RICHMOND, Ind. — The Richmond Flying Mummies summer league, wooden-bat baseball team plays in a small Indiana city -- but they have some famous backers.
Hopefully, the menu at the concession stands at historic Don McBride Stadium includes tots.
Three cast members from the 2004 film “Napoleon Dynamite” -- including leading actor Jon Heder (Napoleon), Efren Ramirez (Pedro) and Jon Gries (Uncle Rico) -- are investors in the team, located in the eastern Indiana city of Richmond, MLB.com reported.
Richmond Flying Mummies part-owner Matt Bomberg called the actors’ participation a boost to the team’s fans.
“It’s very exciting, for a town this small,” Bomberg told MLB.com. “We’re in between Indianapolis and Dayton, you know, it’s kind of lost a little bit. It’s a big deal.”
At a recent game, nearly all of the 2,000 fans in attendance lined up to get autographs from the trio of movie stars, according to the baseball news website. Many were wearing “Vote for Pedro” shirts, while others snapped photographs of a replica of Uncle Rico’s van.
Others were wearing costumes made famous by Heder in “Napoleon Dynamite,” who drew a cult following for his portrayal, according to IMDb.com, of “a listless and alienated teenager” who, among other things, is “dealing with his bizarre family life back home.”
Gries said agreed to invest in the team because he loves the Northwoods League, where the Flying Mummies compete along with 25 other teams.
“This is about community,” Gries told MLB.com. “It’s amazing.”
Gries attended a Madison Mallards game last year and connected with Bomberg. So when Bomberg became part of the ownership group for a new franchise in Richmond, he turned to Gries.
“I reached out to Jon and he was in from the beginning,” Bomberg told MLB.com. “Big into the community, wanted to see what else he could do.”
But Gries -- who memorably bragged in “Napoleon Dynamite” that he could have “gone pro” in football -- wanted more of an investment in the Mummies and contacted his fellow cast members.
Napoleon Dynamite bought a … baseball team? 👀
— MLB (@MLB) August 5, 2026
It's true: Napoleon (Jon Heder), Uncle Rico (Jon Gries) and Pedro (Efren Ramirez) are part-owners of Richmond, Indiana’s Flying Mummies pic.twitter.com/0snYyPPNAn
“(Gries) wore us down,” Heder told MLB.com. “He was just like, ‘Baseball, baseball, baseball.’ I was like, ‘Dude, you’re known for football, let’s lean into the football thing.’”
Ramirez said he liked the community atmosphere at Flying Mummies games.
“We love families, we love communities and being able to be a part of this,” he told MLB.com.
Why invest in a team called the Richmond Flying Mummies? According to MLB.com, the team derives its name from Richmond’s two claims to fame.
“Flying” refers to the Wright Brothers, who lived in the city from 1881 to 1884 before moving to Ohio. “Mummies” comes from the city having two Egyptian mummies on public display -- one at the Wayne County Historical Museum in the downtown area and the other at the Joseph Moore Museum of Natural History
The team’s current mascot is a rooster, a nod to the Indy League Roosters franchise that used to play at McBride Stadium, MLB.com reported.
The owners are searching for a new one. The “Napoleon Dynamite” actors have their own suggestions.
“We’ve been dabbling in the black arts,” Heder said. “We’re gonna see what we can do to bring out a real mascot. C’mon, man.”
“Halloween is coming up, so you know what that means,” Ramirez said.
“We’ll just shovel him out here, in pieces,” Gries said.
As long as there are tots to be had, the fan base will probably go along with a new mascot.
©2026 Cox Media Group
