Ozzie Virgil Sr., the first Dominican-born player in Major League Baseball, who made his debut with the New York Giants in 1956 and later became the Detroit Tigers’ first Black player in 1958, passed away on Sunday at his home in Monte Cristi, near the Dominican Republic’s border with Haiti. He was 92 years old.
His son, Ozzie Virgil Jr., a former MLB player himself, reported that his father died of pancreatitis.
Major League Baseball confirmed his passing, though the announcement did not specify the details of his death or the cause.
Virgil played in the major leagues for nearly a decade, primarily as a third baseman. While he was recognized for his excellent fielding skills, he struggled offensively, which limited his starting opportunities. Following his playing career, he served as a coach and scout. When he made his debut against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 23, 1956, his ethnicity garnered little attention, as players from other Latin American countries had already made their marks in the league. Notably, Virgil paved the way for many Dominican players who followed, including Hall of Famers Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez, and outfielder Vladimir Guerrero Sr. In his brief initial season, he appeared in three games for the Giants and played 96 games the following year.
During the late 1950s and 1960s, the Giants actively recruited talent from Latin America, acquiring players like Marichal and the Alou brothers. However, in January 1958, the Giants traded Virgil to the Tigers, who were among the last teams to integrate. Virgil was aware of this history when he joined the team, questioning how they would embrace him as their first Black player.
Initially assigned to the Tigers’ minor league system, he was called up in June 1958 amid pressure from civil rights activists advocating for integration. He later reflected on the challenges he faced, feeling overlooked by both white fans and Black communities, who sometimes did not accept Latinos as part of the African American experience. In 1959, Larry Doby, a future Hall of Famer and the first Black player in the American League, joined the Tigers as well.
Virgil played 49 games in 1958, hitting .244, but returned to the minors before playing sporadically for the Tigers in 1960 and splitting the 1961 season between Detroit and the Kansas City Athletics. He made brief appearances with the Baltimore Orioles in 1962 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1965 before returning to the Giants for the 1966 season. After limited action with the Giants, he spent 1967 and 1968 with their Phoenix minor league team, where he also took on coaching responsibilities.
When Clyde King became the Giants’ manager in 1969, he brought Virgil on as his third-base coach. That season, Virgil played one game as a pinch-hitter, marking the end of his playing career. He continued to coach with the Giants through 1972 and managed teams in Caribbean winter leagues while scouting talent in Latin America. He returned to the Giants as a third-base coach in 1974 and 1975 before moving to the Montreal Expos as a coach from 1976 onward. He worked under Dick Williams as the Expos’ manager from 1977 to 1981 and later with the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners. In 324 major league games, Virgil recorded a career batting average of .231 with 14 home runs.
Born Osvaldo Jose Virgil Pichardo on May 17, 1932, in Monte Cristi, he was the son of Henry Virgil, a boat pilot, and Isabel Pichardo. His family moved to the Bronx during his teenage years, where he attended DeWitt Clinton High School but did not play for the school team, instead joining a local team with a predominantly Puerto Rican roster.
During his service in the Marines from 1950 to 1952, he played for the Marine baseball team at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. He signed with the Giants in 1953 for a $300 bonus (equivalent to about $3,500 today) and worked his way up through their minor league system before making his major league debut.
Virgil was married and divorced twice. In addition to his son Ozzie Jr., a two-time All-Star catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Toronto Blue Jays, he is survived by another son, Marcus; four daughters, Linda, Justine, Ruth, and Santina; and nine grandchildren.
He spent many years teaching at the Mets’ Dominican baseball academy. In 2006, the Osvaldo Virgil National Airport was inaugurated in Monte Cristi.
Reflecting on his legacy, Virgil told Simonetti Sports in 2015, “I may not have been the most talented, and I may not hold the records or any huge numbers, but I’ll always have a special number: number one.”
