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Hoy for the Hall!
During Friday's Deaf Awareness Week event, Robert Traina, Lex '90, introduced students to William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy, a Deaf baseball player whose statistics qualify him for the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Hoy is credited with helping to introduce and popularize the MLB hand signals that umpires use for balls, strikes, safe, and out. Hoy played 14 seasons in the major leagues, debuting with the Washington Nationals in 1888 and retiring from the Chicago White Sox in 1902. He retired with a career record of 2,048 hits, 1,429 runs, and 596 stolen bases – still top 20 in MLB history.
A team of advocates from the worlds of baseball, film, and the Deaf community has joined together to build a case for inducting Hoy into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Classic Era Committee votes every three years on candidates from baseball’s earliest years. In December 2027, the Committee will convene for a vote. The goal is 1 million signatures on the petition to add Hoy to the Hall of Fame.
For more information on Hoy’s achievements, https://www.signforhoy.com. Lexington’s Jr. National Association of the Deaf Club (Jr. NAD), which helped to host today’s presentations, encourages everyone to sign the online petition https://www.signforhoy.com/petition and get William Ellsworth Hoy the recognition he deserves.
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