Taco Hero

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America's Taco Hero is a promotion by Taco Bell, [1] which is part of the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotional campaign by Taco Bell which first began in 2007. If a player steals a base during the World Series, a free taco is then available to everyone in the United States on a specified day for a limited amount of time. The first Taco Hero was Jacoby Ellsbury who stole second base against the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series. In 2015, Lorenzo Cain of the Kansas City Royals stole second base and won America an A.M. Crunchwrap rather than a taco. Since 2016, the prize has been a free Doritos Locos Taco [1] . After stealing a base in the bottom of the 5th inning in Game 1 the 2020 World Series, Mookie Betts is the only player to have been a Taco Hero twice. [2]

YearTaco HeroTeamLeagueOpponentBase StolenPitcherCatcherPrizeWorld Series ResultReference
2007 Jacoby Ellsbury Boston Red Sox American Colorado Rockies 2B Ubaldo Jimenez Yorvit Torrealba TacoW [3]
2008 Jason Bartlett Tampa Bay Rays American Philadelphia Phillies 2B Cole Hamels Carlos Ruiz TacoL [4]
2012 Ángel Pagán San Francisco Giants National Detroit Tigers 2B Drew Smyly Gerald Laird TacoW [5]
2015 Lorenzo Cain Kansas City Royals American New York Mets 2B Matt Harvey Travis d'Arnaud A.M. CrunchwrapW [6]
2016 Francisco Lindor Cleveland Indians American Chicago Cubs 2B Jon Lester David Ross Doritos Locos TacoL [7]
2017 Cameron Maybin Houston Astros American Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Brandon McCarthy Yasmani Grandal Doritos Locos TacoW [8]
2018 Mookie Betts Boston Red Sox American Los Angeles Dodgers 2B Clayton Kershaw Austin Barnes Doritos Locos TacoW
2019 Trea Turner Washington Nationals National Houston Astros 2B Gerrit Cole Martín Maldonado Doritos Locos TacoW
2020 Mookie Betts Los Angeles Dodgers National Tampa Bay Rays 2B Tyler Glasnow Mike Zunino Doritos Locos TacoW

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References

  1. 1 2 "Who will be America's next taco hero in Taco Bell's "STEAL A BASE, STEAL A TACO" World Series Promotion?". TacoBell.com. October 19, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  2. Harrigan, Thomas (October 20, 2020). "These players have won free tacos for fans". MLB.com . MLB Advanced Media . Retrieved October 21, 2020.
  3. "2007 World Series Game 2, Colorado Rockies at Boston Red Sox, October 25, 2007 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. "2008 World Series Game 1, Philadelphia Phillies at Tampa Bay Rays, October 22, 2008 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. "2012 World Series Game 2, Detroit Tigers at San Francisco Giants, October 25, 2012 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. "2015 World Series Game 1, New York Mets at Kansas City Royals, October 27, 2015 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. "2016 World Series Game 1, Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Indians, October 25, 2016 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  8. "2017 World Series Game 2, Houston Astros at Los Angeles Dodgers, October 25, 2017 - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.