Puffy Taco Loses Rematch

By Leezia Dhalla - Express-News

Eighteen years ago, a miscalculation in timing and speed helped the Puffy Taco accidentally chalk up his first and only race victory in the history of Missions baseball.

On Thursday, Randy Neuenfeldt — the kid who lost — returned to settle the score with the mascot that outran him in July 1992.

That day, he was randomly selected to race the Puffy Taco after the sixth inning. Instead of allowing Neuenfeldt to win, the mascot accidentally slid past home plate first, winning the race.

“The taco was running fast, he must’ve had a lot of chili in him or something,” said Randy Neuenfeldt Sr., Neuenfeldt’s dad. “I was flabbergasted.”

So when Neuenfeldt heard the crowd erupt into “boos,” he did the only thing he could: he cried.

“I thought they were all booing me, and when you’re 11 and in front of a few thousand people, you’re nervous to begin with,” he said.

For Rick Hill, the Missions intern in charge of promotions at the time, the experience was unnerving.

“A bunch of things went wrong leading to a disappointed night for an 11-year-old,” he said. “Usually, you got the kid and he’s beaming, but this was a total 180. He was hulked over crying, and I was just so disappointed.”

Fast-forward 18 years to February 2010.

Neuenfeldt, by chance, came across an online blog Hill posted about the Puffy Taco’s win. In it, Hill offered the boy who lost “another shot at beating the Puffy Taco.”

After the pair reconnected, the San Antonio Missions Club organized the rematch, which attracted a season-high crowd of 7,185 people to Wolff Stadium.

For Hill, who was in attendance, the rematch was “a nice way to top that experience off.”

It also was an opportunity for Neuenfeldt to “come full circle” and enjoy a Missions game with his family.

“The irony is ... taking the lemons and making lemonade,” Hill said. “I’m glad (Neuenfeldt’s) enjoying his 15 minutes of fame for what was probably a lot of bad memories for a five-minute promotion.”

Neuenfeldt added that after his “initial shock and embarrassment” disappeared, he began to laugh at the story.

“Losing to the taco was a once in a lifetime deal as it was,” he said, chuckling. “Then to get the opportunity to do that rematch ... that’s like lightning striking twice.”

Posted by Wintermute 2 at June 26, 2010 11:58 AM