Happy Baseball Season, readers! As Major League Baseball is gearing up for another rousing year, Lee & Low is releasing a picture book biography about a little talked about baseball legend who made a powerful impact. William “Dummy” Hoy was a talented player with a standout record who made an immense impact on the way that the great American pastime was played. Hoy’s stats are even more impressive when you consider that he was also one of the first deaf players in Major League Baseball.
Career highlights:
Hoy led the National League in Stolen Bases with 82 in 1888, his rookie year. He had 596 total in his career.
He twice led the league in walks, with 117 in 1891.
With 33 sacrifice hits in 1896, he led the National League that year.
He had 2048 hits in his 14 year career, including 40 home runs, with a career batting average of .288.
Hoy’s inspiring story of success based on drive and determination, and against all odds, is introduced to a new generation in Silent Star: The Story of Deaf Major Leaguer William Hoy by Bill Wise and illustrated by Adam Gustavson, coming to a store near you on April 15. This might seem like a divergence from our usual focus on children of color, but as we expand our definition of diversity we knew that Hoy’s story had to be told.
Find out more about Hoy’s stats and the campaign to get Hoy inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don’t forget to go out and play some ball yourself this summer!
