Longtime massive league participant and coach Ozzie Virgil Sr. handed away immediately at age 92. A veteran of 9 MLB seasons from 1956-69, Virgil has a historic legacy as the primary Dominican-born participant to ever seem in Main League Baseball.
Virgil broke into the majors with the New York Giants on the tail finish of the 1956 season, showing in three video games for his newfound hometown crew. A local of Monte Cristi, Virgil’s household moved to New York when he was an adolescent, and he went on to serve within the Marines for 3 years earlier than starting his profession in professional baseball. After spending his first two seasons with the Giants, Virgil was traded to the Tigers in the course of the 1957-58 offseason, and in 1958 turned the primary black participant in Tigers historical past.
The massive majority of Virgil’s profession was spent with the Giants (142 video games) and Tigers (131 video games), as Virgil additionally spent his final two seasons again with the Giants after they’d moved to San Francisco. Virgil additionally performed for the Athletics, Orioles, and Pirates over his 324 profession video games within the Present, with a slash line of .231/.263/.331 over 798 plate appearances.
Upon retirement, Virgil then spent 19 years as a coach, forming a protracted working relationship with supervisor Dick Williams. Virgil coached with the Giants for all however one season from 1969-75 earlier than becoming a member of the Expos’ employees in 1976, and he then labored because the third base coach on Williams’ staffs with the Expos, Padres, and Mariners from 1977-88.
Virgil’s legacy prolonged most on to his son Ozzie Jr., who was a two-time All-Star catcher throughout a distinguished 11-year run within the majors. Within the greater image, the elder Virgil was a trailblazer within the historical past of baseball within the Dominican Republic, the nation that has produced extra MLB gamers than some other nation in addition to the US. We at MLB Commerce Rumors ship our condolences to Virgil’s household, buddies, and plenty of followers.
