Hitting A Home Run For Deaf People Everywhere

By Greg Montgomery

William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy, major league baseball's first deaf player

Do you know how many bases William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy stole in his major league career? Over 600, according to Sam Crawford. "That alone should be enough to put him in the Hall of Fame!" said Crawford.

Hoy was a famous baseball player when baseball was a new American sport. Born William Hoy in Houcktown, Ohio in 1862, he went to the Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus, Ohio. No one knows how he got the nickname "Dummy," but he seems to have liked the name. When he became famous and people asked for his autograph, he would sign proudly "Dummy Hoy."

Hoy played in his first major league game with the Washington Senators on April 20, 1888. He had a fine season, batting .274 with a slugging percentage of .338. Hoy was also an outstanding base stealer.

Dummy was also a fine outfielder. A writer for Sporting Life magazine, Henry Furness, described how the crowds would applaud for Dummy:

"When outfielder Hoy made a brilliant catch, the crowd…wildly waved hats and arms. It was the only way in which they could testify their appreciation to the deaf-mute athlete."

After a 14-year career, Hoy played his final season with the Cincinnati Reds in 1902. He compiled a lifetime .287 batting average, an on-base percentage of .386, and a slugging percentage of .373.

Some people believe that Hoy invented the hand signals that umpires use to show balls and strikes. Many organizations of deaf people are trying to get Hoy elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But Hoy's many accomplishments on the baseball field have not gone unnoticed. For example, Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. dedicated its baseball field to Hoy and erected a plaque in his honor.

[Special thanks to the Baseball Almanac for providing Dummy Hoy's career statistics.]