His Game Goes by the Border

Benji Gil, then a cheerful lad in grade school, plopped down next to his father for a little talk. There was something about Benji’s Little League team that dear old dad didn’t like. The coaches? Good guys. The parents? Nice people. But . . .

“My father saw there were two girls on my team. He didn’t like that too much,” Gil said.

“He said, ‘We’ve got to get you playing with guys.’ ”

Politically correct? Not really, although this was 20 years ago. Father knows best? Absolutely, Gil believes.

The road to Chicago, where Gil will start at shortstop for the Angels tonight against the White Sox, started with the road to Mexico. For a decade, the family would shuttle Gil from their suburban San Diego home to the youth leagues of Tijuana. By the time he was in high school, Gil was playing in a semipro league that attracted former major and minor leaguers, including Esteban Loaiza, currently of the Texas Rangers, and former National League MVP Kevin Mitchell.

“I think it helped me to develop a little quicker,” Gil said. “I’m 15 years old, and there’s a guy who played five years in the minor leagues telling me, ‘This is the way to play the game.’ ”

Gil was born in Tijuana--his three siblings were born in California--and moved across the border at 4. He grew up in a bilingual family, so he faced no language barrier playing in Tijuana.

But the baseball commute was not an easy one, particularly since Mexican youth leagues play year-round. On weekdays, Gil would grab his books and bats and jump into a family car after school, crossing the border for practice twice a week. The return trip could take an hour--15 minutes driving time, 45 minutes to pass the border checkpoint.

“Sometimes he would do his homework in the car,” said his brother, Gilbert.

On weekends, the border wait approached two hours. That simply would not do by the time Gil was in high school, when he might play in a Saturday afternoon game--or two--in Mexico and a Saturday night all-star game in San Diego.

“I’d have to get out of the car and walk across in my uniform,” Gil said. “We’d arrange for a family member to pick me up on the other side, and I’d be changing in the car.”

During the summer, his brother said, Gil might play for five teams--two in Tijuana and three in the San Diego area--and play in as many as 10 games in a weekend.

So, when the Texas Rangers selected him from Chula Vista High--yes, Gil played there too--in the first round of the 1991 draft, he needed no time to adjust to the daily grind of professional baseball. What’s one game a day, after all, when you’re used to playing three?

In 1992, in his first full pro season, Gil hit .274 with 106 strikeouts and 45 errors at Class-A Gastonia (N.C.). In 1993, Baseball America rated him the Rangers’ top prospect and suggested he “might be ready for Double-A.”

Instead, with Manuel Lee injured in the spring of 1993, the Rangers anointed Gil as their starting shortstop, at 20. No shortstop had jumped from Class A into an opening day lineup since Ozzie Smith in 1978.

“I was on a high as far as confidence,” Gil said. “I got to the big leagues, and it was proven I wasn’t ready.”

He hit .123 in 22 games, and the Rangers shipped Gil to double-A the minute doctors pronounced Lee healthy. In 1995, given the starting job for good, he hit .219 in 130 games, striking out 147 times. No major leaguer struck out more that season except Mo Vaughn, but Vaughn hit 39 home runs and Gil hit nine.

“Back then, he could beat you if you made a mistake down the middle of the plate with a fastball,” said Angel catcher Matt Walbeck. “But you could just throw him a steady diet of sliders and he’d swing at them.”

In 1996, Gil lost the first two months of the season recovering from back surgery. In his absence, he lost his job to Kevin Elster, who picked a fine time to enjoy a career year, hitting 24 home runs and driving in 99 runs.

“The guy was having an outrageous season, and they were in a pennant race,” Gilbert Gil said. “He [Benji] didn’t really understand. He was told you weren’t supposed to lose your job if you’re injured. He got frustrated.”

He got his job back in 1997, after Elster signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the phenom label had fallen off. Gil hit .224, and the Rangers traded him to the White Sox. The Sox had their own shortstop phenom, Mike Caruso, and so they demoted Gil. He bounced to the Florida Marlins, who had a shortstop phenom in Alex Gonzalez, and they demoted Gil.

Gil, 27, will tell you he is a better player today than ever, more disciplined at the plate and off the field. Baseball teams weren’t begging to find out, though.

The Angels invited him--and a seeming cast of thousands--to win an infield job in spring training. Gil hit .315 and won a spot on the club. Last Sunday, starting his first major league game in three years, he got two hits off baseball’s best pitcher, Pedro Martinez.

After spending the last two summers in the Pacific Coast League, the onetime phenom is thrilled simply to play in the major leagues, as a utility infielder and, now, as an injury replacement for Gary DiSarcina.

“For me, the most important thing is to be in the major leagues,” Gil said. “Anything it takes.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The 1991 Draft

The Texas Rangers selected Benji Gil in the first round of the 1991 draft, one of the more undistinguished first-round groups in draft history. Five players never made the major leagues, including No. 1 pick Brien Taylor, who lost his 98-mph fastball when he injured his shoulder in a bar brawl.

So far, the ’91 first round has produced two impact players, outfielders Manny Ramirez and Shawn Green. Only two players remain with the teams that drafted them, Ramirez and Pokey Reese:

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No. Name Pos. Team 1. Brien Taylor P Yankees 2. Mike Kelly OF Braves 3. David McCarty * 1B Twins 4. Dmitri Young * 3B Cardinals 5. Kenny Henderson P Brewers 6. John Burke P Astros 7. Joe Vitiello 1B Royals 8. Joey Hamilton * P Padres 9. Mark Smith * OF Orioles 10. Tyler Green P Phillies 11. Shawn Estes * P Mariners 12. Doug Glanville * OF Cubs 13. Manny Ramirez * OF Indians 14. Cliff Floyd * 1B Expos 15. Tyrone Hill P Brewers 16. Shawn Green * OF Blue Jays 17. Eduardo Perez 1B Angels 18. Al Shirley OF Mets 19. Benji Gil * SS Rangers 20. Pokey Reese * SS Reds 21. Allen Watson * P Cardinals 22. Brian Barber P Cardinals 23. Aaron Sele * P Red Sox 24. Jon Farrell C Pirates 25. Scott Ruffcorn P White Sox 26. Brent Gates SS Athletics

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* currently in major leagues