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According to MLB.com, “The Mendoza Line was a term coined by a teammate of Mario Mendoza on the 1979 Mariners — usually credited to Tom Paciorek or Bruce Bochte — as a joke on the light-hitting shortstop, who typically carried an average around .200 (though he actually finished with a career mark of .215).”

Though many are familiar with the “Mendoza Line”, few know about the baseball career of the line’s namesake.

Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Mario Mendoza started playing professional baseball as a teenager for the Gulf Coast League Tourists in 1970. He reached the big leagues in 1974, playing in 91 games for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Mendoza bounced back-and-forth between Triple-A and the majors for the next three seasons. In the Show to stay in ’77, Mendoza played alongside Pirates stars Al Oliver, Willie Stargell, and Dave Parker. After the ’78 season the Pirates traded Mendoza to the Mariners.

While his former Pittsburgh teammates were on their way to “We Are Family” greatness and the World Series championship, Mendoza played in a career-high 148 games with the 95-loss Mariners.

In Mendoza’s first season with the Mariners hit .198, his fourth campaign under the .200 mark. From major league debut in 1974 through the 1979 season, Mendoza hit .202 in 472 games. In Seattle, his name became synonymous with with the .200 average and batting futility.

Mendoza tells the rest of the story to Dave Seminara of the St. Louis Dispatch. “Tom Paciorek and Bruce Bochte used it to make fun of me. 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.”

Mendoza played in the bigs until 1982. The following year he went to Triple-A Hawaii before heading back to his native Mexico. Mendoza continued playing professionally south of the border until 1990. In all he played in 20 professional seasons.

For his work, Mendoza was inducted into the Mexican Baseball League Hall of Fame in 2000. Two years later he piloted the San Francisco Giants Double-A squad. He then went back to Mexico to manage until 2013.

In the collection is this autographed Mario Mendoza Strat-O-Matic card from 1974. Bucknell University math major Hal Richman originated the Strat-O-Matic game in 1961. Advertised in Sports Illustrated and sold out of Richman’s basement, Strat-O-Matic gave its players the ability to make managerial decisions based on MLB statistics.

The ’74 season was Mendoza’s first in the big leagues. That year he hit. 221 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.