He was the first person from the Dominican Republic to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) post-integration, appearing in 324 MLB games between 1956 and 1969 as a utility player for the New York / San Francisco Giants, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

[2] His family emigrated to the United States when he was 13 and settled in the Bronx, where Virgil graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School.

[11] After moving to the Kansas City Royals, Metro wanted to draft Virgil as a player-coach out of the Giants organization, where he was playing in Triple-A.

According to Metro, after Giant scout Tom Sheehan overheard his interest, the team promoted Virgil to the major leagues to protect him.

[1][10] After his playing career, 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).

[3] Virgil's son, Ozzie Jr., played as a catcher in all or parts of 11 MLB seasons and was a two-time NL All-Star.