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.
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:
Southpaw Spring Breakout: White Sox future on display with Schultz, Smith
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- If all goes as planned for the White Sox, left-handers Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz won’t spend much time following each other to the mound in a single game. Schultz, the No. 1 White Sox prospect and No. 16 overall, per MLB Pipeline, and Smith, who is
In first pro game, Rainer offers pop, promise to Tigers fans
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Bryce Rainer’s pro career consisted of workouts and batting practice until Sunday.
'Me and Brady on the dirt again': House, King reunite at Spring Breakout
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The 2025 Spring Breakout was a flashback for Brady House and Seaver King. Over 10 years ago, the infielders were travel ball teammates in Georgia who shared the dream of making it to the Major Leagues. Now, they are top prospects in the same organization,
Lambert -- 'an adrenaline guy' -- hoping to be next Mets bullpen gem
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Ryan Lambert loves throwing hard. He relishes the idea of getting to two strikes and blowing hitters away. “Get me in a game,” Lambert said, “cool things will happen.”
Stewart embraces Spring Breakout: 'What's not to love?'
PHOENIX -- Sal Stewart was one fired-up Reds prospect. On Sunday in the first inning during the organization's 9-7 Spring Breakout win over Brewers prospects, Stewart lifted a 2-2 pitch that sailed over the center fielder's head to the wall. Already not known as a speedster, he stumbled running between
Prospect Peña quietly drawing raves in Brewers' farm system
PHOENIX – Jesús Made was at the top of the Brewers’ lineup for Sunday’s 9-7 loss to the Reds in the finale of MLB’s four-day Spring Breakout, a fitting perch when you consider that the 17-year-old infielder is under a bright spotlight as MLB Pipeline’s No. 55 prospect. Made could
Brecht -- in 1st outing since '24 Draft -- wows at Spring Breakout
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Sunday's Spring Breakout showcase was the perfect unveiling for Rockies No. 5 prospect Brody Brecht. A right-handed pitcher from the University of Iowa whom the Rockies selected 38th overall last summer, Brecht had a nice collegiate resume, an interesting backstory as a former wide receiver for the
Braves prospects show promise in Spring Breakout
NORTH PORT, Fla. -- As Terry Pendleton prepared to serve as the manager of the Braves prospect team that played the Tigers prospect team in a Spring Breakout game on Sunday afternoon, he said fans should be patient with John Gil and Luis Guanipa, a pair of teenagers who have
Yanks' Lagrange flashes triple-digit heat in Spring Breakout
SARASOTA, Fla. -- There was an audible “Ooh” from the crowd at Ed Smith Stadium, and Carlos Lagrange quickly glanced beyond the right-field wall, checking the velocity of the pitch he’d just thrown in Saturday’s 5-4 Spring Breakout loss to the Orioles. It had registered in the triple digits, and
Bradfield dedicates Spring Breakout performance to late friend
SARASOTA, Fla. -- It was about more than playing in the national spotlight. More than the dinner bet placed with an old college teammate earlier in the month. More than a game. As Enrique Bradfield Jr. slid home to score a run during the first inning of Saturday night’s Spring
'Hungry' Alcántara hoping to pounce on big league prey in '25
MESA, Ariz. -- The thing about jaguars is, you don’t want to see one when it’s hungry. So when Cubs legend Sammy Sosa spoke to the organization’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline -- and the No. 89 prospect overall -- the former slugger gave him some apt advice. “His
Rainiers broadcaster Pay talks historic role on 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
Prospect Santos 'electric' in Spring Breakout start
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Malcolm Moore knew Winston Santos was locked in before he even threw a pitch. In the second annual Spring Breakout game, Santos -- the Rangers’ No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline -- was throwing to Moore, the Rangers’ No. 4 prospect and highest-ranked catcher. The battery more
Switch-pitcher Cijntje deals from both sides in Spring Breakout
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Jurrangelo Cijntje knew who’d be waiting for him in the batter’s box when he emerged from the visiting bullpen on Friday evening. The Mariners’ switch-pitcher had seen Guardians infielder Travis Bazzana recently at a card-signing event, to which they each joked, “I’m going to see you soon,”
Fans in this Minor League town are hungry for ... the Spicy Meatballs?!?
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.
Chandler adds mix to upper-90s heat in stellar Spring Breakout start
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In the inaugural Spring Breakout game a year ago, as he was coming out to pitch the ninth inning, Bubba Chandler slammed a Red Bull and declared “let’s do this” before pumping upper-90s heat.