Play ball! This is all William Ellsworth Hoy ever wanted to do. 

Born in a small town in Ohio, William became deaf after suffering from meningitis as a toddler. He attended the Ohio State School for the Deaf and graduated as class valedictorian. He worked in a shoe repair store during the week and played baseball on weekends. Finally, he became so good at baseball he was hired to play on a professional team.

But William had some problems playing baseball. He faced a lot of prejudice, and on top of that, he couldn't hear the umpire's calls. So one day, he asked the umpire to use hand signals for "strike," "ball," and "out." That way, William would know what the calls were. After that, more signals were created and eventually changed the way baseball was played forever.