| Tim Foli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1950-12-06)December 6, 1950 (age 75) Culver City, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| September 11, 1970, for the New York Mets | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| June 15, 1985, for the Pittsburgh Pirates | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .251 |
| Home runs | 25 |
| Runs batted in | 501 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Timothy John Foli (born December 6, 1950[1]) is an American former professionalbaseball player,coach and minor leaguemanager. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) as ashortstop for theNew York Mets,Montreal Expos,San Francisco Giants,Pittsburgh Pirates,California Angels andNew York Yankees from1970 to1985. At age 17, Foli was thefirst pick in theMajor League Baseball draft in1968 and went on to be a member of the1979 World Series champion Pirates. Foli was known as a fiery player who was a reliable fielder but only an average hitter. Foli was a free swinger, especially in1982 when hewalked only 14 times, the lowest total ever for 150 or moregames played (Ozzie Guillén broke Foli's dubious record three years later). His free swinging did not aim for the fences, however, as he averaged less than twohome runs per season.
His lack of power, combined with a lack of running speed (averaging approximately astolen base every 20 games) resulted in Foli typically batting either second in the lineup or near the bottom. Although he accumulated few walks, Foli was also one of the most difficult tostrike out, posting the league's best strikeout percentage three times and finishing in the top ten five times. Foli compiled a .333batting average in the 1979 postseason, contributing to Pittsburgh's last World Championship. He was an accomplishedbunter, finishing in the league top ten insacrifice hits eight times including anAmerican League-leading 26 in 1982.
Defensively, Foli led league shortstops infielding percentage in1980 and 1982. He led theNational League indouble plays twice, intotal chances twice, and inputouts once. Foli's defensive low occurred on September 9, 1972, when he committed threeerrors in one inning, leading to three runs in Montreal's 8–3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at Jarry Park.[2]
Foli was born inCulver City, California, and attendedNotre Dame High School inSherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. He was a high school star in both baseball andfootball and was offered a footballscholarship by theUniversity of Southern California. When the New York Mets made Foli the first overalldraft pick in the1968 Major League Baseball draft, he decided to forgo football for the major leagues.[3]
At age seventeen, Foli started out poorly with theMarion Mets of theAppalachian League. The following year, while the Mets were on their way to winning the1969 World Series, Foli hit over .300 for their highClass A minor league team, theVisalia Mets of theCalifornia League. In1970, Foli posted decent numbers for theTriple-ATidewater Tides and the Mets called the 19-year-old up to the majors on September 11.[4] At the time, he was the fourth youngest player in the majors, behindCésar Cedeño,Balor Moore andDon Gullett. In his second game, Foli started atthird base, picked up two hits and drove in a late run as the Mets defeated theSt. Louis Cardinals.[5] The defending champions faded the rest of the way and missed the playoffs.
Foli spent all of1971 with the Mets, fighting for playing time atsecond base and third base. On May 9, he had an RBItriple and a three-rundouble in the first two innings for his first four-RBI game.[6] It would prove to be his last four-RBI game until1979. In 97 games, his batting average was .226, with both hison-base percentage andslugging percentage below .300.[7]
Before the1972 season, the Mets packaged Foli with fellow young prospectsKen Singleton andMike Jorgensen and sent them to the Montreal Expos for staroutfielderRusty Staub. Foli became a mainstay at shortstop in Montreal for the next five seasons. Although Foli, Singleton and Jorgensen played well in Montreal, the Expos never posted a winning record until after Foli was gone and even lost 107 games in1976.
Foli's offensive numbers in five seasons with Montreal were representative of his whole career. He batted between .238 and .264 each season, only once slugging over .300, and only once reaching .300 inon-base percentage.1976 was the only offensive season that stood out for Foli, as he posted career highs with 36 doubles (fifth-highest in the N.L.), six home runs and a .366 slugging average. On April 21, 1976, Foli hit asingle, double and triple against theChicago Cubs before the game was suspended on account of darkness. (Wrigley Field did not have lights at that point.) When the game was resumed the next day, Foli hit a home run to complete the firstcycle in Montreal Expos history.[8][9] In addition, Foli's cycle was the first "natural cycle" (where the single, double, triple and home run are hit in that sequence) in almost a decade.[10]
Foli was popular in Montreal, as evidenced on July 8, 1973, whenHouston Astrosleft fielderBob Watson slid hard into Foli at second base trying to break up a double play, breaking Foli's jaw. When Watson returned to left field in the next half-inning, the Montreal fans atJarry Park hurled debris at him.[11] Foli missed the next month of the season.[12]
1977 was the beginning of Foli's time as a major leaguejourneyman. In his final nine seasons, Foli spent seven different stints with six different franchises. His travels began on April 26, 1977, when he was traded from the Expos to theSan Francisco Giants forChris Speier in an exchange of starting shortstops.[13] Foli, who was batting .175 at the time of the trade, hit only .228 for the Giants, who finished well out of playoff contention. Foli's Giants highlight was on July 22, when he had the only two-homer game of his career.[14]
After the 1977 season, Foli's original team, the Mets, purchased his contract from San Francisco.1978 was a typical season for Foli, who played 113 games and batted .257,[7] while the Mets finished with the worst record in theNational League.
After playing just three games for the Mets in1979, Foli and a minor league player were traded to thePittsburgh Pirates in exchange for shortstopFrank Taveras. The trade sent Foli from the worst team in the league to one of the best. Pittsburgh was locked in a season-long battle with Montreal for first place, but took the lead for good in the final days of the season. Foli set career highs in batting average, RBI, runs, hits and on-base percentage. He also struck out once every 38 at bats, a strikeout ratio which has not been bested since.[15]
Pittsburgh went on to sweep theCincinnati Reds in the1979 National League Championship Series, with Foli driving in a run in all three games. In the World Series, Foli had a hit in six of the seven games. With the Pirates trailing three games to one, and facing 23-game winner and 1979Cy Young Award winnerMike Flanagan in game 5, Foli scored the tying run and drove in three insurance runs to keep the Pirates alive in the series. Foli then scored a run in Game 6 againstJim Palmer and the Pirates forced a Game 7, which they won the next day to capture the fifth World Championship in team history.
Foli posted typical numbers for him in1980 and thestrike-shortened1981 season, but the Pirates, suffering from the decline of futureBaseball Hall of Fame memberWillie Stargell, as well as other intangibles, dropped from World Champions to mediocrity.[16]
After the 1981 season and shortly after his 31st birthday, Foli was traded again, moving from Pittsburgh to the California Angels in exchange for 22-year-oldcatcherBrian Harper. Foli was reunited withGene Mauch, hismanager from Montreal. He was slated to be autility infielder for the Angels, but whenRick Burleson suffered a tornrotator cuff in mid-April, Foli spent the season as the starting shortstop.[17] A mid-September winning streak propelled the Angels into first place and into the1982 American League playoffs, but they lost to theMilwaukee Brewers three games to two, as Foli managed only two hits and one RBI.[7]
Foli played very little in the last third of the next season, finishing with only 88 games. Towards the end of the season, Foli was suspended by the team for not being in uniform after a September 11 rain delay.[18] The Angels traded Foli to the New York Yankees forpitcherCurt Kaufman after the season. In 61 games, Foli played all fourinfield positions for the Yankees, who traded him to Pittsburgh after the season in a trade which brought 20-year-oldJay Buhner to the Yankees.
Foli batted just .189 in 19 games with the Pirates in1985, before Pittsburgh released him on June 17.[7] Foli, then aged 34, was signed by theSingle-AMiami Marlins,[19] but retired after playing just one game with the team.[20]
After retirement as a player, Tim Foli turned to coaching. He was the third base coach and infield coach for theTexas Rangers in1986 and1987.[21] During the off-season in early 1987, Foli was themanager of theCaguas, Puerto Rico, team in theCaribbean World Series when his fiery personality made news. After losing the first two games to theDominican Republic, Caguasgeneral managerFélix Millán fired Foli, claiming he had been disrespectful.[22][23] Caguas recovered to win the championship.
On November 19, 1991, Foli was named the first base coach and infield coach for theMilwaukee Brewers, rejoining fellow coachDuffy Dyer, who had been a teammate of his while with the Mets.[24] On September 29, 1995, Foli and Dyer were both let go by the Brewers.[25] Foli spent1996 as a coach with theKansas City Royals under managerBob Boone, who was Foli's teammate with the California Angels.[26] He then managed the Rookie-levelKingsport Mets of theAppalachian League in1998 and spent1998 to2000 with the New York Mets organization as an infield and base running coordinator.[21]
On September 16, 2000,[27] Foli began three tumultuous seasons as a coach with theCincinnati Reds, reunited with former Angels catcherBob Boone, who was the Reds' manager. Just a few months into his coaching job, Foli became embroiled in a physical confrontation with fellow coachRon Oester after a game.[28] Foli required stitches. The turmoil in Cincinnati did not soon end, as Oester was let go after the season, the team's superstar,Ken Griffey Jr. was injured in four consecutive seasons, coachKen Griffey Sr. resigned on bad terms,[29]and the Reds posted three consecutive losing seasons. As a result, Foli, Boone, the general manager and another coach were all fired on July 28, 2003.[30]
After taking 2004 off, Foli spent two seasons as manager of theWashington Nationals' Triple-A team, theNew Orleans Zephyrs of thePacific Coast League; the team had a record of 64–76 (14th place) in 2005, and 72–71 (9th place) in 2006.[citation needed] In 2007, he served as minor league field coordinator for the Nationals. He then managed Washington's Triple-A teams in theInternational League for two seasons; in 2008 theColumbus Clippers (69–73, tied for 7th place) and in 2009 theSyracuse Chiefs (76–68, 5th place).[citation needed]
In 1981, Foli was described byGeorge Vecsey inThe New York Times as an "intenseborn-again."[31]
Foli's son, Daniel Foli, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 31st round of the2001 MLB draft. He pitched in the minor leagues from 2001 through 2009, for teams affiliated with the Cubs (2001–2003), Mets (2004–2005), Nationals (2006–2007), and Astros (2007).[32] He spent his final two seasons in the independentAtlantic League with theYork Revolution (2008–2009).[32] In nine seasons, he compiled a record of 35–50 with a 5.07ERA and 1.587WHIP.[32]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle April 22, 1976 | Succeeded by |
