Happy birthday, Mario Mendoza

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 26, 2009 2:30 PM CST

Happy birthday to Mario Mendoza, who turns 59 today.

Mendoza, of course, was immortalized by George Brett. For you young 'uns, back in the 70s and 80s, you didn't have current, up-to-date stats at your fingertips anytime you wanted them. Most papers ran the extended statistics for all major leaguers in the Sunday paper, and they were sorted by batting average, top to bottom.

Brett famously claimed that, when he got the Sunday paper, the first thing he did was see who had dropped below the "Mendoza Line," referring to the .200 batting average mark.

Mendoza played for the Pirates for five years, and then the Mariners for two, before spending his last two years with the Rangers. A shortstop, Mendoza was legendary for being useless offensively. Mendoza had a career .215/.245/.262 line...he didn't hit for average, he didn't hit for power, and he didn't walk. He was a career 12 for 20 basestealer, so he didn't run, either. In his 8 full seasons in the majors, he had an OPS below 470 in four of them, and his season high OPS was 596.

Mendoza arrived in Texas as part of an epic 11 player trade between Texas and Seattle in December, 1980. He was the Rangers' regular shortstop in the strike-shortened 1981 season, although Mark Wagner also got significant playing time at shortstop. In 1982, he only played in 12 games before being released, with the Rangers trying, at various times, Doug Flynn, Nelson Norman, Wagner, Bucky Dent, and Wayne Tolleson at the position.

Ironically, Mendoza's final major league appearance was as part of an extra-inning game winning rally against one of the greatest relievers of all time. The Rangers and Royals were tied 1-1 heading into the 12th, and Dan Quisenberry, in his second inning, allowed a single to Leon Roberts. Mendoza was sent in to pinch hit for Larry Parrish, and he reached base on a sacrifice when the Royals tried unsuccessfully to get the force on Roberts.

That led to a 2 run rally and a 3-1 Rangers victory, with Mendoza scoring the final run of the game. He came into the game at shortstop for the bottom of the 12th, caught a popfly from Frank White to end the game, and that was his last appearance as a major leaguer.

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Sunday paper stats

were Christmas day 24 days a year back then. Where’s Otto Velez and Sixto Lezcano?

"Ho visto il tuo agire, non solo rendono per me. Basta un sacco di fluff".

by scoop16 on Dec 26, 2009 2:37 PM CST reply actions

how did he make it to MLB

we must have been short on players

My Bible Study is at:
http://billydpowell.synthasite.com
take a look. my hope is it helps people get into their Bible where the Holy Spirit can teach them the REAL truth, not my words, which are just stimulants.... 2 Tim 2:15 Study.....

by billydpowell on Dec 26, 2009 2:43 PM CST reply actions

Jamey Carroll

keeps getting paid.

"Ho visto il tuo agire, non solo rendono per me. Basta un sacco di fluff".

by scoop16 on Dec 26, 2009 2:45 PM CST up reply actions

AJM loves being old.

by brettgardner on Dec 26, 2009 2:43 PM CST reply actions

me too

by billydpowell on Dec 26, 2009 2:44 PM CST up reply actions

Ditto

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -

"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce

by Ed Coffin on Dec 26, 2009 4:11 PM CST up reply actions

I just find it amusing that a 30-something guy pretends he's so old.

by brettgardner on Dec 26, 2009 4:14 PM CST up reply actions

Feel sorry for Mario...

Kind of tacky to forever be remembered, not as a major-leaguer, but as a bad major-leaguer.

Ephesians 3:20-21...and I can only imagine

by TedFord on Dec 26, 2009 3:15 PM CST reply actions

the choice for players of those caliber is to either be remembered as a bad major leaguer

or not remembered at all. i guess it depends on the person as to which he would prefer.

by ab03 on Dec 26, 2009 3:29 PM CST up reply actions

I don't feel sorry for him

He can tell people that he got to play big-league baseball. He can tell his kids and grandkids stories that I can only dream of living through.

Sure, he might not have been a great player. But he can say that he was there.

And for that, I have to tip my cap to the guy. Hope he’s with friends and family today, and that whatever he may be doing, he’s happy doing it.

by oc on Dec 26, 2009 3:54 PM CST up reply actions

There's a difference between being a Moonlight Graham

And being remembered specifically for sucking.

by brettgardner on Dec 26, 2009 4:06 PM CST up reply actions

Yep

Baseball has the Mendoza line, music has rap, military history has the Italians in WW II. IF it’s bad enough, it’s in it’s way memorable.

