Baseball
Steal a Base, Steal a Taco
I stole a taco this week.
Okay, I didn’t actually steal a taco, at least not in the literal sense. But I did get a free taco courtesy of Taco Bell, thanks to their annual Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion from the World Series. The way it works, if any player steals a base at any time during the World Series, everyone in America can get a free Doritos Locos taco at Taco Bell on a specified date. Since at least one stolen base is bound to occur at some point during a period of 4-7 baseball games, I’m sure Taco Bell goes into this each year with the understanding that they’re almost certainly giving away free tacos. I’d like to share a little personal experience on the matter.
The promotion originally began in 2007 during the World Series between the Colorado Rockies and my favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. When the Red Sox’ Jacoby Ellsbury became the first player to steal a base in that World Series, he became the first ever Taco Hero. Taco Bell announced that all of America could then get a free taco on a particular date between 2:00-5:00 p.m. You know, during the hours when nobody ever eats. Riding high off of the Red Sox’ World Series sweep that year, I decided to take advantage of this promotion. At the time, I working at a previous job which was located across the street from a Taco Bell. Conveniently enough, I was able to go there after work, order my free taco, and be on my way. I realize that most people who go there order more than just one taco, but that’s how they get you. Besides, it wasn’t like I was getting dinner there; it was only 4:30 p.m. I just wanted my free taco. It was a good day.
Fast forward eleven years to 2018. I have to fast forward that far because I have no memory of any personal experience with free World Series tacos during that time frame. Although in researching it now, apparently there were several years when this promotion was not offered, but it has now been around every year since 2015. However, I don’t think I really paid attention to it again until 2018, when my Red Sox were once again in the World Series, this time against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I was emotionally invested that year, as not only was my favorite team playing in the World Series again, but I had also recently visited Boston not too long before this and had attended my first Red Sox home games at Fenway Park. Naturally, I therefore must have had a hand in their success that year.
When the Red Sox’ Mookie Betts became the first player to steal a base in the 2018 World Series, all of America won a free Doritos Locos taco from Taco Bell. The taco could be redeemed at participating Taco Bell locations on a particular day, this time from 2:00-6:00. The Red Sox would go on to win the World Series in five games, making the prospect of a free celebratory taco even better. On the appointed day, I waited until 2:00 to take my lunch break, walked two blocks to a nearby mall food court which had a Taco Bell, and got my free taco. I also got a more considerable lunch at another eatery, but I got my free taco from Taco Bell. My victory taco, if you will. It was a good day.
Let’s fast forward again, this time only one year to 2019. The Red Sox had inexplicably gone down the toilet in only one year. However, being a baseball fan, I still watched with interest as the Washington Nationals won a hard-fought and well-deserved World Series title over the Houston Astros in seven games. Along the way, the Nationals’ Trea Turner became the Taco Hero of 2019, as all of America again won a free Doritos Locos taco from participating Taco Bell locations. Although I was not emotionally invested in this one, I figured, why not, I’ll go get a free taco.
On the appointed day, I took my lunch break at 2:00, walked two blocks to the same food court at the nearby mall, and asked for a free taco. The guy behind the counter gave me a strange look and asked, “Ummm…a free taco???” This wasn’t a good sign. I followed up by asking, “You know about the World Series promotion? Today from 2-6? Steal a base, steal a taco?” He replied, “Ummm…they didn’t tell us anything about that. Let me check with the manager.” He went back for a minute, came back out, and told me sorry, but they were not giving out free tacos. The promotion was only good at participating locations, and apparently, they were not a participating location. This was an unexpected turn of events, as this was the exact same location where I had gotten a free taco just one year earlier. So, I politely told the cashier thanks, but as I was just there for the free taco anyway, I’d be on my way. I got my actual lunch from another eatery (as I would have done anyway), and as I then did not get off work until 6:00 that day, I missed out on my free taco last year. It was not a good day.
Now, this is all irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. People (including myself) have bigger problems than expecting a free taco and not getting one. Even last year, in the year 1 B.C. (Before Covid), people had bigger problems than not getting a free taco. But it was a bit annoying. Imagine if someone tells you, “Here, I’m going to give you a dollar,” and then you say “Oh thanks!” and hold out your hand, and then they tell you, “Just kidding, I’m not really going to give you a dollar, I had my fingers crossed.” You still have the same amount of money as you did before, except now you’re a bit annoyed. But it’s okay. My heart will go on. I just haven’t been to that particular Taco Bell location since.
A couple good lessons can be learned from this. One is to always read the fine print on everything. The second lesson is, going forward, it might not be a bad idea to call the Taco Bell location you plan to visit on Steal a Base, Steal a Taco day and ask them, “Are you a participating location?”
This brings us to 2020. (You just cringed at reading that last sentence, didn’t you?) For a bit of baseball context, the Red Sox stupidly traded Mookie Betts, their best player, to the Los Angeles Dodgers back in February. Then when coronavirus shut everything down in March, including sports, it looked for a while like there wasn’t going to be a baseball season at all this year. But baseball came back in July with a shortened season, Mookie led the Dodgers to the World Series, and Taco Bell once again rolled out its Steal a Base, Steal a Taco promotion. When Mookie stole a base in Game 1 of this year’s World Series last week, he became the first player ever to be the Taco Hero twice, having previously won this fictitious award in 2018. This stolen base once again enabled all of America to get a free Doritos Locos taco at participating Taco Bell restaurants this past Wednesday, October 28, while supplies last. This time though, instead of being just from 2:00-6:00 p.m., the promotion lasted all day. Meanwhile, the Dodgers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 this past Tuesday to win the 2020 World Series.
On Wednesday evening, I went to the Taco Bell location closest to where I live. Eschewing my own advice, I did not call them ahead of time to ask if they were a participating location. Not to worry though, because they were, and I got my free Doritos Locos taco on Wednesday. Perhaps I should have gone back a second time to get another one to make up for last year, but I didn’t. If I had thought about it, I would have decided it wasn’t worth the effort anyway. One was good enough. It was a good day.
Before I wrap this up, since this post is largely about Taco Bell, let me also take this opportunity to show you my Taco Bell hot sauce packet collection below. I don’t always go to Taco Bell (or even that often), but when I do, I make sure to save any leftover hot sauce packets. They all have interesting sayings on the front of the packets. I throw away any duplicates, so each packet in my collection has a different saying. I now have 60 different Taco Bell hot sauce packets. You’re probably wondering why. Well, some people collect things, which is normal. This particular collection, though, is just one of the things that makes me quirky.
Anyway, that was my story of free tacos. I hope you enjoyed the recap. I’d like to thank Taco Bell for their generosity at participating locations, and also for their clever hot sauce packets. I’d also like to thank Mookie Betts, whose efforts allowed me to have a free taco in 2018 and again this year. I’d also like to thank Mookie for delivering another World Series title to Red Sox Nation in 2018. And while I didn’t care one way or the other who won the World Series this year, congratulations to Mookie for winning another title with his new team.
Wait till next year!
