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    "parsed_content": "With help from the likes of Albert Pujols, a Hall of Fame campaign launched this month for an overlooked baseball pioneer. The \u201cSign for Hoy\u201d effort includes an upcoming short film and a poignant catchphrase:Sometimes history doesn\u2019t need to be rewritten.Sometimes it simply needs to be remembered.But for a subset of baseball fans, Dummy Hoy needs no introduction.\u201cHe\u2019s like the Jackie Robinson of the deaf community,\u2019\u2019 Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur (\u201cCODA\u201d) told The Athletic on Friday.\u201cHe paved the way for guys with hearing disabilities, like myself,\u2019\u2019 former Montreal Expos outfielder Curtis Pride, the first modern deaf big leaguer, said via video call.\u201cThe Hall of Fame should reflect the full story of this game \u2014 and Dummy Hoy is part of that story,\u2019\u2019 Pujols wrote in a testimonial for the campaign website.All told, it\u2019s been a big month for a player whose last major-league at-bat came in 1902. William Ellsworth Hoy, who embraced his indelicate nickname, was a speedy center fielder known for his elite defense. Mostly a leadoff hitter, he amassed 2,048 hits, 596 stolen bases and a .386 on-base percentage during a major-league career that began in 1888.Beyond all that, Hoy was deaf, having lost his ability to hear or speak after contracting meningitis at age 3. His creative approach to communicating on the ballfield played a much-debated role in the evolution of umpire calls and other hand signals still used throughout baseball today.\n Longtime Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman, center, is a strong advocate for Dummy Hoy\u2019s induction into the Hall of Fame.Courtesy: Brian DouglasHoy\u2019s most ardent Hall of Fame supporters, including longtime Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman, contend that Hoy\u2019s baseball skills alone should put him in the conversation for induction in Cooperstown. That Hoy did all that while the most prominent deaf player in major-league history only enhances his case.\u201cI think we all are inclined to think about the Baseball Hall of Fame as a reward for stats,\u2019\u2019 Brennaman said in a video call. \u201cBut I don\u2019t really believe that that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. \u2026 A player can also have a positive impact on the game aside from the numbers. And I don\u2019t think there\u2019s any question Hoy did that. No question whatsoever.\n\u201cYou don\u2019t vote for him simply because he was deaf. You vote for him for all the qualities he brought to the table: the ability to play the game and do it in the manner in which he did.\u201dA website launched this week \u2014 the cleverly named signforhoy.com \u2014 encourages fans to sign a petition endorsing Hoy\u2019s candidacy. The trailer for the documentary will be released in October, and the 17-minute film will air on a date to be determined in early November.This is hardly the first push for Hoy to be elected, and there\u2019s an underdog undercurrent to this effort that the 5-foot-6, 160-pounder might have relished. Hoy\u2019s pathway would be through the Classic Baseball Era committee, which evaluates candidates before 1980, and includes Negro Leagues and pre-Negro Leagues stars. That Classic Era committee will vote in December 2027 for inclusion in the Class of 2028\u201cIt\u2019s about recognition. His story needs to be told,\u201d Brenda Linkous, the co-CEO of Deafinitely For All Entertainment, said last week. \u201cIf he gets in the Hall of Fame, that will be fantastic and we will celebrate. But people even knowing his name: he deserves that.\u201dCWSKC82% Picked18% Picked218 votes\n \n \n \n Hoy was born in Houcktown, Ohio, on May 23, 1862, a few years before professional baseball existed. He attended the Ohio School for the Deaf and graduated as the high school valedictorian.So, about that nickname \u2026Ralph Berger, writing for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), noted that Hoy played in an era when \u201cnicknames were descriptive, often to the point of cruelty.