Benji Gil

Gil was a star pitcher for Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, California. In 1990, he went 6–3 with 89 strikeouts and a San Diego County leading 0.52 earned run average.[1] As a senior in 1991, Gil pitched a no-hitter.[2] Gil was also a good hitter, however, and when the Texas Rangers selected Gil nineteenth overall in the 1991 Major League Baseball draft, it was as a shortstop.

Gil displayed decent power, clubbing nine home runs for the South Atlantic League's Gastonia Rangers in 1992. He made his major league debut in the 1993 season opener at twenty years old, going 0-for-3 with a walk in four plate appearances.[3] By late May, however, he was back in the minors with the double A Tulsa Drillers after batting .123 with two runs batted in for the Rangers.

He would not return to the majors until the 1995 season. On May 3, his first major league home run accounted for the Rangers' lone run in a 5–1 loss to the Seattle Mariners.[4] He followed this up with home runs in his next two games[5][6] on his way to a career best nine for the season. He also appeared in a career high 130 games, and posted career highs in runs batted in (46), runs (36), hits (91) and extra-base hits (32), while also providing a steady glove at short (.974 fielding percentage, and a league leading 5.18 range factor per nine innings as a shortstop).

A herniated disc in Spring training kept Gil off the 1996 opening day roster.[7] By the time he was ready to return, off-season acquisition Kevin Elster had won the starting job, and Gil found himself back in the minors with the Oklahoma City 89ers. He received a call up to the majors that September, and was 2-for-5 in seven plate appearances.

He was once again the Rangers' starting shortstop in 1997, however, inconsistent play led the Rangers to deal him during the off season to the Chicago White Sox for pitchers Al Levine and Larry Thomas. Gil spent his one season in the Chisox organization with the Pacific Coast League's Calgary Cannons, where he batted .248 with fourteen home runs and 69 RBIs (a career high for Gil at any level). Coincidentally, Gil also spent the 1999 season with Calgary after they became a Florida Marlins affiliate, and he was drafted by the Marlins in the 1998 minor league draft.

Just as spring training 2000 was set to begin, Gil signed as a free agent with the Anaheim Angels. Slated to be the back up to incumbent Gary Disarcina, Gil soon found himself starting when an injury ended Disarcina's season.[8] David Eckstein became the Angels' starting shortstop in 2001, with Gil sliding into a back up middle infielder role.

In 2002, Gil actually saw more playing time at second base than he did at short. He had a far more limited role than he had his previous two seasons in Anaheim, however, he made it to the post season for the only time in his career. In game two of the 2002 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, Gil had an RBI single off Andy Pettitte.[9] In game four, he was 3-for-3 with a run scored.[10] In the Angels' 2002 World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants, Gil went 4-for-5 with a double and a run scored.[11]

Gil's 2003 season got off to a slow start, going 0 for his first 14 at bats. The Angels released him in early August with a .192 batting average, one home run and nine RBIs. Shortly afterwards, he signed with the Cleveland Indians. He was released at the end of the season after batting .139 for the triple A Buffalo Bisons. Over the next two seasons, Gil spent time in the Colorado Rockies, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners and New York Mets organizations, but failed to make the Major League roster of any of these teams. Along the way, he also landed on the Mexican League's Tijuana Toros.

When the Mets released Gil in July 2005, it would turn out to be his final stint with a major league franchise. After finishing out the 2005 season with the New Jersey Jackals of the Canadian-American Association, Gil would spend the next six seasons playing ball in Mexico. In 2007, he won the Mexican League Championship with Sultanes de Monterrey. He spent one last season with the Fort Worth Cats of the North American League before retiring.[12]

Gil pitched once while in the Chicago Cubs organization, once in the Mets organization and once for the Jackals. He pitched a total of four innings, allowing two hits and no earned runs.

He played for the Tomateros de Culiacán in the Mexican Pacific League for thirteen seasons throughout his career, and won six championships. He later became manager of the club, winning three championships during the 2014–15, 2017–18, and 2019-20 seasons.[13]

Gil was born in Mexico, but grew up in Chula Vista. His mother died while he was in high school. He and his wife, Carly, reside in Keller, Texas with their two children, Mateo and Gehrig. Mateo was drafted in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft by the St. Louis Cardinals.[14]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)