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -

"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce

by Ed Coffin on Dec 26, 2009 4:13 PM CST up reply actions

"music has rap"

You’re one of my favorite posters, Ed (especially your signature), and I actually really hate rap, so this made me laugh, but take no offense when I have to say: this has got to be the most you’ve ever sounded like an old guy.

Heh.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Dec 26, 2009 6:15 PM CST up reply actions

I wish you'd said hippity hop, though.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Dec 26, 2009 6:15 PM CST up reply actions

I would've recced for hippity hop.

I failed my LSB ethics test.

"WHAT A SHITLOAD OF FUCK" - LL's "Poochie" on Rich Harden signing with Texas over Seattle

by LSJ on Dec 26, 2009 6:45 PM CST up reply actions

very little rap is memorable for being bad

and you are no longer the authority on what music is transcendental

by ab03 on Dec 26, 2009 7:09 PM CST up reply actions

Heh

OK, accepted. But although rap is entertainment, it isn’t music by any definition. I’ve heard tribal chants in Hawaii and Micronesia more melodious. Oh, philkid, have to acknowledge – an old guy IS an old guy, no matter his jargon. Good one.

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -

"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce

by Ed Coffin on Dec 26, 2009 7:30 PM CST up reply actions

How do you feel about jazz, Ed?

by Snark on Dec 26, 2009 7:43 PM CST up reply actions

Like it generally

Soft, improvisational, and the early polyrhythmic stuff like was played at Preservation Hall in New Orleans (before all the old guys died off). A lot of the Brazilian sunco-rhythm stuff is good, too.

"He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912) also -

"Telephone, n. An invention of the devil which abrogates some of the advantages of making a disagreeable person keep his distance."
~Ambrose Bierce

by Ed Coffin on Dec 26, 2009 8:11 PM CST up reply actions

dave bruebeck claims he was rapping before they knew what it was

seems like he thinks it is music

by ab03 on Dec 27, 2009 1:12 AM CST up reply actions

'

by brettgardner on Dec 27, 2009 1:32 AM CST up reply actions

x

Hip Hop Marmalade spic And span,
Met you one summer and it all began
You’re the best girl that I ever did see,
The great Larry Bird Jersey 33
When you take a sip you buzz like a hornet
Billy Shakespeare wrote a whole bunch of sonnets
Call me Willy Whistle cause I can’t speak baby
Something in your eyes went and drove me crazy
Now I can’t forget you and it makes me mad,
Left one day and never came back
Stayed all summer then went back home,
Macauly Culkin wasn’t Home Alone
Fell deep in love,but now we ain’t speaking
Michael J Fox was Alex P Keaton
When I met you I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch

by brettgardner on Dec 26, 2009 7:53 PM CST up reply actions

New kids on the block had a bunch of hits

"Nothing we do here has a point" - Czar Morris

by inactive lsb user on Dec 26, 2009 8:07 PM CST up reply actions

Let's not continue this lyric.

In fact, let’s change “music has rap” to “music has LFO”

by rlb02a on Dec 27, 2009 12:44 AM CST up reply actions

and lots of people eat twinkies

doesn’t make it a gourmet dish.

G G G E-flat_______ F F F D__________....

by t ball on Dec 28, 2009 11:49 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs

I feel kinda sorry for people named Mendoza

Between Mario and Luis, it’s becoming a terrible baseball name.

I failed my LSB ethics test.

"WHAT A SHITLOAD OF FUCK" - LL's "Poochie" on Rich Harden signing with Texas over Seattle

by LSJ on Dec 26, 2009 6:47 PM CST up reply actions

I know the Rangers were looking to sacrifice in that situation, but...

…Larry Parrish still had to be a little peeved/embarrassed to be pinch-hit for by Mendoza

I have no objection to man walking on the moon.

by Chad Crudup on Dec 26, 2009 3:36 PM CST via mobile reply actions

LP was my favorite player when I was a kid

Stinks to be pinch hit for by Mendoza. However, LP was one of the ultimate hot/cold guys. He could get hot and carry a team for a month (and hit three grand slams in a week) then he could get so cold he would be worse than Mendoza.

by northtexan95 on Dec 26, 2009 5:09 PM CST up reply actions

When LP got here in '82 he was godawful for the first three months, to the point

where he almost retired. I’m talking worse than Chris Davis was the first half of 2009. He then hit something like 3 or 4 grand slams in a week and was great the rest of ’82.

