Miscellaneous Bucco Factoids

Last Updated 17 Februrary 1997

This is a collection of various Bucco notes and quotes that don't fit in anywhere else. If you have a similar Bucco fact to add, please send it along to me.

Lou asked:

>    The mention of Mario Mendoza brings up a question I have had
>    for some time. What actually is the Mendoza line? My
>    recollection is that the term was coined by Bob Prince while
>    Mendoza was with the Pirates and that the actual line was
>    .140. We hear the "Mendoza Line" mentioned often, Chris
>    Berman uses it a lot, but he places it at above .240, I
>    believe. If one were going to name a .240 average for a
>    player, he would have the pick of quite a few players. 

Ray replied with this:
From "The Dickson Baseball Dictionary," compiled by Paul Dickson (1989).

Mendoza line

1. n. Figurative boundary in the batting averages between those batters hitting above and below .215. It is named for shortstop Mario Mendoza whose career (1974-82) batting average for the Pirates, Mariners, and Rangers was .215.

2. n. It also has a slightly different meaning according to other sources, including the September 13, 1982 Sports Illustrated. "When a struggling hitter pulls his average above .200, he has crossed the Mendoza line."

ETY: Coinage of the term has been credited to George Brett, who has been quoted in his book "Rotisserie League Baseball" as saying, "The first thing I look for in the Sunday papers is who is below the Mendoza line."

USE: This is clearly an emerging term that can have two slightly different meanings (.215 vs. .200), so it is important to make sure which Mendoza line is being referred to. However, it seems like the .200 line is used more commonly than the .215 line.

I enjoyed last week's discussion on the "Mendoza Line". Someone made a comment about players trying to hit their own weight. It reminded me of a pitcher who had trouble hitting his uniform number - #23: Luke Walker.

Walker was a 45-47 pitcher lifetime. His best years on the mound were 1970 (15-6 3.04) and 1971 (10-8 3.54). But at the bat is where Walker lives in my Bucco memories. A .059 lifetime hitter, in 1971 Walker was 1 for 46 for a .022 BA (just below his uniform number). He had his best year at the plate in 1970 by going 6-46 (.130).

Walker's place in history is assured, because he was on the mound for the first night game in World Series History - Game #4, 1971 World Series at Three Rivers Stadium. Walker got tagged for 3 runs before he was chased after only 2/3 of an inning. Rookie side-armer Bruce Kison came in and tamed the Orioles. Kison pitched 1-hit ball for 6 1/3 innings. The Bucs won the game in the bottom of the 8th with a pinch hit RBI single by Milt May (current Bucco coach).

Here's a short discussion of Bucco Rookie of the Year Candidates.

Best Move By a Buc GM:

Well, everybody has pointed out the recent memory moves: the Van Slyke/Lavalliere for Pena deal and the Madlock pickup. But I think you have to go back a little farther:

Before the 1900 season, Pittsburgh traded future Hall of Famer Jack Chesbro, 3 other players and $25,000 for future Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Fred Clarke, Rube Waddell and 11 other players from Louisville. Louisville was disbanded and Chesbro played for Pittsburgh in 1900 anyway.

Worst Move By a Buc GM:

Again, I'm gonna go back a ways. Most Pirate fans don't know how many future Hall of Fame pitchers the Pirates traded away in the first few decades of this century.

In 1901, the Pirates sold Rube Waddell. He had been 8-13 with the Pirates in 1900 but had led the league in ERA with 2.37 and led the league in strikeouts.

In 1915, the Pirates sold a young pitcher named Dazzy Vance, who had pitched one game for the Bucs.

In 1918, they traded spit-baller Burleigh Grimes to Brooklyn with 2 other players for Casey Stengel and George Cutshaw. Grimes would go 19-9 that year for Brooklyn while Stengel would only play in 39 games. Cutshaw was a .265 lifetime hitter. But at least Pittsburgh had the good sense to reacquire Grimes before the 1928 season. He would go 25-14 in '28 and 17-7 in '29. At which point they traded him again! This time for Percy Jones, who would pitch 19 more innings in his career, and some cash.

And perhaps the most infamous giveaway, Kiki Cuyler traded in 1928 for Sparky Adams and Pete Scott. After problems between Cuyler and management and Cuyler and ownership, the Pirates went for the worst trade possible just to show Cuyler how little they thought of him.

Curtis

The Pirates need just one home run to reach 8000 in franchise history. Some notable names who have hit franchise milestone homers include: