Bill Text: VA HR290 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Commending Henry Lee Foiles, Jr.
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2024-03-05 - Bill text as passed House (HR290ER) [HR290 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2024-HR290-Enrolled.html
WHEREAS, Henry Lee Foiles, Jr., a native of Norfolk, represented the Commonwealth as an outstanding professional athlete for many years and remains an esteemed member of his community in Newport News; and
WHEREAS, Henry "Hank" Lee Foiles, Jr., grew up in the Park Place neighborhood of Norfolk and attended Granby High School, where he starred on the football and baseball teams and was in high demand with other athletics programs; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles played at center and linebacker during his high school football career and helped lead the Granby High School Comets to win 32 of 33 games and three state championship titles from 1944 to 1946; he also earned an individual state title and set a state record for the javelin throw; and
WHEREAS, in 1946, Hank Foiles played in the inaugural Oyster Bowl, which is now a regular season college football game, but at the time featured two of the top high school teams in the country, Granby High School and Clifton High School of New Jersey; he proudly returned to the Oyster Bowl in 2023 for the coin toss at the bowl's 73rd iteration; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles received more than 50 college football scholarship offers, but was inspired by his father to instead pursue a career in professional baseball and sign with the New York Yankees, where he cultivated a lifelong friendship with baseball legend Joe DiMaggio; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles played in the minor leagues for several years before making his Major League Baseball debut with the Cincinnati Reds, then known as the Redlegs, in 1953; he subsequently played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Athletics, Detroit Tigers, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Angels; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles garnered national media attention as the first player in the history of Major League Baseball to wear contact lenses; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles had his most productive seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, appearing in more than 100 games in 1957 and 1958; he posted career-highs in 1957 with 76 hits and a .270 batting average, including nine home runs and 36 runs batted in; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles retired in 1964 with a career .243 batting average, 46 home runs, 166 runs batted in, and a .321 on-base percentage; he earned a reputation as a skilled defensive catcher who called every pitch and had a .986 fielding percentage; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles played professional baseball at a time when players often held other jobs to make ends meet; he wrote scripts, sold advertising, and made on-air appearances for WVEC-TV, then worked in life insurance after his retirement from Major League Baseball in 1964; and
WHEREAS, in later life, Hank Foiles was a champion for education and encouraged high school players to attend college rather than joining the major leagues immediately; and
WHEREAS, Hank Foiles and his late wife, Joyce, raised two sons, Hank III and Marc, and he is the proud grandfather of five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Henry Lee Foiles, Jr., hereby be commended for his accomplishments as an athlete both at the high school level in the Commonwealth and across the country as a member of Major League Baseball; and, be it
RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Henry Lee Foiles, Jr., as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for his personal and professional achievements.
