By: Davien Cook
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Born- May 23, 1862.
Died- December 15, 1961.
Contracting meningitis when he was
three years old left William Deaf and mute.
Houck town, Ohio.
He was the first Deaf professional baseball
player.
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His parents were Rebecca Hoffman and Jacob
Hoy, and had a farm in Houck town.
He had three brothers named Smith, Frank,
and John, and he also had a sister named Ora.
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He gave himself the nickname “Dummy”.
He was treated well but he didn’t like being
disabled so he gave himself the nickname.
Yes, he did make an impact on the deaf
community. He did this by, showing everyone
that even if you are disabled you can
accomplish great things. He also was the
reason that there are signs in baseball.
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Hoy played in 1796 games.
He got 2004 hits, 1426 runs, 40 homers and 726
runs batted in.
He went to Gallaudet.
In 1961, Hoy threw the first pitch before game
three of the World Series between the Reds and
the Yankees in Cincinnati.
He became deaf at a very young age like Helen
Keller.
He has a book about him named “Silent Star”.
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http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/763405ef
Appendices B "Decisions of the Special Baseball
Records Committee" and C "Major Changes in
Playing Rules and Scoring Rules." The Baseball
Encyclopedia. 10th ed. New York: Macmillan, 1996.
Chase, Dennis T. "Tom." "Hoy, William Ellsworth
'Dummy.'" Biographical Dictionary of American
Sports: Baseball. David L. Porter, ed. Westport,
Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000.
Dummy Hoy files at the National Baseball Hall of
Fame and Museum at Cooperstown, New York.
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The Dummy Hoy Home plate, Online Website.
New York Times, Obituary, December 15, 1961.
Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The
Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men
Who Played It. New York: Macmillan, 1966.
Shatzkin, Mike, and Jim Charlton. The
Ballplayers. New York: William Morrow, 1990.