Ozzie Virgil Sr. obit

 

Ozzie Virgil Sr., MLB's first player from Dominican Republic, dies at 92

Virgil was the Detroit Tigers' first player of color, joining the team in 1958

He was not on the list.

Osvaldo Virgil Sr., or Ozzie Virgil, the first Dominican-born player in American League/National League history, has passed away at 92.

Nine years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, the Dominican Republic saw one of its own not only make history, but set an entire nation on a path to changing the landscape of baseball forever.

On Sept. 23, 1956, Virgil made his debut with the New York Giants, becoming the first native-born Dominican player in AL/NL history. Now 68 years later, more than 900 players from the Dominican Republic have donned Major League uniforms, the most of any nation besides the United States. On Opening Day 2024, there were 108 Dominican Major Leaguers, far outpacing other countries and territories outside the continental U.S.

It all started with Virgil that day at the Polo Grounds, where he went 0-for-4 against the Phillies while playing third base.

“He means a lot,” Yankees star Juan Soto said last year. “He was the first Dominican coming to the big leagues and opened the doors for a lot of Dominicans -- and not only Dominicans, for all Latin players.”

In fact, by 1956, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, Panama and even Colombia had representation in the big leagues; Colombia’s Luis Miguel Castro, known as Lou Castro, was the first Latin American player in MLB in 1902. But with the debut of Virgil, who would soon be followed by famous countrymen Juan Marichal and Felipe Rojas Alou (along with his brothers Mateo and Jesús), the stage was set for the impact and influence we’ve come to know and expect from the Dominican Republic.

Speaking to Dominican sports journalist and historian Mario Emilio Guerrero for his biography “Yo, Virgil, Mi Historia” (I, Virgil, My Story), Virgil recounted receiving a call directly from Giants owner Horace Stoneham, who informed him that he was being called up for the last few days of the 1956 season -- a debut that was delayed by a day, due to Virgil’s car being parked on the wrong side of his street in New York and being towed.

“The emotions were indescribable,” Virgil told Guerrero of his first few moments on the Polo Grounds field as a Major Leaguer. “What I had dreamed about since I was little and worked so much for since I arrived in New York in 1947, overcoming so many obstacles, was a reality.”

Born in the town of Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, in 1932, Virgil moved with his family to New York as a teenager. He attended high school in the Bronx, served in the U.S. Marines and was later signed by the Giants in 1952, one year before his Minor League debut.

“That September 23rd will always be in my memory, because that day I was the protagonist of a great historical achievement, without precedent in Dominican sports,” Virgil said in his aforementioned biography.

Virgil would play two more games for the Giants in 1956, going 5-for-8 with a double, a triple, two runs scored and two RBIs in a season-ending doubleheader against the Phillies.

Virgil hit .235 in 96 games for New York in 1957, and one year later, the man nicknamed “Oregano” would become the first player of color to play for the Detroit Tigers.

After playing in parts of nine seasons with the Giants, Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Orioles and Pirates, Virgil retired in 1969. After his playing career, Virgil was a longtime coach at the Major League level, first for the Giants and then notably under Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams for the Expos, Padres and Mariners.

Virgil also was a successful Winter League skipper, winning championships in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.

As Marichal and the Rojas and Alou brothers were followed by subsequent waves of talent from the Dominican Republic making their mark between the lines, a younger generation also saw Virgil imparting his knowledge as an instructor at the big league level, with that visibility perhaps reaching its pinnacle with the 1984 Padres and their memorable run to the World Series.

“Undoubtedly, his merits are bigger, even double,” said the Commissioner of Baseball in the Dominican Republic, Junior Noboa, who is a veteran of parts of eight seasons in the Major Leagues, a longtime D-backs executive and a former manager and GM of several teams in the Dominican Winter League. “I remember when we were young, to see him coaching in the big leagues also opened doors for us. We said, ‘Wow, we not only have the opportunity to be players, but Dominican talent can also be seen as coaches, managers.’”

Since Virgil’s debut in 1956, the Dominican Republic has produced five Hall of Famers (Marichal, Pedro Martínez, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Adrián Beltré and David Ortiz), and of course Albert Pujols is on the horizon for 2028. Add to that seven MVP Awards, four Cy Young Awards and seven Rookies of the Year.

It began with little fanfare in 1956, but the legacy of Ozzie Virgil Sr. -- whose son, Ozzie Jr., was a two-time All-Star in an 11-year Major League career as a catcher with the Phillies, Braves and Blue Jays -- lives on in the Dominican Republic and beyond.

“He opened doors,” Soto said. “It feels great, it feels amazing. I got to meet him a couple years ago, and it was just great.”

Last November, the Águilas Cibaeñas -- who won a Dominican League championship with Virgil at the helm in 1971-72 -- played the Tigres del Licey in the “Titans of the Caribbean” series at Citi Field, an event dedicated to Virgil’s legacy, played at the venue where he was named an honorary Mets coach in 2018. The two teams are returning this winter, this time playing both at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field.

“That’s a name that carries serious weight,” Noboa said of Virgil, who also has the local airport in Monte Cristi named after him. “All the doors were opened because of Osvaldo Virgil’s debut. I hope we, as Dominicans, can give him the value and recognition he deserves.”

Virgil began his 17-season professional playing career in 1953. He made his MLB debut for the New York Giants on September 23, 1956; he became the first person born in the Dominican Republic to play in the National League. On January 28, 1958, the Giants traded Virgil and Gail Harris to the Detroit Tigers for Jim Finigan and $25,000.Virgil became the first player of African descent to play for the Tigers on June 6, 1958.

Charlie Metro, his manager on the 1960 Denver Bears, had this to say about him: "Ozzie Virgil Sr. was from the Dominican Republic. He came to my ball club at Denver, and then Detroit picked him up. He had a fantastic record for us. Ozzie was hitting about .400, and in a part-time role. I played him everywhere—third, second, outfield. He had 77 hits and 55 runs batted in, and was batting .381, when they took him up to the big leagues. I was crazy about him. He did everything well. Later, when I was putting together the Kansas City Royals, I was going to draft him as a player-coach out of the Giants organization, where he was with their Triple-A club, but I spoke up out loud. Tom Sheehan, a scout and front office guy for the Giants, overheard me, so they put him on the big league club and protected him."

He also played for the Danville Leafs, Dallas Eagles, Minneapolis Millers, Charleston Senators and the St. Cloud Rox.

In a nine-season big-league career, Virgil posted a .231 batting average with 174 hits, 14 home runs and 73 RBI. After his playing career ended, Virgil spent 19 seasons as a coach for the Giants (1969–1972; 1974–1975); Montreal Expos (1976–1981); San Diego Padres (1982–1985); and Seattle Mariners (1986–1988). From 1977 to 1988, he served as the third-base coach on the staff of Baseball Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams.

 

MLB statistics

Batting average            .231

Home runs            14

Runs batted in            73

Teams

New York Giants (1956–1957)

Detroit Tigers (1958, 1960–1961)

Kansas City Athletics (1961)

Baltimore Orioles (1962)

Pittsburgh Pirates (1965)

San Francisco Giants (1966, 1969)