I imagine Mendoza hit for LP when he was in one of those 4 for 53 death spirals.

That 1982 team was a low point for me as a fan and 1985 & 2007 stand right next to them. Hopeless eras without much hope in sight.

"Dying ain't hard. It's living that's hard."

"Ranger players, especially veterans, weren’t surprised that Daniels couldn’t find a deal"

"Business as usual." - Tom Hicks on the Ranger off-season 11/19/09

by Josey Wales on Dec 26, 2009 5:31 PM CST up reply actions

Sounds like a certain second baseman we know and love.

I failed my LSB ethics test.

"WHAT A SHITLOAD OF FUCK" - LL's "Poochie" on Rich Harden signing with Texas over Seattle

by LSJ on Dec 27, 2009 12:47 AM CST up reply actions

Do you think Warsh

would have made that move?

by rlb02a on Dec 27, 2009 12:45 AM CST up reply actions

You just botched that beyond all hell.

A report asked him how he thought his season was going and he said something around “I knew I was doing pretty terrible when I saw that I was below Medoza’s line.”

From that day on, the Mendoza line was born.

by SaltyGoesYard on Dec 26, 2009 4:02 PM CST reply actions

Wikipedia lists my version as the origin

However, I’ve heard the one you cite, as well.

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 26, 2009 4:44 PM CST up reply actions

Was it

Supposed to be some off-the-record statement, or was it just not put into a report ever? Seems apocryphal.

by brettgardner on Dec 26, 2009 4:56 PM CST up reply actions

Every single player on one news paper page?

That sounds a little nuts.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Dec 26, 2009 6:16 PM CST reply actions

it was small print.

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 26, 2009 8:43 PM CST up reply actions

It was awesome

I remember sitting on the floor as a kid on Sunday morning looking for all the Rangers and their stats.

2009 Texas Rangers: Why The Hell Not Us?--ghtd36 on May 13, 2009
In the interest of quicker games Ron should just tell the ump he's pulling the Feliz card and the ump should rule the inning over.--Sherman McCoy on Sept. 4, 2009

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 8:53 PM CST up reply actions

I did the same thing.

Do any kids scour the stats anymore? I have a 17 yr old and a 10 yr old. They both like baseball but I have never seen them do anything lake that.

I was a Ranger fan when being a Rangers fan wasn't cool.

by JTodd on Dec 26, 2009 9:21 PM CST up reply actions

Despite the presence of the internet in my house, I did as late as high school in the early 2000s.

But that point all I cared about was batting average and ERA. I’d never cared about RBIs or Wins and was starting to realize home runs told very little of the story. So I was only looking at two stats, really, and the fact that that’s all I could get in the news paper was what led me to discover Baseball Reference.

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Dec 27, 2009 12:39 AM CST up reply actions

Baseball Reference

Back then it only had the previous year’s stats.

613photo

by Black Francis on Dec 27, 2009 2:02 AM CST up reply actions

When did it first start having up-to-date?

I feel like it did when I first started using it, but I also didn’t spend much time looking at current baseball stats back then.

I was, um. . . convinced my eye test was good enough. . .

And That Happened: Sports with a Hint of Sarcasm

by philkid3 on Dec 27, 2009 12:29 PM CST up reply actions

Around 2004 or 2005, I think

by Adam J. Morris on Dec 27, 2009 5:03 PM CST up reply actions

So

You considering him for Top 50 Rangers of All Time?

"[Font} doesn't turn 19 until the end of May and his heater can already hit 99 on the gun. That's baseball porn." - Jason Parks

by hightowersmith on Dec 26, 2009 7:14 PM CST reply actions

Adam has him at #3 with a bullet

by boomer1 on Dec 26, 2009 8:54 PM CST up reply actions

Not the Mendoza we use this pic for, but.....

After Fuentes blows a save and an Angels loss to the Indians:
"Angels still in first place" - UCI Halo
"Hey you know who would have gotten those 3 outs in the 9th?
Darren O’Day." - FirebatM3
LOL

by MayurP on Dec 26, 2009 9:01 PM CST reply actions