Hank Foiles
Henry Lee Foiles, Jr. (born June 10, 1929) is a retired American professional baseball player. The native of Richmond, Virginia, was a catcher who appeared in 11 seasons and 608 Major League Baseball games for seven different teams between 1953 and 1964. He threw and batted right-handed, stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 195 pounds (88 kg).
He attended Granby High School and played college baseball at the University of Virginia. First signed by the New York Yankees, Foiles spent four seasons in the Yanks' farm system before being selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1951 Rule 5 draft. He made his MLB debut on April 21, 1953, starting at catcher for the Redlegs (as the Reds were known from 1953–1958) in a 4–3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Although he would also wear the uniforms of the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels through 1964, Foiles would play regularly only for the 1957–1958 Pirates. He was selected to the 1957 National League All-Star team, and singled and scored a run off Billy Pierce as a pinch hitter to help the NL rally in the ninth inning—only to fall short in a 6–5 defeat. That season, Foiles enjoyed personal bests in hits (76), home runs (9) and runs batted in (36), while hitting .270. In 1958 he led National League catchers in caught stealing percentage. But his hitting declined and in 1959 Smoky Burgess took over as Pittsburgh's regular backstop.
All told, Foiles batted .243 as a big-leaguer; his 353 hits included 59 doubles, ten triples and 46 home runs. Foiles currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, where he is an active member of Kempsville Masonic Lodge No. 196. In 1987, Foiles was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
- ^ Retrosheet box score, 1957 MLB All-Star Game
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