The Mendoza Line is an informal term used in baseball for when a position player's batting average falls below .200 (some say .215). It is supposedly the boundary between extremely poor and merely below-average offensive production. Some consider it to be the offensive threshold below which a player's presence in the Major Leagues cannot be justified despite his defensive abilities. Pitchers are not held to the "Mendoza Line" standard, since their specialized work and infrequent batting justifies less competence in hitting. Origin of the term The term is supposedly named for former shortstop Mario Mendoza, who had a career batting average of .215 and actually hit .198 in the 1979 season. George Brett supposedly coined the phrase when asked about his batting average.http://www.baseballlibrary.com/ballplayers/player.php?name=Mario_Mendoza_1950 Entry for Mario Mendoza at BaseballLibrary When shown his average in a newspaper

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