Dummy Hoy

William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy (May 23 1862 – December 15 1961) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franchises. He is noted for being the most prominent deaf player in major league history, and is credited by some sources with causing the establishment of signals for safe and out calls. He held the major league record for games in center field (1726) from 1899 to 1920, set records for career putouts (3958) and total chances (4625) as an outfielder, and retired among the leaders in outfield games (2nd, 1795), assists (7th, 273) and double plays (3rd, 72). He was also an excellent baserunner, scoring over 100 runs nine times and often finishing among the top base stealers. His 1004 career walks put him second in major league history behind Billy Hamilton when he retired, and he also ended his career ranking eighth in career games (1796).

Born in the small town of Houcktown, Ohio, Hoy became deaf after suffering from meningitis at age three, and went on to graduate from the Ohio State School for the Deaf in Columbus as class valedictorian. He opened a shoe repair store in his hometown and played baseball on weekends, earning a professional contract in 1886 with an Oshkosh, Wisconsin team which was managed by Frank Selee in 1887. In 1888, with the Washington Nationals of the American Association, Hoy became the second deaf player in the major leagues, following Ed Dundon who had been an Association pitcher in 1883-84. In his rookie year he led the league in stolen bases, although the definition of the statistic was different prior to 1898. At 5'4" and batting left-handed, he was able to gain numerous walks with a small strike zone, leading the league twice (1891, 1901) and compiling an excellent .386 on base percentage.

His speed was a great advantage in the outfield, and he was able to play shallow as a result. On June 19, 1889 he tied a major league record by throwing out three runners at home plate in one game. He joined the Buffalo Bisons of the Players League in 1890, then returned to the AA with the St. Louis Browns for the league's final season in 1891. He returned to Washington for two years with the Washington Nationals of the National League, and was traded to the Reds in December 1893. He spent the next four years with that club; in 1897 he led the NL with 359 putouts. Before the 1898 season he was traded to the Louisville Colonels, and in 1899 he broke Mike Griffin's major league record of 1459 games in center field. After not playing in the major leagues in 1900, he joined the Chicago White Sox in the new American League in 1901, helping them to the AL's (and his) first pennant. He ended his major league career with the Reds in 1902, and played for Los Angeles in the Pacific Coast League in 1903.

Hoy retired with a .287 batting average, 2044 hits, 1426 runs, 726 runs batted in, 248 doubles, 121 triples and 40 home runs. He had 487 stolen bases from 1888 through 1897, and 107 more after the statistic was redefined to its present meaning in 1898. His 1795 games in the outfield ranked second to Jimmy Ryan (then at 1829) in major league history. His record for career games in center field was broken by Tris Speaker in 1920.

In Hoy's time, the word "dumb" was used to describe someone who could not speak (as most deaf people at the time could not), rather than someone who was stupid; but since the ability to speak was often unfairly connected to one's intelligence, the epithets "dumb" and "dummy" became interchangeable with stupidity. Hoy himself often corrected individuals who addressed him as William, and referred to himself as Dummy. Said to have been able to speak with a voice that resembled a squeak, he was actually one of the most intelligent players of his time, and is sometimes credited with developing the hand signals used by the umpires in the game to this day, though this credit is sometimes disputed. For this reason, as well as his all-around play – he was a fine hitter, runner and fielder by the standards of his day – there is a movement to support his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

In retirement, Hoy and his wife Anna Maria (who was also deaf) operated a dairy farm in Mount Healthy, Ohio, outside Cincinnati; among their three children was Carson, an Ohio judge, and their grandson Judson became a member of the Ohio State House of Representatives. They also raised his nephew Paul Hoy Helms, the founder of the Helms Athletic Foundation in Los Angeles. Hoy also worked as an executive with Goodyear. In 1951 he was the first deaf athlete elected to membership in the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame. At the age of 99 and just two months before his death in Cincinnati, the Reds brought him back to Crosley Field, built on the site of his former home field, to throw out the first ball before Game 3 of the 1961 World Series. He could see, if not hear, the standing ovation he received. Until the 1980s, he was believed to have been the longest-lived former player ever. In 2001 the baseball field at Gallaudet University was named William "Dummy" Hoy Baseball Field. He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• SABR biography
• BaseballLibrary - profile and career highlights
• DummyHoy.com - website promoting his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame