San Antonio Missions

The San Antonio Missions are a minor league baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres major-league club. The Missions play in Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, located in San Antonio. Opened in 1994, the park seats over 6,200 fans and holds more than 9,000.

The San Antonio Missions' logo features famous local attraction the Alamo, originally a Spanish mission. The team's official mascot is "Ballapeño," a baseballing jalapeño.

The Missions are owned by the Elmore Sports Group, an organization which also owns the Inland Empire 66ers of the California League, Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League, Idaho Falls Chukars of the Pioneer League and Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League.

History

Early years

San Antonio was home for one of the charter members of the Texas League back in 1888, making the town one of the richest in the country with baseball history. Since that inaugural season the town has hosted a number of Texas League franchises, most of them using the "Missions" moniker. Baseball was absent only a few of the early years (1893•94, 1900•1906) and again when World War II occupied most would-be ballplayers between 1943 and 1945.

Initially the team went by the names "Missionaries", "Gentlemen" and "Bronchos" -- a Spanish twist on the name "Broncos". During these years, nearly 250 players reached the Major Leagues.

The current "Missions" moniker was coined with the team's first Major League affiliation, a partnership with the St. Louis Browns (later to become the Baltimore Orioles). They remained a Browns affiliate through the Texas League's temporary demise after the 1942 season due to World War II and until 1959, when they struck up a partnership with the Chicago Cubs. While with the Browns/Orioles, the team saw well over 100 players reach the Majors, including Hall-of-Famers Willard Brown (1956) and Brooks Robinson (1956•1957).

The “Missions” name was used for the teams affiliated with the Cubs, through 1962. In just four years in the Cubs’ system, more than 50 alumni reached the Major Leagues • including Ron Santo (1959) and Hall-of-Famer Billy Williams (1959).

The Missions changed their name to the Bullets in 1963, when the team joined the new Houston Colt .45s organization. The idea behind the name was that the team’s prospects would be the “bullets to the gun” of the .45s team. The Bullets boasted 30 prospects that would go on to see time in the Bigs, including Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan and two-time National League All-Star Jerry Grote. (Much of Grote’s success came with the Miracle Mets of 1969, and not with the .45s/Astros organization.)

In 1965 the San Antonio franchise moved to Amarillo and eventually to Tulsa, Oklahoma where it remains in the Texas League as the Tulsa Drillers.

Baseball returned to San Antonio for the 1968 season, again taking on the Missions name, as part of an expansion of the Texas League. Again playing as a Cubs affiliate, another 42 future Big Leaguers took the field over a four-year stretch. After the 1971 season the team packed up again and moved to Midland, Texas, where they continue as the Midland RockHounds.

In 1972 another ownership group brought baseball into town to replace the group that left to Midland, and brought with it an affiliation with the Milwaukee Brewers, just two years removed from their move to Wisconsin from Seattle. With the affiliation change to the Brewers, the franchise took the parent club’s nickname—which it kept despite changes in affiliation to the Cleveland Indians (1973•1975) and Texas Rangers (1976). The "Brewers" nickname fit the city almost as well as it fit their single-season affiliate in Milwaukee, being the home of the Pearl Brewing Company.

The future Big Leaguers continued to pour onto the field through the affiliation changes, and more than 30 San Antonio Brewers made it to the top. Among them was Hall-of-Fame pitcher Dennis Eckersley, an Indians farmhand who tore through the Texas League in 1974.

The team became the San Antonio Dodgers with a change in affiliation to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977.

Los Angeles Dodgers

While the franchise kept the "Dodger" moniker for eleven seasons (1977•1987), locals still referred to them occasionally as the Missions. The Dodgers responded by officially changing their nickname back to "Missions" for the 1988 season.

The Missions were the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers until 2000, making the relationship the longest-standing Major League affiliation held by the San Antonio franchise. During the partnership Dodgers legends frequented the Alamo City, including Tommy Lasorda. In the 23 years with Los Angeles, some 211 players went on to see time in the Majors. That includes players like Ron Washington (1977), Bob Welch (1977), Ron Roenicke (1978•1979), Mike Scioscia (1978), Dave Stewart (1978), Orel Hershiser (1980•1981, 1991), Fernando Valenzuela (1980), Steve Sax (1981), Sid Bream (1982), Sid Fernandez (1983), Franklin Stubbs (1983), Ramon Martinez (1988, 1996), John Wetteland (1988), Eric Karros (1990), Pedro Martinez (1991), Raul Mondesi (1991•1992), Eric Young (1991), Mike Piazza (1992), Henry Blanco (1993•1996), Todd Hollandsworth (1993), Chan Ho Park (1994), Miguel Cairo (1995), Paul LoDuca (1995, 1997), Paul Konerko (1996), Alex Cora (1997), Dennys Reyes (1997), Adrian Beltre (1998) and Eric Gagne (1999).

