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William "Dummy"
Hoy
(1862-1961)
William "Dummy" Hoy was
one of the greatest baseball players at the
beginning of the 20th century. William "Dummy"
Hoy was also deaf.
William Hoy was born on
May 23, 1862, during the Civil War. William
contracted meningitis at the age of two. The
meningitis caused Hoy to lose his hearing. As he
grew up, he learned to play baseball in spite of
his deafness and became an outstanding
player.
William Hoy played Major
League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds and
Washington Senators even though he was only five
foot five inches tall, which is very small for a
baseball player. His teammates called him
"Dummy" because of his deafness. Back then deaf
people were called "deaf and dumb." This kind of
"dumb" meant unable to speak.
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Photo courtesy of Gallaudet
University, Washington D.C.
NEW!
Gallaudet University is naming its baseball field
for William "Dummy" Hoy. For more information,
click
here.
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Besides stealing 605
bases in his career, "Dummy" Hoy invented the
hand signs the umpires use. Before Hoy invented
the signs, deaf baseball players didn't know
whether they were safe or out. To make it easier
for the deaf to play baseball, "Dummy" created
signs for safe, out, strike, ball, etc. These
signs became accepted by all umpires for all
games, not just the ones in which Hoy
played.
In 1951 William Hoy became
the first player enshrined in the American
Athletic Association of the Deaf (AAAD) Hall of
Fame. He was honored at the 1961 World Series
between the New York Yankees and the Cincinnati
Reds. He was given the honor of throwing out the
first pitch. Two months later, William Hoy died
on December 15, 1961, just five months shy of
his 100th birthday.
The AAAD began trying to
get Hoy in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in
Cooperstown, New York. Even though "Dummy" Hoy
did some great things for baseball he still has
not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Many
attempts have been made to get Hoy in the Hall
of Fame. I think that if it wasn't for "Dummy"
Hoy most deaf people that dream of playing
baseball would throw that dream away. William
Hoy has kept that dream alive for deaf people. I
think if it wasn't for William "Dummy" Hoy
baseball would be a much more complicated sport
for people of all kinds.
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