Where good cars end and bad cars begin: The automotive 'Mendoza Line'

[FeedBot]

Right-handed Mario Mendoza stood in the batter's box July 14, 1979, like he had nearly 500 times before that day. The bushy-haired, bespectacled shortstop for the Seattle Mariners had recently traded one coast for the other, going from Pittsburgh the season before to Seattle, which probably better suited the solid defensive infielder. Mendoza...

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[Frosty]

Since the article does a terrible job explaining just exactly what the Mendoza line is in terms of baseball, I will make it simple. The Mendoza line is someone batting .200 (or close to it). It typically means (in baseball) that you get a hit in 1 out of every 5 trips to the plate (on average). Anyone batting .200 is not typically someone you keep around in the batting line up since you are mostly like an automatic out. Therefore you must be kept in the line up for strictly your defensive skills only (like Mendoza was).