MENDOZA NAMED NEW SKIPPER IN MONCLOVA

Former major league shortstop and Salon de la Fama member Mario Mendoza has been hired to manage the Mexican League’s Monclova Acereros for 2010. The Steelers finished a decent 57-50 under Francisco Rodriguez and had the fourth-best record in the Northern Zone last summer, but were nudged out of the playoffs by the Laguna Vaqueros, who had 14.5 points over both halves of the season to Monclova’s 14.

Mendoza, who turns 63 this month, was a big leaguer from 1974 through 1982, batting .215 with four homers. The term “Mendoza Line” was created by statisticians who would cut off the list of hitting leaders after Mendoza’s name because of his light bat. The Chihuahua also carried a light glove, however, and stayed in the majors for nine seasons for his fielding.
Mendoza then went to the Mexican League, where he batted .291 over seven seasons (including two years above .300), and also hit .239 in 986 games in the Mexican Pacific League. Mendoza was enshrined in Monterrey in 2000.

Since retiring as a player, Mendoza has managed in both the Liga and Mex Pac. Monclova will be his ninth managerial stop.