San Antonio Missions

History

Early years

San Antonio was home for one of the charter members of the Texas League back in 1888. 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 (1889-1891, 1893–1894, 1900–1902) 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. They remained affiliated with the Browns through the Texas League's temporary demise after the 1942 season due to World War II. With the return of peace, they reaffiliated with the Browns, a partnership that continued in 1954 when they became the Baltimore Orioles. This affiliation lasted 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 Major League Baseball, including Hall-of-Famers Willard Brown (1956) and Brooks Robinson (1956–1957).

The Missions won the Dixie Series, a postseason interleague championship between the champions of the Southern Association and the Texas League, in 1950, defeating the Nashville Vols, 4–3, in the best-of-seven series.

The Missions won the Pan American Series a postseason interleague championship between the champions of the Mexican League and Texas League, in 1961 defeaeating the Veracruz Aguilas 4–2 in the best of seven series.(Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, Third Edition, 2007, Lloyd Johnson and Miles Wolff, editors.)

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 future Hall of Famers Ron Santo (1959) and 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 Major League Baseball, including Hall-of-Famer Joe Morgan and two-time National League All-Star Jerry Grote.

Los Angeles Dodgers (1977–2000)

The team became the San Antonio Dodgers with a change in affiliation to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1977. While the franchise kept the Dodger moniker for 11 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), Ramón Martínez (1988, 1996), John Wetteland (1988), Eric Karros (1990), Pedro Martínez (1991), Raúl Mondesí (1991–1992), Eric Young (1991), Mike Piazza (1992), Henry Blanco (1993–1996), Todd Hollandsworth (1993), Chan Ho Park (1994), Miguel Cairo (1995), Paul Lo Duca (1995, 1997), Paul Konerko (1996), Alex Cora (1997), Dennys Reyes (1997), Adrián Beltré (1998), and Éric Gagné (1999).

The team played the 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, utilizing 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 the Dodgers ended after the 2000 season with both clubs mutually agreeing to part.

Seattle Mariners (2001–2006)

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, 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, Rafael Soriano, Greg Dobbs, Julio Mateo, Gil Meche, Cha Seung Baek, Jose Lopez, George Sherrill, Shin-Soo Choo, Félix Hernández, Mike Morse, Aaron Taylor, Aaron Looper, Allan Simpson, and Yuniesky Betancourt.

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

San Diego Padres (2007–2018)

The Missions entered into a new player development contract with the San Diego Padres beginning in 2007. Randy Ready managed the Missions that season following a promotion from the Class A Fort Wayne Wizards. The first home game as a member of the Padres organization was on 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 respectively, the Missions were the 2007 Texas League Champions.

From the beginning of the affiliation with the Padres, the Missions saw nearly a dozen players go on to play the big leagues. Most notably include rising Padres regulars: Chase Headley, Kyle Blanks, Nick Hundley, Tim Stauffer, Mat Latos, Matt Antonelli, Chad Huffman, Will Venable, and Luis Durango.

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 affiliate, bolstered by a grand slam by San Antonio-native 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 anticlimactic, 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—managing only to win one playoff game behind the pitching of Will Inman.

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.

Milwaukee Brewers (2019–2020)

On June 21, 2017, team owner David G. Elmore of the Elmore Sports Group announced the relocation of the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox of the Pacific Coast League to San Antonio in 2019. The team would continue use of the Missions nickname, effectively elevating San Antonio to a Triple-A franchise. Meanwhile, the Missions Double-A franchise moved to Amarillo and continued to compete in the Texas League as the Amarillo Sod Poodles.

The Missions signed a two-year player development contract with the Milwaukee Brewers to be their top minor league affiliate through 2020. They played their first Triple-A game on April 4, 2019, a 5–3 win, against the Oklahoma City Dodgers at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. The winning run was scored in the top of the ninth inning when Jake Hager hit an RBI triple scoring Nate Orf and Corey Ray. They won their first home game 6–5 over the Memphis Redbirds on April 9.

San Diego Padres (2021–present)

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minors after the 2020 season, the Missions were selected to move back down to Double-A as affiliates of the San Diego Padres. In a further change, they were organized into the Double-A Central. In 2022, the Double-A Central became known as the Texas League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization. Following the 2022 season, the team was purchased by Designated Bidders, LLC, a group of San Antonio business executives.

Season-by-season records

The following is a list of San Antonio's results since the 1968 season.

Rivals

The Missions' chief rival from 2005 to 2018 was the Corpus Christi Hooks. The teams contended to determine which is the better team of South Texas. The Missions were previously rivals with the Round Rock Express, but this was interrupted when the Express joined the PCL in 2005. The Missions and Express competed again in the PCL's American Conference Southern Division from 2019 to 2020.

Signature promotions

Since 1989, during the seventh inning of each game, an auxiliary mascot named Henry the Puffy Taco is chased around the bases by a child 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 won the race once, in 1992. In that race, Henry mistimed his steps and he inadvertently crossed home plate before his 10-year-old opponent. Nearly 20 years later the Missions hosted a rematch and, on June 24, 2010, the child finally avenged his loss.

The team has 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.

Former 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:

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.

Ballpark

The Missions play their home games at Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium which opened in 1994. The ballpark seats more than 6,200 spectators and holds more than 9,000 people with additional outfield grass berm seating. The team has sought a new stadium since 2009, and continues to do so, though the team moved to the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 2019.

Tickets for Missions games are priced on par with other minor league parks, ranging from $11 to $30 based on the section of the ballpark or $10 for berm seating.