\u201d But he added that William cherished the moniker. \u201cIndeed, he referred to himself as \u2018Dummy\u2019 and politely corrected those who, for whatever reason, called him \u2018William,\u2019\u2019\u2019 Berger wrote.Baseball-Reference, the comprehensive statistical site, lists him as Billy Hoy, as a nod to modern decorum. But the capital-D nickname was common enough during that era that, Berger notes, a 1902 showdown once featured Hoy against deaf pitcher Dummy Taylor. The at-bat began with Hoy signing \u201cI\u2019m glad to see you\u201d before ripping a single.Pride, who spent 11 seasons in the big leagues, was born deaf. It wasn\u2019t until his first year in the minors, when he was 17, that a reporter asked him if he knew the name Dummy Hoy.Hoy was not the first deaf major-league player \u2014 that was Ed \u201cDummy\u201d Dondon, who debuted in 1883 \u2014 but Hoy was by far the most accomplished deaf player of his era.\u201cAnd I\u2019d never heard of him,\u2019\u2019 Pride said. \u201cHe gave me a brief background, and after the interview, I went home and did some research on him and I was amazed by what he had accomplished. To not be able to hear and not be able to communicate with his teammates? And on top of that, he put up some unbelievable numbers. I know it couldn\u2019t be easy for him. I know what he went through because I went through it myself.\u201dWhen Pride was called up by the Expos in 1993, he was the first deaf player in the majors since Dick Sipek in 1945.\n Curtis Pride, left, greets Houston Astros player Derek Bell before a spring training game. Pride took inspiration from Dummy Hoy\u2019s success.AFP via Getty ImagesKotsur, whose portrayal of a deaf father in the 2021 film \u201cCODA\u201d captured the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, learned of Hoy as part of a history lesson. He was a second grader at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf when Hoy came up in class.\u201cWe really cherished our deaf history and deaf historical figures, including Dummy Hoy,\u201d Kotsur said through an ASL interpreter. \u201cWhen we found out about this deaf professional baseball player, we became obsessed with him. We always talked about him, and he would always come up in conversation.\u201cI was so surprised that hearing people had never heard of him and weren\u2019t aware of him or his journey.\u201dKotsur was a catcher on his baseball team, and leaned on baseball\u2019s own version of sign language: one finger for a fastball, two for a curve. The actor marvels over how Hoy navigated the rest of the major-league challenges.\u201cRemember, more than 100 years ago, he had no access. He had no interpreters, no technology and no captions,\u2019\u2019 Kotsur said. \u201cCan you imagine the barriers he had to go through at that time and what a challenge it was?\u201dHoy found a decidedly low-tech way to communicate with his teammates. His entry in the SABR Bio Project notes that when Hoy joined the Washington Nationals in 1888, he posted a statement on the clubhouse wall at Swampoodle Grounds.It read:Being totally deaf, as you know and some of my teammates being unacquainted with my play, I think it is timely to bring about an understanding between myself, the left fielder, the shortstop and the second baseman and the right fielder.The main point is to avoid possible collisions with any of these four who surround me when in the field going for a fly ball. Whenever I take a fly ball I always yell I\u2019ll take it \u2014 the same as I have been doing for many seasons, and of course the other fielders let me take it. Whenever you don\u2019t hear me yell, it is understood I am not after the ball, and they govern themselves accordingly.Apparently, it all worked out fine. Sam Crawford, a Hall of Fame outfielder, recalled as much in the classic book \u201cThe Glory of Their Times.\u201d\u201cI\u2019d be in right field, and he\u2019d be in center, and I\u2019d have to listen real careful to know whether or not he\u2019d take a fly ball,\u2019\u2019 Crawford said. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t hear, you know, so there wasn\u2019t any sense in me yelling for it. He couldn\u2019t talk either, of course, but he\u2019d make a kind of throaty noise, a little squawk, and when a fly ball came out and I heard this little noise, I knew he was going to take it. We never had any trouble about who was to take the ball.\u201dAt the plate, though, is where tales of Hoy\u2019s communication style get complicated. The oft-repeated version is that as a batter, he couldn\u2019t hear the umpire\u2019s verbal calls of ball or strike. So Hoy, who led the league in walks twice, enlisted his third-base coach to signal a strike by raising a clenched right hand. The story goes that it was Hoy\u2019s creativity that gave birth to umpires using hand signals for balls and strikes and safe and out calls.