Joplin, Mo. -- On Wednesday, April 20, Missouri Southern Concessions will be bringing back the "Mutt Burger" at its home game against rival Pittsburg State. The Mutt Burger is synonymous with not only MSSU baseball history, but Joplin baseball history as well, and the demand for this special concessions item has been loud and clear.

Dating back to when Warren Turner became the head baseball coach at Missouri Southern, the Mutt Burger (whose namesake comes from Mutt Miller) made its debut in 1978 and became an instant hit. As stated in a Joplin Globe story on the sandwich from 2013: "Mutt Miller was a close friend of my father and me," Turner said. "When I took the job at Southern and we moved to Joe Becker, Mutt came to me and said let me run the concession stand and help you make money for the program.  I said that would be great. "Mutt liked to cook. He had a special recipe for his hamburgers — garlic seasoning was part of it — and we called it the 'Mutt Burger.' As the reputation for the Mutt Burger grew, so did its demand, and it soon became a staple for baseball fans far and near. "Teams would come down from Minnesota just to have the Mutt Burgers," said Turner. "We sold thousands of them! So many that people deliberately came over to Joe Becker when they saw a game happening to buy our Mutt Burgers!"

MSSU Concessions has been testing out Mutt Burgers for a couple of games this season to make sure the recipe was just right. While many know some of elements that make up a good Mutt Burger, the secret ingredient has been well-kept. Thanks to Turner, however, the Mutt Burger will be coming out of retirement to once again be served at a MSSU baseball game.

Wednesday's baseball game is scheduled to start at 1 pm at Warren Turner Field on the campus of Missouri Southern. For a full baseball schedule, visit mssulions.com.