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 professional ...

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 ...

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 * Co ...

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 (AL), ...

. 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 (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 (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 us ...

, 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. Osvaldo José Virgil Jr. (born December 7, 1956) is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played with the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays from 1980 to 1990. His father, Ozzie Sr., was a Major League third baseman ...

was also a Major League player, a 2x All-Star catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies,

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 Bos ...

, 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 San Fernando de Monte Cristi is the capital town of Monte Cristi Province in the Dominican Republic. It is located in the northwest region of the country in a coastal area above the border with Haiti. History Monte Cristi was founded by Nicol� ...

. 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

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 Y ...

, 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 Philadelphia Phillies. 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, 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, 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 Thomas Clancy Sheehan (March 31, 1894 – October 29, 1982) was an American pitcher, scout, coach and manager in Major League Baseball. Born in Grand Ridge, Illinois, Sheehan, a right-hander, had a six-year pitching career from 1915–16, 1921 ...

, 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 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 ...

with 174 hits, 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. After his playing career ended, Virgil spent 19 seasons as a

for the Giants (1969–72; 1974–75); Montréal Expos (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 team ...

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

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 activities ...

Dick Williams. 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 ca ...

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 ...

All-Star. Osvaldo Virgil National Airport serves the

Monte Cristi Province Monte Cristi () is a province in the northwest of the Dominican Republic. The capital city is San Fernando de Monte Cristi (usually simply Monte Cristi). The spelling Montecristi is also seen. The Montecristi province is located in the Cibao front ...

, 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