Óscar Gil

Óscar Luis Gil Rey

• Throws Left

• Born May 24, 1964 in Baracoa, Guantánamo Cuba
• Died October 18, 2014 in Cacocum, Holguín Cuba

Biographical Information

Óscar Gil was a longtime ace for Holguín in the Cuban Serie Nacional.

In 1987-1988, he led Cuba with 59 walks. He led with 12 hit batsmen in 1989-1990. He led the league twice in starts in the early 1990s. In 1995-1996, he led in wins (11) and innings (118 1/3).

Gil was 77-53 with a 3.37 ERA in the decade of the 1990s, an impressive record given that his team was very rarely competitive. Óscar was third in the decade in wins behind José Ibar and Pedro Luis Lazo; unlike those two hurlers, he never played for the Cuban national team.

Gil was the winning pitcher in the All-Star Game in the 1997-1998 season. In 2001-2002, he helped Holguín win its first title ever. The veteran came in with two outs in the 9th and two on, with his club leading Sancti Spíritus 2-1. He walked the first batter he faced, bringing up Cuban national team legend Frederich Cepeda. Gil promptly fanned Cepeda to give his team the title.

Óscar retired at the end of 2003-2004 with a career record of 147-149 with 18 saves in 496 games. He had a 4.20 career ERA. Gil was tied for third in seasons pitched in Cuba (20) at the time of his retirement. He also ranked 4th in games pitched, 9th in starts (322), 7th in losses, 7th in hits allowed (2,386), 5th in runs allowed (1,240), 6th in earned runs allowed (1,021), 9th in walks (878) and 8th in hit batsmen (170).

Gil later became pitching coach for Holguín.

Sources

• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol