Services Thursday for ex-major league player

Tulsa World
3/25/2008

Funeral services for former Cleveland Indians outfielder and Booker T. Washington graduate Roy Foster are scheduled at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church's Holsey Chapel, 1804 E. 48th St. North.

Foster died Friday. He was 62.

Foster was the Sporting News' selection as the 1970 American League Rookie of the Year. After being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers three days before the season opener, he batted .268 with 23 homers and 68 RBIs. In his first major league game, Foster homered off Baltimore's Dave McNally.

Foster, who was born in Bixby, batted .245 with 18 homers in 1971. Injuries ended his major league career, all spent with Cleveland, after the '72 season. He originally signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1963 after graduating from Washington.

Last July, Foster was ranked No. 98 on the Tulsa World's list of Oklahoma's 100 greatest baseball players.