Mendoza Line

The Mendoza Line is baseball jargon for a .200 batting average, the supposed threshold for offensive futility at the Major League level.

[1] It derives from light-hitting shortstop Mario Mendoza, who failed to reach .200 five times in his nine big league seasons.

Mendoza was a lightly used shortstop from Chihuahua, Mexico, who played for three franchises during a nine-season Major League career.

"Then they were giving George Brett a hard time because he had a slow start that year, so they told him, 'Hey, man, you're going to sink down below the Mendoza Line if you're not careful.'

And then Brett mentioned it to Chris Berman from ESPN, and eventually it spread and became a part of the game."