The son of
Ozzie Virgil, the younger Virgil backed up
Bo Diaz for the Phillies in
1982-83 and won the starting job outright in 1984, hitting a career-high .261 wth
18 HR. When the Phillies opted for younger catchers
Darren Daulton and
John Russell
in 1986, Virgil was traded to Atlanta with
Pete Smith for
Steve Bedrosian and Milt
Thompson. In 1987 he belted 27 HR in cozy Atlanta-Fulton
County Stadium, and when
he was an All-Star that year, his father was an All-Star coach. Virgil declined precipitously
and by mid-1988 was sharing the catching job with
Bruce Benedict.
(SG)