The team played a bulk of its years with the Dodgers at V. J. Keefe Memorial Stadium, which they shared with the St. Mary’s University baseball team. In 1994 the team moved into Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, a design typical of baseball stadiums build during the late-1980s through the mid-1990s. The new stadium was named in honor of Nelson Wolff, the mayor of San Antonio at the time the stadium was built.

The affiliation with was ended Los Angeles was ended after the 2000 season with both clubs mutually agreeing to part.

Seattle Mariners

From 2001 until 2006 the Seattle Mariners had a player development contract with the team that brought back-to-back Texas League Championships during the 2002 and 2003 seasons.

The Mariners, fresh off a record season at the Major League level, was stocked with talent in a minor league system built by Pat Gillick, who worked with San Antonio as the farm director of the Houston Colt .45s in 1963. Gillick’s prospects turned San Antonio into a Texas League powerhouse, boasting future Major Leaguers Willie Bloomquist, Jeff Farnsworth, J.J. Putz, Raphael Soriano, Greg Dobbs, Julio Mateo, Gil Meche, Cha-Seung Baek, Jose Lopez, George Sherrill, Shin-Soo Choo, Felix Hernandez, Mike Morse and Yuniesky Betancourt.

The 2006 Missions struggled to score runs and finished 60-77 overall. (27-41, 33-37). The Missions were plagued by high player turnover and featured 52 different players over the course of the season.

San Diego Padres

On September 28, 2006, the San Diego Padres announced a two-year player development contract with the San Antonio Missions.

Randy Ready managed the Missions in 2007 following a promotion from Class A. The first home game as a member of the Padres organization was April 12, 2007 a 2-0 win against the Tulsa Drillers. Sean Thompson picked up the win and helped score a run.

Led by Chase Headley and Josh Geer who won player of the year and pitcher of the year honors the Missions were the 2007 Texas League Champions.

Since the beginning of the affiliation with the Padres, the Missions have seen nearly a dozen players crack the Big Leagues. Most notably include rising Padres regulars Headley, Kyle Blanks, Nick Hundley, Tim Stauffer, Mat Latos, Matt Antonelli, Chad Huffman, Will Venable and Luis Durango.

Rivalry with Hooks

Since the Corpus Christi Hooks moved to Corpus Christi from Round Rock in 2005 they have been the chief rivals of the Missions. The most recent game of the "I-37 Series" was a 8-5 win for the Missions. The main point of the rivalry is to determine who is the better team of South Texas. Recently the Hooks have stated on their website that they are the "Baseball Capital of South Texas"

Prior to the birth of the Corpus Christi franchise, the chief rivalry was with the Round Rock Express, now a Triple-A member of the Pacific Coast League.

2009 season

The 2009 season started out with an exhibition game between players on the Missions roster and members of the Padres’ Big League Spring Training roster. The result was a 7-3 win for the minor league guys, bolstered by a grand slam by hometown hero Seth Johnston.

Under the leadership of former MLB All-Star Terry Kennedy, the team earned a playoff berth by winning the first-half division title—clinching the berth on the road during an extra-innings win at Corpus Christi on June 23, the last game in the first half of the season.

The season was anti-climactic, however, as the team struggled down the final stretch and into playoffs. The Missions were eliminated by the Midland RockHounds, the eventual Texas League title winners, in four games • mustering enough excitement to win one playoff game behind the pitching of Will Inman. During Game 2 of the southern division championship series, the benches cleared when Mitch Canham defended Inman, who let out a yell to celebrate striking out Midland’s catcher Josh Donaldson. When Canham came to bat the following inning, Midland pitcher Carlos Hernandez threw a pitch that came close to Canham’s head, clearing the benches again and nearly provoking a fight between the teams.

