1981 mario mendoza

mario mendoza was traded by the seattle mariners to the texas rangers on december 12, 1980 as part of an 11 player deal.  here's his 1981 o-pee-chee card:

here's the topps front:

now the o-pee-chee back:

and the topps back:

one cannot post a card of mendoza and not mention the 'mendoza line'. i am of the opinion that when george brett coined the term, he was referring to mendoza's actual batting average, and not a .200 average. mendoza, of course, was usually pretty close to .200. in fact, in his first season in the american league (1979), mendoza hit .198 as the mariners' everyday shortstop. in 1980, he raised his 'line' all the way to .245. and, in his first season in texas, he hit .231. his final year in the majors was 1982, in which his batting average sunk all the way to .118, although he played in only 12 games before being released by the rangers in june.

this is also the last of the 1981 variations. pretty soon this blog will become a back-and-forth between 1977 and 1992.

voici à vous, 1981 mario mendoza!