SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Missions baseball team is the talk of the town after they added some Latin flair to the games.

The hot topic at the ballpark is the Mission’s alter ego - The Flying Chanclas. The idea for the Minor League Baseball team to embrace Hispanic culture is now paying off.

"I think they were optimistic that it could do really well but I don't think anybody anticipated the rush in sales and it's been great," said Rich Weimert of the San Antonio Missions.

Saturday's game was packed as The San Antonio Flying Chanclas made their debut on Cinco de Mayo here at Wolff Stadium. The sold out crowd went wild.

Officials said the 8,400 attendees made up the biggest crowd they've seen at the stadium since 2004. Some waited in line for an hour to buy merchandise.

Many followed the new mascot "Mama Peno" - hoping to snap a picture of her waving her Chanclas to scare the Corpus Christi Hooks.

San Antonio Missions officials are hoping the special season will continue to build more momentum for the team.

"We knew this was going to be a big year for us just being our last AA before we go to AAA next year. So there was going to be that kind of momentum of that kind of move and I think this has only enhanced the excitement of this season," said Weimert.

On Tuesday, the Mission's office was filled with boxes ready to be shipped out as people across the country are ordering Chanclas merchandise.

The San Antonio Missions are just one of more than 30 Minor League Baseball teams changing its name to pay tribute to the Hispanic Community.

Over in Albuquerque - another sellout crowd broke records as 16,000 people attended the Mariachis de Nuevo Mexico.

The team said the nine games called Copa de La Diversion, or Fun Cup, are so far proving to be quite a success. The goal of the promotion is to highlight Latino culture and diversity in baseball.