麻豆APP

Dummy Hoy – Photo by Goodwin & Co. From

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Dummy Hoy

Regarded as the most accomplished deaf player in MLB history, Dummy Hoy was an American baseball professional player who played for several teams from 1888 to 1902, most notably the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franchises.

Despite his handicap, Hoy was not only successful in his baseball career but also as a businessman and a responsible ordinary citizen who lived for almost a century. He is admired both as a hero and a role model to all deaf communities in the United States and other parts of the globe.

Let鈥檚 look at the top intriguing facts about him.

1. He was Completely Deaf

Dummy Hoy was born May 23, 1862, in the small town of Houcktown, Ohio. At the time of his birth, he had normal hearing but became deaf after suffering from meningitis at age three.

Meningitis is an acute inflammatory disease affecting the meninges or the membrane system that covers the brain and spinal cord and it is the most common cause of acquired hearing loss in childhood.

Nonetheless, Hoy attended and graduated from the Ohio State School for the Deaf in Columbus as class valedictorian, an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.

2. His real name was William Ellsworth Hoy

Photo by Goodwin & Co.  from

Although he was widely known as 鈥淒ummy Hoy鈥�, his real name was William Ellsworth Hoy. Billy Hoy. During his time the word 鈥渄ump鈥� or 鈥淒ummy鈥� was commonly used to describe someone who could not speak.

Being deaf himself, Hoy was nicknamed 鈥淒ummy鈥� soon after he became a professional baseball player. Interestingly, Hoy immediately embraced the nickname and often corrected individuals who addressed him as William.

3. He is the most accomplished Deaf player in MLB History

Although there are many other deaf baseball players who have played in Major League Baseball, Dummy Hoy is recognized as the most accomplished deaf player in MLB history. Ha ended his career with a .288 batting average, 2048 hits, 1429 runs, 725 runs batted in, 248 doubles, 121 triples, and 40 home runs.

In addition, Hoy had 488 stolen bases from 1888 through 1897, and 108 more after the statistic was redefined to its present meaning in 1898. He was also an excellent baserunner, scoring over 100 runs nine times, and more often he finished among the top base stealers.

4. He was a very intelligent Baseball Player

Photo by Goodwin & Co. from

Even though the name 鈥渄ump鈥� or 鈥淒ummy鈥� is also commonly associated with stupidity, Dummy Hoy was actually one of the most intelligent baseball players of his time. Indeed, this is one of the reasons he is widely credited with introducing hand signals used by umpires to the major league to this day.

In addition, Hoy also worked as an executive with Goodyear after supervising hundreds of deaf workers during World War I. In 1951 he was the first deaf athlete elected to membership in the American Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame.

5. He is credited with the introduction of Hand Signals in the MLB

Although contested in some quarters, Dummy has been widely credited with the creation of hand signals still used by umpires in baseball today. As the story goes, when Dummy started his baseball career, the Umpires used to shout all the calls verbally which disadvantaged his performance.

This prompted Dummy to ask his third-base coach to raise his right arm to indicate a strike and his left arm to show when the ball was up to bat. Soon, the coach also started to signal the opposing team鈥檚 balls and strikes to Dummy when he played outfield.

6. He played in Four Major Leagues

1898 Louisville Colonels – Photo Source:

Hoy made his MLB debut for the Washington Nationals on April 20, 1888. He went ahead to play for Buffalo Bisons, St Louis Browns, Washington Senators, Louisville Colonels, and  Chicago White Sox before making his last MLB appearance for Cincinnati reds on July 17, 1902.

Throughout his career, Hoy played in four different Major Leagues and is one of only 29 players to have ever done so. His 1,006 career walks were the second-highest in MLB history and he ended his career ranking eighth in career games played.

7. His wife was also Deaf

On October 26, 1898, Hoy married Anna Maria Lowry, who was also deaf and a prominent teacher of the deaf in Ohio. Together the couple had six children, Carson, Carmen, and Clover. Two others died during childbirth and one other died of the Spanish flu.

They also raised his nephew, Paul Hoy Helms, who later became the founder and sponsor of the Helms Athletic Foundation and Helms Hall, in Los Angeles. In retirement, Hoy and his wife operated a dairy farm in Mount Healthy, Ohio.

8. He was an Active member of deaf Community Organizations

Throughout his career and even in retirement, Hoy remained active both in the deaf community and player’s organizations.  He also participated in coaching youth and adult baseball upcoming players.

During his retirement a reunion in 1939 with former teammates, Clark Griffith and Connie Mack garnered media attention, with a published snapshot of the trio communicating in sign language.

At the age of 99 and just two months before his death, Hoy was invited to throw out the first pitch at the third game of the World Series in Cincinnati in 1961. He was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003.

9. He was Post-humously Honoured

Image Source:

Since his death in 1961, Hoy has post-humously been honored by various sports organizations for what he achieved during his time as a baseball player. For instance, in 2001 the baseball field at Gallaudet University was named him. He was also inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003 and into the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals in 2004.

There is also a classic baseball game that is held in his honor every two years during Rochester, New York Deaf Awareness Week. The game is contested between members of the Rochester Recreation Club of the Deaf and the Buffalo, New York Club of the Deaf, at a recreated 19th-century ballpark at Genesee Country Village and Museum.

Over the past few decades, there has been a push by many people to have him elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, but all attempts have been so far unsuccessful.

 10. He live for almost a Century

Dummy died on December 15, 1961, in Cincinnati, Ohio after suffering a stroke. His remains were cremated according to family tradition and were scattered at Lytle Park.

At his death, Dummy was 99 years old and was the longest-lived former MLB player ever at that time. In 1973, Ralph Miller broke his record by becoming the first ex-major leaguer to reach the age of 100.

Altogether, 13 former big league ballplayers had become centenarians, the oldest being Chet Hoff, who was 107 when he died in 1998. At the time of his death, Dummy Hoy was the last surviving participant of both the American Association and the Players’ League.