09:37 AM
11/05/24
11/05/24
May 13, 2003
William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy: was the first deaf Major League baseball player. He played in four major leagues, hit the first grand slam in the American League, stole 82 bases in his rookie year, and was the first outfielder to throw out three runners at home plate in one game. He's the reason for umpires' hand signals. Gallaudet University dedicated its baseball field to him. There's a campaign to get him inducted in the Hall of Fame (here's his stats.) [via The Baseball Crank]
posted by kirkaracha to baseball at 01:27 AM - 1 comment
Nice Post. I had always assumed that the hand signals came into being because of crowd noise. I like this quote from the Baseball Crank link: I roomed with Dummy in 1899, and we got to be good friends. He was a real fine ballplayer. When you played with him in the outfield, the thing was that you never called for a ball. You listened for him, and if he made this little squeaky sound, that meant he was going to take it - Tommy Leach