Dummy's_Rise_to_Glory

William Ellsworth Hoy, also known as “Dummy”, faced all odds and became one of the greatest baseball players of his time. Hoy was born in Houcktown, Ohio on May 23, 1862. When he was three years old, Hoy came down with Meningitis and slowly began to lose his ability to hear and speak. When Hoy was growing up, someone who could not speak was described as “dumb”. Many people, both in the 1800s and now, use the word “dumb” to describe someone’s intelligence level. Hoy, however, used the word to describe himself and often corrected others who would call him William, instead of his personal preference, “Dummy”. Hoy was very far from being dumb. In fact, he is known as one of the most intelligent baseball players of his time. Many people believe that he may have had a role in developing the hand signals that umpires, to this day, use in umpiring their games. However, this is a much disputed idea and has yet to be proven true or false. Hoy attended college at Ohio State School for the deaf in Columbus and graduated as class valedictorian. After college, he opened a shoe repair shop in his hometown and started playing baseball in his spare time. Hoy soon earned a professional contract in 1886 with an Oshkosh, Wisconsin team under the management of Frank Selee. After a year, Hoy joined the Washington Nationals of the American Association, and became the third deaf baseball player in the major leagues. Hoy’s career started to grow quickly as his statistics started to rise off the charts. He took the lead in the most stolen bases, during his rookie year. He also, came in second in the most walks while batting, setting a high record of sixty-nine. His throw was as first-rate as his batting. He was a lefty batter, but a righty thrower. As Hoy started pitching and striking players out left and right, he was soon known as one of the most valuable players. Besides his throw and batting abilities, Hoy had great speed and was a very strong asset in the outfield. Hoy, or “Dummy”, was an all around excellent player. Hoy traveled around from team to team. In his career he played for seven different major league teams, including: Buffalo Bison, St. Louis Browns, Chicago White Sox, Louisville Colonels, and the Cincinnati Reds. He finally ended his career with the Reds. Hoy retired with a .287 batting average, 2044 hits, 1426 runs, 595 stolen bases, and 40 home runs. After Hoy retired he and his wife, Anna Maria, who was also deaf, moved to Mount Healthy and opened their own dairy farm. In 1951, Hoy was the first deaf athlete elected to become a member in the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame. When Hoy was ninety-nine years old, he was brought by the Cincinnati Reds back to Crosley Field, which was built on the site of his former home field, to throw the first pitch before the third game of the 1961 World Series. He could just hear the standing ovation he received. Hoy died two months later in 1961 after suffering from a stroke and, according to family tradition, was cremated. His remains were then scattered at Lytle Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, Hoy’s legacy lives on. He broke the record of becoming the longest-lived former MLB player ever. Although, in 1973, this record was later broken by a man name Ralph Miller, who lived to be 100. Hoy was also honored in 2001 by Gallaudet University when they named their baseball field “The William “Dummy” Hoy Baseball Field”. Hoy was later inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003. Dummy proved to everyone that even though he could not hear or speak, he could conquer any task, out-do any man, and live the way he very well pleased. Works Cited "Dummy Hoy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 03 May 2013