\n Troy Kotsur, celebrating his Academy Award for \u201cCODA,\u201d played baseball, football and other sports and has a special appreciation for deaf athletes.David Livingston \/ Getty Images That line might not be as direct. Bill Deane, a member of SABR\u2019s Biographical Research, Statistical Analysis, and Records Committees, has said that, \u201cWe can find no contemporary articles about Hoy, or even any written while he was alive, that claim a connection between Hoy and the umpire\u2019s hand signals \u2014 much less any claim by Hoy himself.\u201dStill, there\u2019s no doubting Hoy\u2019s ability to thrive amid the day-to-day challenges. He became a beloved personality in the game. At age 99, which made him the oldest living former major-league player at the time, he threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Crosley Field before Game 3 of the 1961 World Series.Back then, Hoy said he had two wishes. One, he wanted to live to be 100. Two, he wanted to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.He just missed that first goal. He died at 99 years, 206 days.Could Hoy\u2019s second wish still come true?\u201cThis campaign is designed to try and bring his name to the forefront,\u2019\u2019 Brennaman said. \u201cI think his story is timeless because we can consider him to be a model for people who have a handicap. I\u2019ve got to believe it\u2019s an inspiration for people even today.\u201dKotsur, signing his response, put it best.\u201cI feel like it\u2019s finally time,\u2019\u2019 he said, \u201cfor our voices, through our hands, to be recognized and to lift up deaf folks worldwide.\u201d\nDaniel Brown is a staff editor\/writer for The Athletic MLB. He began covering Bay Area sports in 1995, including stints as a beat writer covering the Giants and 49ers. His feature story on Sergio Romo and a young cancer patient won first place in feature writing from the Associated Press Sports Editors in 2015. He is a native of Cotati, Calif., and a graduate of UC Davis.Follow Sep 23, 2026SPONSORED BYConnections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports termsSPONSORED BYPlay today's puzzleWhat did you think of this story?MEHSOLIDAWESOME",
    "published_at": "2026-09-21T15:06:00+00:00",
    "author_name": "Daniel Brown",
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    "ai_headline": "With help from the likes of Albert Pujols, a Hall of Fame campaign launched this month for an overlooked baseball pioneer. The \u201cSign for Hoy\u201d effort includes an upcoming short film and a poignant catchphrase:Sometimes history doesn\u2019t need to be rewritten.Sometimes it simply needs to be remembered.But for a subset of baseball fans, Dummy Hoy needs no introduction.\u201cHe\u2019s like the Jackie Robinson of the deaf community,\u2019\u2019 Oscar-winning actor Troy Kotsur (\u201cCODA\u201d) told The Athletic on Friday.\u201cHe paved the way for guys with hearing disabilities, like myself,\u2019\u2019 former Montreal Expos outfielder Curtis Pride, the first modern deaf big leaguer, said via video call.\u201cThe Hall of Fame should reflect the full story of this game \u2014 and Dummy Hoy is part of that story,\u2019\u2019 Pujols wrote in a testimonial for the campaign website.All told, it\u2019s been a big month for a player whose last major-league at-bat came in 1902. William Ellsworth Hoy, who embraced his indelicate nickname, was a speedy center fielder known for his elite defense. Mostly a leadoff hitter, he amassed 2,048 hits, 596 stolen bases and a .386 on-base percentage during a major-league career that began in 1888.Beyond all that, Hoy was deaf, having lost his ability to hear or speak after contracting meningitis at age 3. His creative approach to communicating on the ballfield played a much-debated role in the evolution of umpire calls and other hand signals still used throughout baseball today.",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Dummy Hoy Hall of Fame Campaign Launched with Support from Albert Pujols",
    "ai_excerpt": "A campaign called \"Sign for Hoy\" has launched to advocate for deaf baseball pioneer William \"Dummy\" Hoy's induction into the Hall of Fame. Supported by figures like Albert Pujols and Troy Kotsur, the effort highlights Hoy's significant career and impact on the game despite being deaf.",
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