Osvaldo José Virgil Pichardo (born May 17, 1932) is a former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...

and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

who was the first Dominican to play in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

. He was a utilityman who played in MLB between 1956 and 1969 for the New York / San Francisco Giants (1956–57, 1966, 1969),

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

(1958; 1960–61),

Kansas City Athletics The history of the Athletics Major League Baseball franchise spans the period from 1901 to the present day, having begun as a charter member franchise in the new American League in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City in 1955 for 13 sea ...

(1961),

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

(1962), and

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 ...

(1965). Basically a

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

, Virgil played all positions except pitcher and center field. He batted and threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to it being stronger, faster or more dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dextrous or simply less subjecti ...

, was tall and weighed . Virgil's son, Ozzie Virgil Jr. was also a Major League player, a 2x All-Star catcher for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

, and

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

Career

Virgil was born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic. His family emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

when he was 13 and settled in

The Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

, where Virgil graduated from

DeWitt Clinton High School , motto_translation = Without Work Nothing Is Accomplished , image = DeWitt Clinton High School front entrance IMG 7441 HLG.jpg , seal_image = File:Clinton News.JPG , seal_size = 124px , ...

. He served in the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

from 1950 to 1952, and began his 17-season professional playing career in 1953. On September 23, 1956, he became the first person from his native country to play in the Majors when he started for the Giants at third base against the

. Twenty-one months later, on June 6, 1958, Virgil became the first player of African descent to take the field for the Tigers, again starting at third base, this time against the Washington Senators.

Charlie Metro Charlie Metro (born Charles Moreskonich; April 18, 1918 – March 18, 2011) was an American professional baseball player, manager, coach and scout. Notably, he was an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics as well as t ...

, his manager on the 1960

Denver Bears Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the United ...

, 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 The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, 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." In a nine-season big-league career, Virgil posted a .231 batting average with 174

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...

, 14

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 73 RBI in 324

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. After his playing career ended, Virgil spent 19 seasons as a

for the Giants (1969–72; 1974–75);

Montréal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They p ...

(1976–81);

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

(1982–85); and

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion ...

(1986–88). From 1977 to 1988, he served as the third-base coach on the staff of

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

Dick Williams Richard Hirschfeld Williams (May 7, 1929 – July 7, 2011) was an American left fielder, third baseman, manager, coach and front-office consultant in Major League Baseball. Known especially as a hard-driving, sharp-tongued manager from 1967 to 1 ...

. His son,

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the cat ...

Ozzie Jr., played in all or parts of 11 MLB seasons (1980–90) and was a two-time

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

All-Star. Osvaldo Virgil National Airport serves the Monte Cristi Province, in the north of the Dominican Republic. This airport was opened in 2006 for tourism with flights from other Dominican airports.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgil, Ozzie Sr. 1932 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Puerto Rican expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Baltimore Orioles players Caribbean Series managers Charleston Senators players Dallas Eagles players Danville Leafs players Detroit Tigers players DeWitt Clinton High School alumni Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Kansas City Athletics players Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball third base coaches Major League Baseball third basemen Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Montreal Expos coaches New York Giants (NL) players People from Monte Cristi Province Phoenix Giants players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rochester Red Wings players St. Cloud Rox players San Diego Padres coaches San Francisco Giants coaches San Francisco Giants players San Francisco Giants scouts Seattle Mariners coaches Toronto Maple Leafs (International League) players United States Marines Sportspeople from the Bronx Baseball players from New York City

Career

See also

References

External links