Mario Mendoza was a
baseball player who played from
1974 through
1982, with the
Pittsburgh Pirates,
Seattle Mariners, and
Texas Rangers. Mendoza was primarily a shortstop, and the epitomy of a "good field, no hit" player, compiling a lifetime .215
batting average and .262
slugging percentage. Mendoza also rarely stole a base or drew a walk, resulting in a well-rounded offensive ineptitude that caused him to be little more than a defensive substitute throughout most of his career. The one exception was
1979, when the
Seattle Mariners, in the third year of their existence, gave Mendoza almost 400 at bats. He responded with a .198 batting average, which gave rise to the now infamous "Mendoza Line" - the inability to hit .200.
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