The Uecker Line

[OaktownTribeFan]

There have been many who have hit exactly .200 for their careers. Bob Uecker did it over his 6 years in the bigs. He wrote that when he was signed by the Milwaukee Braves, his father took him out for an expensive meal to celebrate. Everything was going well until his Dad opened the car window and the burgers fell off the tray. He went on to hit .200 while playing second banana to some of the greatest catchers ever. He did it even though he OWNED Sandy Koufax, but couldn't hit anyone else. And he did it while playing a tuba in the outfield before a World Series game. He even shagged some fungoes with the tuba while he was out there.

But most baseball analysts still like to call it The Mendoza Line. I don't get it. Given the fact that Uecker's making it to the Hall, we ought to rename it The Uecker Line.

There are many others who hit for an even .200. From 1916 to 1917, in his illustrious career in the bigs for Brooklyn, in 90 ABs, Bunny Fabrique batted exactly .200. So we could call it the Bunny Frabrique Line. But if you do that, hardly anybody would know who the heck you're talking about.

Then there's Tom Egan, who batted an even .200 over 10 seasons for the Angels in the 60s and 70s. I'd be willing to bet he caught at least one Ryan no-hitter, but Egan is still pretty non-descript. I'm not even sure that hardcore Angels' fans know what he did, when he played, or whether he was a catcher or just a cross-checker for Thetford Mines of the old New York-Penn League. I doubt it they'd be able to pick out Egan from Bengy Gil if they were both in a lineup.

I really don't know why Mario Mendoza got saddled with his own Line of Mediocrity. Maybe it's because everywhere he played in the 70s, drunken would-be comedians in the crowd yelled 'Hey Mario!!!' 100 times during every game? Maybe it's because The Mendoza Line sounds like a border crossing in an exotic Western movie? It has stuck to Mendoza like teflon sticks to frying pans. But he doesn't really deserve the title.

After a careful review and imbibing a few Miller Lites, I'm dubbing it The Uecker Line, because he's more famous, did the best beer commercials, and is still managing to drag his 68 year old body to the booth every day to announce Brewer games. He's a natural, in his own way. He deserves his own Line, and shouldn't be sharing it with the likes of Mario Mendoza or all the other would-be pretenders to the Throne of Mediocrity.

--
But if you've got someone else you'd like to nominate, I'm always open to suggestions. Perhaps we should dedicate our own Netshrine Hall of Shame?

[KCBOOMER]

The reason it is called the Mendoza line was because Uecker had retired by the time the creator or the phrase, George Brett, began looking in the paper to check batting averages. Brett may not have had Uecker, but he did have Mendoza.

[OaktownTribeFan]

George was pretty short-sighted when it comes to damning a Mario with faint praise. He could have taken a more historical bent, rather than just looking around at boxscores of his day. Brett was a great hitter, but I don't necessarily look to him for historical analysis.

[KCBOOMER]

Well, you are right, Brett is not one of the great thinkers of the day, but his comment was not meant to be more than a humorous aside to other players (no Mensa candidates in that crowd), but ended up being trumpeted by sportswriters (another group that is short on Nobel prize winners).

[rcartman28]

Not to argue your point, but I'm too used to thinking of it as the "Mendoza Line". Besides, Uecker already has ballpark seating named after him in Milwaukee--the "Uecker Seats".

[Skip]

Originally posted by rcartman28
Not to argue your point, but I'm too used to thinking of it as the "Mendoza Line". Besides, Uecker already has ballpark seating named after him in Milwaukee--the "Uecker Seats".

They "must be in the front row", but I'm sure they're up with the pigeons.

I wasn't aware that George Brett was the originator of the Mendoza Line. Interesting.

[rcartman28]

Originally posted by Skip
They "must be in the front row", but I'm sure they're up with the pigeons.

Of course.......just call the front office, and "Bingo".....

[gyb13]

I guess the most 'deserving' is Freddie Fitzsimmons...but we could also call it the Fernando line!

PLATE APPEARANCES               PA       AVG    
1    Freddie Fitzsimmons        1262     .200   
2    Tom Egan                   1084     .200   
3    Fernando Valenzuela        1043     .200   
4    Thornton Lee                885     .200   
5    Bob Uecker                  843     .200   
6    Milt Gaston                 782     .200   
7    Ownie Carroll               540     .200   
8    Al Shaw                     515     .200   
9    Chad Hermansen              507     .200   
10   Brad Gulden                 491     .200   
11   Sam Brown                   487     .200   
12   Emil Brown                  457     .200   
13   John Orton                  448     .200   
14   Tom Donohue                 343     .200   
15   Al Niemiec                  273     .200   
16   Tony Daniels                250     .200   
17   Tiny Osborne                230     .200   
18   Jocko Flynn                 223     .200   
19   Flea Clifton                219     .200   
20   Jack Ogden                  182     .200   

as for egan, he did catch one of Ryan's no-no's: http://www.netshrine.com/vbulletin2/...&threadid=2247

[OaktownTribeFan]

Not to argue your point, but I'm too used to thinking of it as the "Mendoza Line". Besides, Uecker already has ballpark seating named after him in Milwaukee--the "Uecker Seats".

I understand, but that is pretty much unheard of outside of Milwaukee. I've seen many Giants games there, and your post was the first I've ever heard of that.

I'm sure he'd be proud to be known for something as mediocre as the dead-nuts .200 average Poster Boy. I used to love it when he'd go on Carson back in the day to drag his career over the hot coals. He strikes me as a self-effacing kind of guy, to say the least. He'd be proud to have his name associated with something so pedestrian, yet so typical of the weak-hitting '60's catcher prototype.

[OaktownTribeFan]

Kudos for that list, gyb13.

Right now, the Indians are hitting like 8 Flea Cliftons with a good DH thrown in just to make it interesting. That goes double for the Tigers.

BTW, why no Bunny Fabique on the list? Baseball Reference claims he hit .200 over 2 seasons.

[gyb13]

the list is LONG....Bunny's 99 PA, thus, do not qualify him in the top 20