Signs for WILLIAM DUMMY HOY

Deaf researcher Steve Sandy showed the name sign (below) in the "Seek the World" YouTube video (Oct. 1, 2019). Ref

Meaning: a name sign for William "Dummy" Hoy (1862-1961), a Deaf professional baseball player, who introduced the signals (e.g. ball, stroke, safe-out) to Major League Baseball. Hoy played for the Cincinnati Reds team.

Pronunciation (production): Dominant-handed "15" handshape flapping twice with the thumb on the cheek.

Related signs: BASEBALL.

Deaf Culture and tidbits

Deaf History

What is the story of William "Dummy" Hoy's name sign?

Steve Sandy explained that the name sign comes from the obsolete sign for "deaf-mute" which was a term used in the long past. Ref

Steve Sandy added a very interesting anecdote: "Dummy Hoy and Dummy Taylor did play against each other in the pro baseball? Both of them were deaf so they created this famous headline: "Deaf versus Deaf". In that game, Taylor played for New York Giants as the pitcher while Hoy was the batter. They stared each other down in the game and it was the only time in history this has ever happened.

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