Several players stood out at times during the 2009 season, some of them being promoted for their performance. Outfielder Mike Baxter was promoted early on for his assault on Texas League pitching, batting .376 with 23 doubles in 51 games. Pitchers Tim Stauffer, Cesar Carrillo and Mat Latos were promoted to the Padres after performing well at the Double-A level, though Stauffer and Carrillo both spent a few weeks at the Triple-A level before moving on to the Majors. First baseman Craig Cooper led the team with a .312 average and 11 home runs by the end of the season. Outfielder Luis Durango led the Texas League with 44 stolen bases. Right-hander Ernesto Frieri led the team in most pitching categories, finishing the season protected on the 40-man Major League roster. Other noteworthy players include shortstop Lance Zawadzki, who played in the Arizona Fall League All-Star Game; third baseman Logan Forsythe, who led all of minor league baseball in on-base percentage for a bulk of the season; Cedric Hunter; lefty Nathan Culp and outfielder Sawyer Carroll. Also, second baseman Eric Sogard opened enough eyes to be sought by the Oakland Athletics in a trade that sent Sogard and Kevin Kouzmanoff to the A’s and Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.

2010 season

On December 1, 2009, the Padres announced Kennedy and his coaching staff would be promoted to the Triple-A Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League for the 2010 season, and the Missions would be managed by Doug Dascenzo, who managed the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps to the best regular-season record in minor league baseball and a Midwest League title in 2009.

The 2010 Texas League All-Star Game, hosted by the division rival Midland RockHounds, featured seven Missions players - including three starters. Pitchers Simon Castro, Wynn Pelzer, Craig Italiano and Evan Scribner will represent the Missions along with catcher Luis Martinez, first baseman Matt Clark and outfielder Cedric Hunter.

Signature promotions

The San Antonio Missions have, for the most part, maintained a traditional feel to their game-day production as the world of minor league baseball has turned to wacky promotions. Still, the Missions are not without their own quirks.

During the seventh inning of each game, an auxiliary mascot named Henry the Puffy Taco is chased around the bases by a kid from the stands, typically between 6 and 10 years of age. The kid tackles the giant taco to the ground just before reaching home plate (they start at first base), then poses triumphantly over the downed mascot. Henry has only ever won once, in 1992, when the actor playing him mistimed his steps and he inadvertantly crossed home plate before the kid. The (now 28 year old) kid will have a rematch with Henry during the June 24, 2010 game against Corpus Christi.

In recent years the team has gained attention from within the baseball industry for two unique giveaway nights • Shirt Off Your Back and Used Car Giveaway. In the first, often held on or near the last game of the season, the jerseys worn by the players during the game are raffled off to fans in the stands (raffle tickets are offered at no charge, and each fan is limited to one entry). The same raffle format is used for the Used Car Giveaway, where more than 10 used cars are given away throughout the night. In 2010 the prizes included a 2001 Ford Mustang and a 2001 Volvo S60.

Current roster

Former San Antonio Missions with MLB Experience

More than 700 former San Antonio baseball players have reached the Major Leagues, if only for a “cup of coffee”. Some of the more notable players include:

• Dennis Eckersley
• Orel Hershiser
• Eric Karros
• Pedro Martínez
• Joe Morgan
• Brooks Robinson
• Fernando Valenzuela
• John Wetteland
• Paul Konerko
• Mike Piazza
• Ramón Martínez
• Paul LoDuca
• Alex Cora
• Chase Headley
• Adrián Beltré
• Félix Hernández
• Will Venable
• Nick Hundley
• Sean Kazmar
• Jose Lopez

In addition, Brian Anderson • the former radio voice of the San Antonio Missions • has reached the Big Leagues as the broadcaster for the Milwaukee Brewers. More recently, broadcaster Stu Paul has moved closer to his dream of being in the Majors and is now broadcasting for the Nashville Sounds of the PCL.

Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium

Often referred to as the “Jewel of the Texas League” (probably a moniker given the facility when it was new in 1994), Wolff Stadium is currently the oldest ballpark in the Texas League with 17 years of use. The ballpark seats more than 6,200 and, when counting the “outfield berm” seating holds more than 9,000 spectators.

Tickets for Missions games are priced on par with other minor league parks, ranging from $7 to $10 based on the section of the ballpark the ticketed seat is in.

See also

• List of baseball parks in San Antonio, Texas
• Occurrence of Religious Symbolism in U.S. Sports Team Names and Mascots

External links

• San Antonio Missions official website
• San Antonio Missions Roster, Splits, and Situational Stats
• MadFriars.com
• MySA.com New article about the affiliate change
• [1]
• 2004 Mission Belles Cheerleaders

Categories: Sports clubs established in 1968 | Sports in San Antonio, Texas | Professional baseball teams in Texas | San Diego Padres minor league affiliates | Former Los Angeles Dodgers minor league affiliates