Hank Foiles

Henry Lee Foiles Jr. (June 10, 1929 – May 21, 2024) was an American professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball between 1953 and 1964, most prominently as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates with whom he had his most productive years and was selected to play in the 1957 All-Star Game. He was notable for being the first player in major league history to use contact lenses. In 1946, he was named All-Southern in football and starred in the inaugural Oyster Bowl held in Foreman Field in Norfolk. He made his major league debut on April 21, 1953 at the age of 24, starting at catcher for the Redlegs (as the Reds were known from 1953–58) in a 4–3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

On May 15, 1956, Foiles was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Preston Ward. In the All-Star game, Foiles appeared in the ninth inning as a pinch hitter, hitting a single off Billy Pierce and then scoring a run to help the National League team rally—only to fall short in a 6–5 defeat.

When his hitting performance declined in 1959, Foiles was replaced by Smoky Burgess as Pittsburgh's regular catcher. From 1960 to 1964 Foiles was traded several times, as his defensive skills made him valuable as a backup catcher. In 1960, he appeared in 6 games for the Kansas City Athletics then, was traded back to the Cleveland Indians where he played in 24 games before ending the season as a member of the Detroit Tigers. Foiles may have been the only major league catcher to have thrown out Jackie Robinson two times in one game.

Later life and death Foiles filed a $7 million class action lawsuit against the Baltimore Orioles for using his likeness in a set of promotional baseball cards.