Warren Darst Gill (December 21, 1878 – November 26, 1952), nicknamed "Doc", was a

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

player who played as a

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

during the

1908 Major League Baseball season The 1908 Major League Baseball season was contested from April 14 to October 14, 1908. The Chicago Cubs and Detroit Tigers were the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In a rematch of the prior year ...

. Gill graduated from

Washington University Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

. Gill is best known for failing to touch second base in a game against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

on September 4, 1908. With the game tied at 0 in the bottom of the 10th,

Chief Wilson John Owen "Chief" Wilson (August 21, 1883 – February 22, 1954) was an American professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball from 1908 to 1916 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals. Wilson played minor le ...

stroked a two-out single that scored the winning run. However,

Johnny Evers John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 – March 28, 1947) was an American professional baseball second baseman and manager. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1902 through 1917 for the Chicago Cubs, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Philli ...

saw that Gill did not touch second base. Umpire

Hank O'Day Henry M. O'Day (July 8, 1859 – July 2, 1935), nicknamed "The Reverend", was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National ...

, the only umpire working the game that day, said he did not see it and called the game over with a Pirates victory. Three weeks later on September 23, 1908,

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

player

Fred Merkle Carl Frederick Rudolf Merkle (also sometimes documented as Frederick Charles Merkle; December 20, 1888 – March 2, 1956), nicknamed "Bonehead", was an American first baseman in Major League Baseball from 1907 to 1926. Although he had a lengthy c ...

repeated Gill's error during a game against the Cubs. The Cubs' capitalization of this error was followed by a losing streak which became known as the curse of Fred Merkle. In 27 major league games, Gill posted a .224

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(17-for-76) with 10 runs and 14

RBIs A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. Defensively, he handled 244

total chances In baseball statistics, total chances (TC), also called ''chances offered'', represents the number of plays in which a defensive player has participated. It is the sum of putouts plus assists plus errors. ''Chances accepted'' refers to the total ...

(237 putouts, 7 assists) at first base without an error for a perfect 1.000

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

References

External links

Story of the 1908 season with a section on Gill's play
1878 births 1952 deaths People from Montgomery County, Indiana Major League Baseball first basemen Baseball players from Indiana Pittsburgh Pirates players Minor league baseball managers Fort Scott Giants players Cedar Rapids Rabbits players Austin Senators players Oklahoma City Mets players Grand Rapids Wolverines players Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players Washington University Bears baseball players {{US-baseball-first-baseman-stub