FINDLAY, Ohio — William “Dummy” Hoy, considered by fans to be the greatest deaf professional baseball player, received a historic marker in the City of Findlay this week.
City officials on Tuesday unveiled the historic marker in Hoy’s honor.
Hoy graduated from the Ohio School for the Deaf in Columbus and went on to play 14 seasons in Major League Baseball. He is credited for bringing attention to hand signals that are still used in games today.
Hoy played in 1,797 games with an average of .288 that included 2,048 hits, 1,429 runs, 40 homers and 725 runs batted in. He is also known as a great base stealer with tremendous speed and is credited with 596 steals.
Hoy is one of three outfielders to throw out three base runners at home plate in one game. On June 19, 1889, he threw perfect strikes to catcher Connie Mack to throw out runners attempting to score from second base.
In 2003, Hoy was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame. The player was not selected to be on the ballot for the MLB Hall of Fame and will not be eligible again for 10 years.
Longtime fan Steve Sandy, who is also deaf, wanted to see Hoy in the MLB Hall of Fame. He said Hoy’s inability to hear helped change the game and he hopes that the baseball player will get his chance in the hall of fame.
“It would be an honor to see him in the hall of fame just to honor those with disabilities playing major league baseball,” Sandy said.