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July 21, 2011

Boy says ‘Dummy’ deserves enshrinement

BY MICHELLE MILLER

STAFF WRITER

A 12-year-old boy was in Cooperstown last week to play ball with his traveling youth baseball team at the Dreams Park. However, he also had another mission while in the village – getting recognition for his baseball hero William Ellsworth Hoy, nicknamed “Dummy” because he was deaf.

Darren Drolsbaugh, who is also deaf, said he looks at “Dummy” as a role model, and because he was one of the first deaf ballplayers in the majors to have a long career, he believes the center fielder deserves to be enshrined at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

“He’s our Jackie Robinson,” Darren said.

Darren and his family traveled to the village from North  Wales, Pa. His father, Mark,and mother, Melanie, who are also deaf, came to support Darren’s efforts to seek Hall of Fame recognition for Hoy. Siblings Brandon, 9, and Lacey, 6, were there as well.

Darren, who typically plays second base for the Montgomery Wolverines, wrote a letter describing the reasons he thinks Hoy deserves to be inductee into the Hall of  Fame. He delivered the letter(which appeared in last week’s edition of the Crier) to staff while in town and got the opportunity to meet with BradHorn, senior director of communications and education at the Hall of Fame.

Mark said the meeting with Brad went well.

“He was very nice and he took the time to explain how the selection process works,” Mark said in an email. “Brad is one of those people who clearly loves the game and we  probably could have talkedbaseball with him all day.”

Mark said he and his family learned that it is very hard to get elected into the Hall.

“Brad mentioned that only one percent of all baseball players get in. Darren was in awe of this,” he said.

Horn said Darren and his family are not the first people to campaign in efforts of getting Hoy enshrined.

“Mr. Hoy has had several supporters in the years since his career concluded,” Horn said.

Fan interaction takes many forms and it is a part of the  daily process of the institutionto receive inquires and letters of support, according to Horn.

He said his meeting with the Drolsbaughs was unique, however; because baseball  brought them to the villageand Darren is deaf.

Horn said there has not been a deaf ballplayer elected into the Hall of Fame. He said although Hoy was not the first deaf player to play in the major leagues, he had a great impact on the game.

Hoy played for several teams from 1888 to 1902. Most notably for the Cincinnati Reds and two Washington, D.C. franchises. Horn said there is much research that supports the idea that Hoy is credited for causing the establishment of hand signals. Some credit it to him, while others give the recognition to umpires; there is no definitive point of when it got started, he added.

Hall of Fame reference librarian Freddy Berowsk said it is unclear if Hoy was the third deaf player to play in the majors, after pitcher Ed Dundon and pitcher Tom Lynch. He said he could confirm that Hoy was one of the earlier deaf players in the major leagues and the most successful.

Horn said Hoy played during what the Hall calls the  pre-integration era and to getelected, a historical overview committee must put his name on its 10-name ballot to be voted for. He said those in the pre-integration era will be eligible every three years and election for candidates will be held in 2012 at he Major League Baseball Winter Meetings for 2013 selection.

According to Mark, efforts have been succesful in getting Hoy into the Ohio Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.

“We hope that Darren’s letter will help get ‘Dummy’ Hoy on the ballot (for induction in Cooperstown),” he said.

Darren said his passion for baseball stems from his father, who started playing ball with him in the backyard at the age of 3.

“Our family is all baseball, all the time,” Mark said. Mark said when growing up he did not have email, videophones or captioned television, so he spent most of his time outside playing baseball, waffle ball, stickball and halfball with friends.

“The only television I could really enjoy was televised Phillies games, so I became a rabid fan,” he said. “It obviously rubbed off on the kids.”

Darren said he cheers for the Phillies and his favorite player is Shane Victorino.

He said he learned about “Dummy” through his dad and the Internet.

Mark said Darren went through a bit of a rough stretch while playing youth ball for 11-year-olds. He said he pulled up Hoy’s information on the Internet and Darren became fascinated and could relate to a lot of it. It picked up Darren’s spirits, he added.

“Not only did Hoy play during an era when there wasn’t the kind of accessibility that the deaf community enjoys today, bit it was also during a dark time in deal education.

At the Milan Conference in 1880, sign language was banned from schools for the deaf. This threw deaf education out of whack for a century, with generations of deaf people growing up illiterate as a result. It was not the same kind of oppression Jackie Robinson had to deal with, but it was oppression nonetheless,” Mark said.

Mark said his original plans were for him and his son to sneak out of the Dreams Park in between games to drop off Darren’s letter. However, he said when Head Coach Joe Stevenson became aware of the plans he insisted the team support their teammate.

Stevenson said he has never coached a deaf player before. He said Darren plays at a high level although he misses so much coaching because he cannot hear him say things such as move right or left on the field.

“He does a fabulous job for us and is a great baseball player,” he said. “He has to work twice as hard to get what the other players get.”  Mark said Darren startedplaying organized baseball at age 5.

He said the time spent in Cooperstown exceeded expectations.

Darren said other than the visits to the Hall of Fame, his favorite things while in Cooperstown  were being able totrade pins and meeting players from teams all over the country. Mark said the family was also able to meet with the owner of the Dreams Park, who told them Darren was the first deaf player to play at the facility.

The Montgomery Wolverines finished with a 4-4 record. When asked if the family would return to Cooperstown, Mark said “definitely.”

Darren attends deaf camp in Old Forge every year and because it is not far from Cooperstown the family can plan to stop by on the drive home, he said.

Mark said if Hoy ever does get inducted into the Hall of Fame the family will be there.

“We’ll bring a couple thousand deaf people with us,” he said.

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