{"id":33029,"date":"2016-03-03T12:17:40","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T18:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=33029"},"modified":"2016-03-03T12:17:40","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T18:17:40","slug":"a-journalist-turned-author-brings-back-a-baseball-hero-for-the-ages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2016\/03\/03\/a-journalist-turned-author-brings-back-a-baseball-hero-for-the-ages\/","title":{"rendered":"A journalist-turned-author brings back a baseball hero for the ages"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WilliamHoyStory_CVR\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A journalist-turned-author brings back a baseball hero for the ages<\/strong><\/p>\n

By DAVID MARTINDALE
\nSpecial Contributor<\/p>\n

March 2, 2016<\/p>\n

More than a century ago, William \u201cDummy\u201d Hoy was one of the best and most popular players in baseball. Today, few people know his name.<\/p>\n

Nancy Churnin hopes to change that by introducing Hoy to a new generation of fans.<\/p>\n

Churnin, theater critic for The Dallas Morning News, is the author of The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game (Albert Whitman & Co., $16.99). It\u2019s a children\u2019s book, with pictures by Jez Tuya, that recaps the inspiring life and career of a deaf baseball player.<\/p>\n

Hoy, one of only a handful of players to play in four major leagues (from 1888 to 1902), was a defensive wizard in center field and one of the game\u2019s most aggressive base stealers. He\u2019s also responsible for popularizing the familiar \u201csafe\u201d and \u201cout\u201d hand signals.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what Churnin has to say about the book and about her favorite player.<\/p>\n

How did you find out about Hoy?<\/p>\n

Several years ago, a high school in Garland produced a play called The Signal Season of Dummy Hoy. I was fascinated. I wrote a story about this interesting play about this baseball player who was deaf and who taught signals to the umpires so he could play, signals that we still use today.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written many, many stories, but this one elicited an email from a man named Steve Sandy from Ohio. He thanked me for writing about Hoy. I was curious why someone from Ohio would care about a high-school production in Garland.<\/p>\n

As we continued our email correspondence, I found out that Steve is deaf and that William Hoy is a great hero to him. Eventually, I asked if Hoy\u2019s story had ever been turned into a children\u2019s book. He didn\u2019t think it had, so I decided to give it a try.<\/p>\n

Why did Hoy\u2019s story appeal to you so much?<\/p>\n

I was excited to write about a man who is a hero to the deaf community. But beyond that, it\u2019s a story that anyone can relate to. His is a story of perseverance, of overcoming challenges, of turning challenges into an opportunity.<\/p>\n

His accomplishments can serve as a great lesson to everyone: Don\u2019t feel badly because you\u2019re different. Think about how your difference can bring something fresh and new to other people and even make things better for everybody. In his case, the signs that he helped introduce made it a better game.<\/p>\n

Hoy has many supporters who believe he should be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. Are you convinced that he belongs?<\/p>\n

Hoy is already in several halls of fame, including the Cincinnati Reds hall of fame. But he isn\u2019t in Cooperstown. When you combine his statistics from all four leagues he played in, they are incredibly strong.<\/p>\n

He led the National League in stolen bases in his rookie year. He was the first outfielder ever to throw out three base runners at the plate in one game. He was the king of center field. No matter where they would hit it, he could get to it. He was fast and he was determined. And he was a team leader.<\/p>\n

Then, on top of that, considering the impact that he had on the game, he definitely belongs.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re putting you on the spot with this question (because we are in Texas Rangers country), but do you have a favorite baseball team and a favorite player?<\/p>\n

I grew up in New York. Some in my family rooted for the Yankees, some for the Mets. So I like them both. But I\u2019ve been going to Texas Rangers games for years and I love them.<\/p>\n

As for my favorite player, I have to say it\u2019s William Hoy. He inspires me. I took a number of years to work on this book and I got a number of rejections for early versions. But I felt I could never give up because Hoy never gave up.<\/p>\n

I felt I wasn\u2019t just doing this for myself. I was doing this for all the kids: deaf kids and hearing kids and anyone who has a dream. And I often felt like Hoy was on my shoulder saying, \u201cDon\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plan your life<\/p>\n

Nancy Churnin will read from and sign The William Hoy Story at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 5. at Barnes & Noble, 7700 W. Northwest Highway, Dallas.<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.dallasnews.com\/lifestyles\/books\/20160302-a-journalist-turned-author-brings-back-a-baseball-hero-for-the-ages.ece<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A journalist-turned-author brings back a baseball hero for the ages By DAVID MARTINDALE Special Contributor March 2, 2016 More than a century ago, William \u201cDummy\u201d Hoy was one of the best and most popular players in baseball. Today, few people…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A journalist-turned-author brings back a #baseball hero for the ages #deaf #DummyHoy #AmericanSignLanguage","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[4621,3349,19012,19,24,24700,24701,191,24704,24705,4883,24703,24699,24702],"class_list":["post-33029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-article","tag-baseball","tag-cincinnati-reds","tag-dallas-dfw","tag-deaf","tag-dummy-hoy","tag-national-baseball-hall-of-fame","tag-sign-language","tag-signal-season-of-dummy-hoy","tag-steve-sandy","tag-texas-rangers","tag-the-dallas-morning-news","tag-the-william-hoy-story","tag-william-dummy-hoy"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-8AJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33069,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2016\/03\/06\/author-shares-inspiring-story-with-stonewall-jackson-elementary-students\/","url_meta":{"origin":33029,"position":0},"title":"Author shares inspiring story with Stonewall Jackson Elementary students","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 6, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Author shares inspiring story with Stonewall Jackson Elementary students\u00a0 BY GENE DAVIS MARCH 4, 2016 INSIDE DALLAS ISD When Nancy Churnin was writing her children\u2019s book about William Hoy, the deaf Major League Baseball Player who had a significant impact on the sport in the early 20th century, her mind\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"dummy hoy book at DISD","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/dummy-hoy-book-at-DISD.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41886,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2021\/04\/01\/reminder-dallas-public-library-is-hosting-for-a-national-deaf-history-month-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":33029,"position":1},"title":"REMINDER: Dallas Public Library is hosting for a National Deaf History Month 2021","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"April 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Dallas Public Library is hosting for a National Deaf History Month. 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