Gus Gil

Tomás Gustavo Gil Guillén (April 19, 1939 – December 8, 2015) was a Venezuelan professional baseball player, coach, manager, and scout. He played in Major League Baseball as a second baseman for the Cleveland Indians and Seattle Pilots / Milwaukee Brewers (1969–1971). He also played 19 seasons in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In 2008, Gil was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cincinnati Reds in 1959. He spent the next seven seasons playing in the minor leagues before being purchased by the Indians in 1966. He joined the Indians' major league club in 1967, at the age of 27. a walk-off, two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the Brewers as they came from behind and defeated the Minnesota Twins, 4–3 (June 23, 1970); drove in both Milwaukee runs with a pair of sacrifice flies in a 2–1 win over the Kansas City Royals (July 5, 1970); hit the only home run of his major league career, a solo shot against Chicago White Sox left-hander Jim Magnuson (August 5, 1970).

In between major league seasons, Gil also played winter baseball with the Industriales de Valencia, Navegantes del Magallanes and Cardenales de Lara clubs of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in a career spanning 19 seasons from 1959 to 1977.

In the 1970 Caribbean Series, he hit .387, scored four runs, and had a series-leading seven RBI, to help the Magallanes win the series, marking the first time a Venezuelan team had won the tournament since its inception in 1949. In the 1973 Caribbean Series, Gil earned a spot on the series' All-Star team.

Career statistics In a four-year major league career, Gil played in 221 games, accumulating 87 hits in 468 at bats for a .186 career batting average along with one home run, 37 runs batted in and an on-base percentage of .272.

Honors In 2008, Gil was inducted into the Venezuelan Baseball Hall of Fame.