Mendoza line

noun

A .200 batting average, which is around the minimum batting average a player with strong defensive skills can have and still stay in the major leagues. Named for Mario Mendoza.

“A sub-$2,000 per theater average... is the Mendoza Line of box office numbers.”

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Meanings

noun
  1. ball gamesA .200 batting average, which is around the minimum batting average a player with strong defensive skills can have and still stay in the major leagues. Named for Mario Mendoza.

    His recent slump has put him perilously close to the Mendoza line; he may be headed to AAA soon.

  2. The line dividing acceptable mediocrity from unacceptable mediocrity

    A sub-$2,000 per theater average... is the Mendoza Line of box office numbers.

    2 more examples

    I don’t think you could find any other figure in politics who has run this far below the Mendoza line and still managed to get taken seriously.

    Republican pollster Neil Newhouse... argues that these numbers have crossed below the political "Mendoza line"...Republicans abandoning Bush. MSNBC

Origin

After shortstop Mario Mendoza, whose lifetime batting average is taken to define the threshold of minimally competent hitting.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Mendoza line. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mendoza%20line

MLA

“Mendoza line.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mendoza%20line. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Mendoza line,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Mendoza%20line.

Source: Mendoza line on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.