The front: Looks like Topps caught him talking to someone at
Tiger Stadium.
The back: That inside-the-park home run was Mendoza’s only
home run in 1979.
The player: Few players are as renowned for bad hitting as
Mario Mendoza. The “Mendoza line” is a .200 batting average. Anyone below the
Mendoza line was a really bad hitter (at least in 1980, standards are a little
different today). Mendoza’s teammates Tom Paciorek and Bruce Bochte came up
with the term to tease him. This was overhead by George Brett, who mentioned it
in an interview in 1980, and the term quickly caught on throughout baseball.
Mendoza did have a reputation as an excellent fielder.
The man: Mendoza has had a long career coaching in the
Mexican League. He was elected into that league’s Hall of Fame in 2000.
My collection: I have 11 of his cards, from 1975 to 1982. I
would be interested in trading for 1976 SSPC #606.
I was pretty excited to add his signature to my collection a few years ago.
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