The Mendoza Line (band)
The Mendoza Line were a rock and roll band whose members began playing together while in college in the mid-1990s in Athens, Georgia, USA, and who eventually settled in Brooklyn. Their name comes from the dismal .200 batting average of Mario Mendoza. They released eight full albums of sometimes folky, occasionally country-styled indie rock that is influenced by classic songwriters like Bob Dylan, John Cale and Paul Westerberg, and alt-country bands like Whiskeytown and Wilco. They recorded for several labels, such as Kindercore, Misra and Bar/None Records.
History
Although their first recordings were issued by Kindercore Records, a label whose artists leaned towards sunny Beach Boys and Zombies-style pop, their early sound was more influenced by noisier acts like The Replacements and The Mekons. Over the years, the band has featured not one but several songwriters; the band's original musical cornerstone was the songs of founding members Timothy Bracy and Peter Hoffman. Other members included Lori Carrier, Margaret Maurice, Paul Deppler and Andres Galdames.
Mendoza Line
The Mendoza Line is an expression in baseball in the United States, deriving from the name of shortstop Mario Mendoza, whose mediocre batting average is taken to define the threshold of incompetent hitting. The cutoff point is most often said to be .200 (although Mendoza's career average was .215) and, when a position player's batting average falls below that level, the player is said to be "below the Mendoza Line". This is often thought of as the offensive threshold below which a player's presence in Major League Baseball cannot be justified, regardless of his defensive abilities. Pitchers are not judged by this standard, since their specialized work and infrequent batting does not require as much hitting competence. The expression has been also extended to other realms to indicate a low-end cut-off point.
Origin of the term
Mendoza, an effective defensive player from Chihuahua, Mexico, played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers and usually struggled at the plate. Mendoza was known as a sub-.200 hitter whose average frequently fell into the .180 to .199 range during any particular year — four times in the five years from 1975 to 1979.
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