What is the average? Why is it so famous?
2007-05-20 00:30:02 · 4 answers · asked by stubop 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
Here's a wonderfully detailed etymology, history, and background of the term: http://members.tripod.com/~alpepper/mendozaline.html
I've always heard the term attributed to George Brett, but apparently not so (I've learned something today!); to the best knowledge it was coined in 1979 by one or two of Mendoza's teammates on the Mariners. Brett, however, popularized it in a 1980 interview, and it took on a life of its own. Brett's statement: "The first thing I look for in the Sunday papers is who is below the Mendoza line". Sunday editions tend to list all the players currently qualified for the batting title, and Mendoza was usually dead last.
Mendoza was a lifetime .215 hitter, and the term properly refers to whomever is last among current qualified players, but for convenience and our general preference for base-ten numbers, the ML typically is considered as a .200 average.
2007-05-20 03:13:27 · answer #1 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Mendoza line refers to a hitters batting average. If a hitter is batting over .200, he is over the Mendoza line. If he is hitting under .200, he is under the Mendoza line. The question is which light hitting Mendoza was the one who bequeathed his name to this dubious honor. Minnie Mendoza was a career minor leager who finally broke through with the Twins in 1970. He only had 16 at bats with them, and got 3 hits, for a .188 average. Mario (no relation) was in the majors for all of or parts of 9 seasons. His career average was .215, but hit below .200 in 5 of them, with a career high of .245 with the Mariners in 1980. Who origin- ated the term is also unknown, as anybody from George Brett to the Sporting News is credited with creating it. In truth, it does not really matter....it has become a part of sporting lexicon and legend, and has a life of it's own.
2007-05-20 08:19:55 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
the mendoza line is a .200 average, named after a lifetime .200 hitter named mario mendoza. He was a reserve SS for the Pittsburg Pirates.
2007-05-20 08:49:39 · answer #3 · answered by jrgullion67 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
created by chris berman, the mendoza line is when is hitting below .200. named after former infielder mario mendoza.
2007-05-20 08:49:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