San Diego Padres

White button with a blue illustration of a cartoon monk swinging a baseball bat in the center. The monk has a red circular border around him, and dark blue text curls around the red border on the bottom left.

The Swinging Friar is the mascot of the San Diego Padres Major League Baseball team. The mascot first appeared in 1958 when the team was still a minor league organization. He was named after the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded the Mission San Diego de Alcala in the 18th century. In 1968, the Padres joined Major League Baseball and kept the Swinging Friar as the team emblem until 1984. The logo returned as a sleeve patch on alternate jerseys in 1996. The Swinging Friar mascot wears a hooded cloak, rope belt, and sandals on the field. During home games on Sundays, he wears a camouflage cloak to honor the military and its history in San Diego.