Antonio -- jalapeño. Why not have a baseball jalapeño?" So we debuted Ballapeño in 2000 as a baseball-playing jalapeño. ... He's a mischievous sidekick to the Puffy Taco that he always felt like he was playing second fiddle to. Ballapeño's grown through the years, and that's who we send out on appearances now. But we still get requests all the time for Henry the Puffy Taco. It's always a fun day to send a new worker out to an appearance dressed as the taco, because every kid wants to tackle him. I've been to events where over a hundred kids have ran and tackled the taco all at once.
MiLB.com: What's the relationship between Henry and Ballapeño these days? Has it improved?
Holt: It has improved. They used to really have this hatred for each other, but they've grown together. We even have a junior jalapeno that will come out once in a while, and they'll all dance together. They respect each other now -- they're both food items that everyone wants to beat up.
Benjamin Hill is a reporter for MiLB.com and writes Ben's Biz Blog. Follow Ben on Twitter @bensbiz.
Debating best Minor League home caps on podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
The Omaha Storm Chasers' 'Take Meow-t' cat night included a Litter Box Sundae
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Boston's Triple-A affiliate throws birthday bash for Roman Anthony
With all the hype that has surrounded Roman Anthony over the past two seasons, it’s easy to forget how young he really is. MLB's No. 1 prospect played 70 games at the highest level of the Minors before he could order a beer. But he can now. Roman Anthony turned
Friendly foes, 2024 first-rounders Moore and Caglianone trade first Triple-A homers
For years, Christian Moore and Jac Caglianone laced up their cleats against one another in the SEC. A rivalry that spanned Florida, Tennessee and other landmarks across the South moved to Salt Lake City this week as the Royals and Angels' top prospects got simultaneous Triple-A promotions. So it was
Phillies' Moore, Fausnaught join MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Red Sox prospect rips double THROUGH Fenway-esque scoreboard
Red Sox No. 4 prospect Franklin Arias, an infielder for High-A Greenville, REALLY didn’t want to let visiting Asheville score any runs in the top of the eighth inning on Friday night. With runners on first and second base in the bottom of the fourth, Arias showed he apparently held
April's hottest hitting prospects -- one for each organization
The Minor League season is a month old and several of the game's best hitting prospects are off to fast starts. Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony is tearing up Triple-A (just like he did at the end of last year), Padres shortstop Leo De Vries is leading the High-A Midwest
Check out the best -- and wackiest -- Minor League promos happening in May
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Orioles' Honeycutt joins The Show Before the Show
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
MiLB podcast coming LIVE to a Somerset this June
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
New ballparks highlight 2025 MiLB road trip stops
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from the Baseball Traveler newsletter, presented by Circle K, is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
Minor League Baseball partners with TruGreen
FRANKLIN, Tenn. -- TruGreen, the nation's leading lawn care treatment provider, is proud to announce a groundbreaking partnership with Minor League Baseball that includes activations across all 120 clubs, a makeover of the home dugout in each market, sponsorship of select MiLB team grounds crews, and a new initiative called
Podcast explains why the Syracuse Mets are looking for Jim Morrison
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Dash im-prom-tu promo and Mets' Suero joins the podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Minor League Baseball partners with Circle K
Minor League Baseball announced a new national partnership with Circle K, which will see the convenience store giant become the “Official Convenience Store of Minor League Baseball.” During the 2025 season, the Circle K brand will be integrated into the MiLB in-stadium experience through in-game video board assets at most
These 15 moments led to season No. 15 of Minor League road trips
Benjamin Hill travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique. This excerpt from his newsletter is a mere taste of the smorgasbord of delights he offers every week. Read the full newsletter here, and subscribe to his newsletter here.
MiLB podcast crew makes Opening Day predictions
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Everything you need to know for Triple-A Opening Day
First, there was big league Opening Day. Now it's Triple-A's turn to take the spotlight. The Minor League season opens Friday when the Triple-A International League and Pacific Coast League seasons get underway for the first of MiLB’s two Opening Days. And right out of the gates, several of baseball's
Top prospects to watch at Triple-A -- one for each organization
It’s Triple-A’s turn up to bat on Friday. The regular season begins for the Minor Leagues’ highest level one day after the action starts on the Major League side. Fun fact: it’ll be the earliest start to a Minor League season since 1951 (March 27). Double-A, High-A and Single-A will
Here's where every Top 100 prospect is expected to start the season
The 2025 Opening Day prospect roster announcements began last week when the Cubs informed Matt Shaw (MLB No. 19) he was making the trip overseas to compete in the Tokyo Series. Roki Sasaki (No. 1) also received the good news, but his assignment was much less of a surprise. Now
Nationals prospect King joins MiLB podcast
Check out the latest episodes of The Show Before the Show, MiLB.com's official podcast. A segment rundown is listed below, in case you want to skip to a particular section. Like the podcast? Subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts. The podcast is also available via Spotify, Megaphone and other
Here are the 2025 All-Spring Breakout Teams
Fifteen games, several jersey swaps and countless highlights later, the second edition of Spring Breakout has officially concluded – and it lived up to its billing. Of the 16 contests sprinkled across four days, only one game (Dodgers vs. Cubs) was rained out. Coincidentally, the Cubs were one of two
Rox young sluggers aim to bring pop back to Coors Field
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Coors Field may provide the best run-scoring environment in Major League Baseball, but the Rockies haven’t taken advantage of it in recent years. Even without adjusting for Coors, they have fielded offenses worse than the league average the past three seasons, and they scored the fewest runs
Astros brass sees potential in consistently 'underranked' farm system
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The last time the Astros landed in the top 10 of MLB Pipeline’s farm system rankings was before the 2019 season. Since those rankings expanded to all 30 teams ahead of the 2020 season -- 11 lists in total -- they’ve never ranked higher than
Complete results and highlights from Spring Breakout
The second edition of MLB Spring Breakout is complete, and there was no shortage of highlights from the future stars of Major League Baseball over the four-day showcase. Here's a complete breakdown of the 16-game exhibition: