May 16, 1902: Deaf Pitcher vs. Deaf Hitter

Dummy Hoy

May 16, 1902: The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-3 at The Palace of the Fans, the Reds' new ballpark in Cincinnati. The winning pitcher for the Giants was Luther Taylor, a 27-year-old righthander from Kansas. Leading off and playing center field for the Reds was Billy Hoy, 7 days short of his 40th birthday, a native of Houcktown in northwestern Ohio.

Both Taylor and Joy were deaf, and labeled with the nickname "Dummy." This game is believed to be the only time in the history of major league sports in North America where 2 deaf athletes competed against each other. Prior to his 1st at-bat, Hoy used sign language to tell Taylor, "I'm glad to see you." When the game was over, Taylor was surely glad to have won, but might have been glad to be rid of Hoy as well: Hoy went 2-for-4, drew a walk, and scored a run.

Dummy Taylor

Up until this era, the word "dumb" was used to describe someone who could not speak, rather than someone who was stupid. As late as the 1970s, on the TV show All in the Family, when Archie Bunker (played by Carroll O'Connor) wanted someone to keep quiet, he would tell them, "Dummy up!" But since the ability to speak was often connected to one's intelligence, the epithets "dumb" and "dummy" became interchangeable with stupidity.

The Protestant hymn "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing," written in 1780 by Charles Wesley, brother of fellow hymnwriter John Wesley, the founder of the United Methodist Church, has these words as its 6th and final verse:

Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb

your loosened tongues employ.

Ye blind, behold, thy Saviour come

and leap, ye lame, for joy.

Hoy himself often corrected individuals who addressed him as William or Billy, and said, "Call me Dummy." He was said by teammates to have been able to speak with a voice that resembled a squeak, and was one of the most intelligent players of his time.

He played from 1888 to 1902, had a lifetime batting average of .288, collected 2,048 hits, and stole 596 bases, 4th all-time at the time of his retirement. His only season as a Pennant winner was with the 1901 Chicago White Sox. He played with the Reds from 1894 to 1897, and again in 1902, which was his final season.

He is sometimes credited with developing the hand signals used by umpires: Left hand for balls, right hand for strikes. However, as with the story that Abner Doubleday "invented baseball," no articles printed during his lifetime have been found to support the suggestion that he influenced the creation of signals, nor did he ever maintain that he had such a role.

Taylor appeared in 274 major league games, all but 4 of them with the Giants. In 1904, he went 21-15 with a 2.34 ERA, to help them win the Pennant. In 1905, he went 16-9, 2.66, and helped them win another Pennant. They won the World Series, although, between them, Christy Mathewson and Joe McGinnity faced 159 out of 164 batters for the Giants in the Series, and Taylor did not appear in it. For his career, he finished 116-106, with a 2.75 ERA.

After retirement in 1908, Taylor worked as an instructor and coach at several schools for the deaf. He married 3 times, each time to a deaf woman, but had no children. He died in 1958, at the age of 83, and was the last surviving member of the Giants' 1904 and '05 Pennant winners. Hoy married once, also to a deaf woman, and they raised 6 children, while running a dairy farm in Ohio.

After the 1911 season, the aptly-named Palace of the Fans was torn down, and replaced with a far less elaborate stadium that would eventually be named Crosley Field. The Reds played on the site from 1884 to 1970.

On October 9, 1961, before Game 3 of the World Series, at Crosley Field, William "Dummy" Hoy was introduced to the crowd, whose standing ovation he could not hear, but could see. He threw out the ceremonial first ball. He was 99 years old. At the time, he was believed to be the oldest former major league player who ever lived. He died 3 months later, 5 months short of his 100th birthday. (The current record holder is Chester "Red" Hoff, 1891-1998, 107.)

The Reds have elected him to their team Hall of Fame. There are fans who believe he should be elected to the main Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, but that's usually based less on his good hitting, excellent fielding, and great baserunning as it is on the almost-certainly false myth of his role in umpires' calls.

Since the early 20th Century, a few players have suffered forms of hearing impairment, including Ted Williams, who became nearly deaf in one ear due to his service in the Korean. War. But the only "deaf" major leaguer since Dummy Taylor retired has been Curtis Pride, born 95 percent deaf, who played the outfield from 1993 to 2006, wearing hearing aids.

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May 16, 1902 was a Friday. These other baseball games were played:

* The Brooklyn Superbas beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-5 at Robison Field in St. Louis. The Brooklyn team became the Dodgers in 1911.

* The Boston Americans beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-2 at the Huntington Avenue Grounds in Boston. The Americans became the Boston Red Sox in 1908.

* The Washington Senators beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-7 in 10 innings at Oriole Park in Baltimore. The Orioles folded at the end of the season, and were replaced by the New York team that would become the Yankees in 1913. The Senators became the Minnesota Twins in 1961.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-1 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. Honus Wagner went 2-for-4 with a walk. 1st baseman William "Kitty" Bransfield went 3-for-4 with 5 RBIs.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Bronchos, 2-1 at League Park in Cleveland. The next season, the Bronchos renamed themselves for their best hitter and 2nd baseman, and even named him their manager: Napoleon "Nap" Lajoie. They became the Cleveland Naps in 1903, the Cleveland Indians in 1915, and the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.

* The Chicago Orphans beat the Boston Beaneaters, 5-0 at the West Side Grounds in Chicago. Jack Taylor pitched a 4-hit shutout, and the Orphans scored all 5 runs in the 5th inning.

The Chicago team, formerly known as the White Stockings and, for their youth, as the Colts, had long been led by 1st baseman and manager Adrian Constantine Anson. He was known as "Cap," for "Captain," until he got older, and became known as "Pop." He retired after the 1897 season, and the team became known as the "Orphans," because "they missed their Pop." They were renamed the Chicago Cubs in 1903. The Beaneaters went through some name changes before becoming the Braves in 1912.

* The other Chicago team also played at home, and won, on this day: The Chicago White Stockings beat the St. Louis Browns, 2-1 at South Side Park. They became the Chicago White Sox in 1904.