DDDolich
9-25-17 - Dummy Hoy
9-25-17 - Apple Watch
9-25-17 - Andy Dolich
William "Dummy" Hoy helped create the hand language of baseball
Facilitator
Perpetrator

Andy Dolich -- 2015
Andy Dolich

I Got Your Apple Watch Right Here!

By Andy Dolich

The man at the historical heart of the recent Apple watch controversy between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees is William Ellsworth Hoy. He played for 18 seasons as a pro and died in 1961 at the age of 99.

Followers of baseball history may know him by his nickname, "Dummy."

William "Dummy" Hoy was the first deaf player to have a long career in the major leagues, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox and the original Washington Nationals. He batted .288 with 2,054 hits, appearing in 1,798 major league games.

As a graduate of the Ohio School for the Deaf, Hoy was a pioneer in the creation of hand signals in baseball games. He taught his teammates to communicate in sign language.

Umpire Bill Klem is credited by many for being the originator of hand signals in 1905 but accounts of Hoy's signals go back to 1888, long before an Apple was referred to as anything but edible.

Baseball hand signals used by umpires, managers, coaches, and player-to-player, at every level of the game, can be traced back to William Ellsworth Hoy. I'm guessing that none of the players or coaches on the Red Sox or Yankees knew of Hoy's contribution to the National Pastime.

The world of technology is impacting all sports, with baseball having a literal sign of the times change caused by an Apple Watch. MLB investigators looked into claims that the Red Sox used the hi-tech watches to steal hand signals from opponents' catchers. The Apple watches would tell them what type of pitch was being thrown, which would be relayed.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said he's had complaints from players about sign stealing and how it impacts the pace of play with men on base. He described sign stealing as "a form of behavior that we should not tolerate" and there are rules that would regulate the use of electronic devices being used.

On September 15 the Commisoner fined the Red Sox an undisclosed amount, getting to the core of the Apple dispute. He used this penalty as a reminder to the rest of the league that the use of electronic devices to steal signals during games is strictly prohibited.

Sign stealing, which consists of one team intercepting the hand signals of another team, has been a part of baseball since the days of "Dummy."

In 1951 it was reported that the New York Giants used a telescope from center field to read signs from opposing catchers. Information was then sent to Giants players from the bullpen.

As technology advanced, so have the methods of cheating. In 1997, the New York Mets were accused of using a small camera near home plate at Shea Stadium to peek at catchers. In 2011 the Philadelphia Phillies were accused of using binoculars to watch the opposing teams' catchers. Instant replay video has also helped teams catch signs and trends from catchers and pitchers.

" Applewatchgate" has focused attention on the unspoken world of baseball signs. William Ellsworth Hoy, nobody's "Dummy," should be enshrined in the Hall of Fame because he helped create the international hand language of baseball.

Andy Dolich, President, Dolich Consulting -- Dolich has held executive positions in the NFL (San Francisco 49ers), NBA (Memphis Grizzlies, Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers), MLB (Oakland A's), NHL (Washington Capitals) Pro Soccer and Lacrosse. He is the Entrepreneur in Residence at Menlo College and teaches sports business at
Stanford's School of Continuing Studies.

Jonathan
9-25-17 - Laney College
Laney College has been tapped by the Oakland A's as their choice of location to build a new stadium
9-25-17 - Jonathan Siegel
Jonathan Siegel

A's At The Crossroads

By Jonathan Siegel
These are interesting times for a longtime A's fan. Deep into the third straight year of really lousy baseball, there are some genuinely encouraging signs that the youth movement might actually be taking hold.  Its way more fun watching promising young players like the two Matts (Olson and Chapman) on the infield corners and Chad Pinder in right field, than the basket of retread depolorables with which the team started the season.

  Early in the season, Billy Beane tied the youth movement into the goal of producing a contending team by the time a new stadium might be available. To that end, not only was some dead wood jettisoned (see, e.g. Trevor Plouffe, Adam Rosales, Rajai Davis, et al.), but the team's best starter (Sonny Gray) and two best relievers (Sean Doolittle and Ryan Madson) were sent away for allegedly promising minor leaguers. The A's seemed determined to prove the obvious: if you take a mediocre staff and trade its best pitchers, you're going to have really bad pitching. Hopefully it will be worth suffering through in the long term.

So, should we hang in? Is this all going somewhere, like towards a new stadium? Maybe is all I can say. New team president Dave Kaval has been making all the right moves: constantly re-iterating a commitment to Oakland, sprucing up the Coliseum a bit and undertaking a well-publicized search for a site to start construction in a few years. Certainly no one is missing his predecessor, Lew "Oakland sucks" Wolff. Still, while Wolff is gone, the team's majority owner John Fisher remains.

The A's just announced that of three potential sites for a privately-financed stadium, they had selected what is known as the "Laney College" site. Its currently occupied by a small administrative building for Laney (which the team would buy and replace elsewhere) and some BART property which they apparently think they can buy. There is some logic to the choice: it's on the fringes of downtown, right by 880 and very close to the Lake Merritt BART stop. There is also a process of elimination at work: the "Howard terminal" site has serious access issues and other problems. The A's claim that the current Coliseum site, which is "shovel-ready", is not financeable.

The site is not without challenges, however, and this being Oakland, there will be a fair amount of opposition to be worked through and bought off. All of which makes me wonder if this is one last sucker play: if this falls apart, the A's have their excuse to leave town or hit Oakland up for more money. "You want us at the Coliseum? Fine, you finance it." Kaval really does seem like a good guy so I hope I'm wrong. But here's one thing I'm sure of: by the time this gets built, if ever, the two Matts, Chad and the rest will be hitting free agency. If they're still around, it really will be a new day in Oakland.

Jonathan Siegel represents individual employees and unions at Siegel LeWitter Malkani in downtown Oakland, where he hopes someday to be able to walk to a new A's ballpark. [email protected]

Pops
3-6-17 - Pops

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