Local Sports

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Baseball: Reds set to honor Houcktown's Hoy

By DAVE HANNEMAN

STAFF WRITER

Dummy Hoy never heard the roar of the crowd during a pennant race.

But the Houcktown native will be right in the middle of one when the Cincinnati Reds, currently in a heated race with St. Louis for the National League's Central Division lead, stage Dummy Hoy Night when they play the Cardinals Aug. 9.

Meningitis cost Hoy his hearing when he was just a three-year-old child growing up in Houcktown. But Hoy went on to have an outstanding baseball career from 1888-1902. A .288 hitter, Hoy held major league records for games played in center field (1,726), total chances (4,625) and putouts (3,958) when he retired in 1902. One of just 29 players to have competed in four different major leagues, Hoy amassed 2,044 hits, scored 1,426 runs, and had 726 RBI. One of the premier base-stealers of the time, he swiped 594 total bases.

To this day he remains eighth on baseball's all-time list for double plays by an outfielder, 14th in career assists, 17th in stolen bases and No. 2 in steals in a rookie season (82 in 1888). A small man who stood just 5-foot-4, Hoy was always among the league leaders in walks and runs scored, scoring over 100 runs in nine straight seasons.

For all of his athletic exploits, Hoy is most remembered for his handicap and how it may have influenced the game. Some claim Hoy's deafness was the reason umpires began using hand signals to relay whether a pitch was a ball or strike and whether a runner was safe or out.

One historical footnote centers on Hoy's early professional career at Oshkosh, Wis. Hitting just .219, Hoy felt victimized by opposing pitchers, who quick-pitched him when he turned to his coach to find out if the pitch had been called a ball or a strike. Hoy reportedly asked the third-base coach to lift his left arm for a ball, his right for a strike. The system allowed Hoy to focus on the pitcher, his batting average soared to .367 and he was soon on his way to the major leagues.

Umpires then began imitating the same signals, a concept espoused strongly by those lobbying for Hoy to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

There is little doubt Hoy's handicap played a pivotal role in the signals used by umpires. But baseball's debatable past paints other scenarios as well, and none of them are etched in stone.

A documentary titled "Signs of the Times" directed and co-produced by Don Casper centers around Hoy and umpire Bill Klem. Described as a "flamboyant and towering figure," who was among the first umpires elected into the Hall of Fame, Klem's plaque in Cooperstown says he was "Credited with introducing arm signals indicating strikes and fair or foul balls." Verification for that comment, however, can be only traced to Klem himself, who made those claims in articles written about him late in his life.

The documentary also makes the point that "baseball players were using (and stealing) signs on the field well before Hoy's day." It also points out that while doing research, baseball historian and author Bill Deane "found articles from the 1860s advocating for hand signals because fans could not hear the umpires' calls."

There are also claims that a minor league umpire named Cy Rigler began experimenting with hand signals in 1905 and brought them with him when he reached the major leagues.

Baseball historian and author Peter Morris has also said that "Hoy's efforts might have influenced umpires but that the use of hand signals was inevitable, needed for the players and the fans as the stadiums became bigger and noisier."

David Risotto has also done a documentary on Dummy Hoy called, "Dummy Hoy - A Deaf Hero." He is also spearheading an effort for Hoy to be inducted in to the Hall of Fame, and his research provided some of the material for this article.

Whether or not Dummy Hoy was the inspiration for the hand signals used by today's umpires, no one can discount how he overcame a major handicap to become a storied legend of the game.

Hoy began his major league career began with the Washington Senators in 1888, and made an immediate impact. He led the National League in steals (82), set a fielding record that stands to this day, and in one memorable game against Indianapolis, he gunned down three runners at the plate. The catcher applying the tag each time was a man who would gain baseball notoriety of his own, a man named Connie Mack.

Hoy then got caught up in the tumultuous turnover that was part of professional baseball of that era.

In 1890, Hoy, Mack and most of their Washington teammates jumped to the Players League and played for the Buffalo Brotherhood. But the league folded after one season.

Hoy then moved to the American Association and played for Charlie Comiskey's St. Louis Browns. Hoy had another great season, leading the league in walks (119) and the Browns in runs scored (136). But the American Association also folded, and Hoy hustled back to Washington for another go-round with the Senators.

The Hoy/Cominsky connection thrived, first for four seasons in Cincinnati, then, after a two-year stint with Louisville, for another in Chicago after Cominsky started up the White Sox organization in the newly-formed American League. Dummy hit the second grand slam in the history of the American League, batted .294 that season, led both leagues with 45 assists in the outfield and helped the White Sox win the pennant.

Hoy returned to Cincinnati in 1902. He did not put up his usual numbers, though, and was released in mid-season. He spent one more season in pro ball, playing for the Los Angeles Looloos of the Pacific Coast League. At the age of 40, Hoy retired from baseball and returned to Cincinnati. He grown so fond of the city during his playing days there that he bought a dairy farm in nearby Mount Healthy, settled there and raised six children.

In 1951, by a unanimous vote, Hoy was the first player enshrined in the American Athletic Association of the Deaf's Hall of Fame. Ten years later, at the age of 99, he threw out the first pitch before the third game of the World Series between the Reds and Yankees.

Hoys died a few months later. His ashes were scattered in Lytle Park in Cincinnati.

He was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003. But his legacy remains, and it is that legacy the Reds will recognize once again on Aug. 9.

Hanneman: 419-427-8408,

davehanneman@thecourier.com

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