Ozzie Virgil Sr., the first Dominican-born player to appear in the major leagues, has died, MLB announced Sunday. He was 92.
Virgil was born in 1932 and emigrated to the United States at 15 before attending DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx.
After spending time in the Marines, Virgil debuted for the New York Giants in 1956 and spent nine seasons in the majors as a catcher, third baseman and outfielder for five teams.
“He means a lot,” Yankees star Juan Soto said in 2023. “He was the first Dominican coming to the big leagues and opened the doors for … not only Dominicans, for all Latin players.”
Virgil’s son, Ozzie Jr., was a two-time All-Star catcher during an 11-year career from 1980-90.
Following his playing career, the elder Virgil spent 19 seasons as a big-league coach with the Giants, Expos, Padres, and Mariners from 1968-88, serving as a third-base coach under Dick Williams with the latter three of those clubs.
Virgil later worked in the Mets’ organization for more than a decade, overseeing the catching instruction for the organization’s Dominican Summer League teams.
He also was named an honorary coach by the Mets under manager Mickey Callaway for one game near the end of the 2018 season.
“If you love the game as much as I do,” Virgil said that day, “today, the best sound that I [hear] that keeps me alive is the bat hitting the ball.”
