Joe Foy, known to his family as Joey, was born February 21, 1943 in New York City. Though his home was only seven blocks from Yankee Stadium, Foy was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. Foy was a terrific high school athlete and a baseball star at Evander Childs High school in the Bronx. He went unsigned after graduation and played the next year with the amateur team, the New York Billikens. He starred for the Billikens, which caught the attention of the Minnesota Twins, who signed Foy for a $5,000 bonus.
After a terrific 1962 season with Class D Erie, .