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>> Hi there, I'm really excited to share this story with you.  The title of the book is "The William Hoy Story."  The author is Nancy Churnin and the illustrator is Jez Tuya.  
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William scooped dust to dry the sweat off his slick rubber ball.  He stared at the small x he'd chalked on the barn wall.  
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He closed his eyes, he opened them and threw.  Bam, he hit the mark.  He stepped back so he could try again.  
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His mother waved her arms.  She was applauding him.  
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She touched her fingers to her mouth to signal eating.  He read her lips as she said dinner.  William pulled out his pad and pencil.  He scribbled, just a few more.  I want to be perfect for tryouts.  His mother nodded.  
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His family was passing the mashed potatoes around the table when William pushed open the door.  He read his father's lips telling him to wash up for dinner.  He also read what his father's lips mouthed to his mother.  Baseball, his father said shaking his head.  It will never last.  Still William couldn't wait to tryout at his school, the Ohio State School for the Deaf.  At tryouts he threw the ball, he caught it, he batted and he waited.  
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Too small the team captain said.  
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William never got much taller than five foot five.  He couldn't do anything about that.  But maybe they'd give him another chance if he aimed better and ran faster.  
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So every day after homework and chores he practiced.  
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One day William was standing outside the cobbler shop where he fixed shoes, wistfully watching men play baseball in a far off field.  A foul ball crashed by his feet.  With his strong sure arm he threw the ball straight into an amazed players waiting hand.  
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Hey kid, the player called.  Want to join us?  But William couldn't read the player's lips from where he was, so he turned back to work.  
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The man ran to William and tapped his back to get his attention.  William whirled around and this time when the man repeated the question, he understood.  He scrambled happily to the outfield.  William threw the ball smack into his teammate's hands.  When he was up at bat he sent it soaring where no one could catch it.  
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What's your name asked one of the players?  William Hoy William wrote.
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The man looked at the piece of paper a long time.  He seemed to be thinking.  Do you want to try out for our team he asked William at last?  William grinned, he sure did.  
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William soon learned life in the hearing world wasn't easy.  Unlike his parents, few people use sign language in the 1880's and certainly not in baseball.  
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He won a spot on the first team he tried out for, but the manager smirked when he offered William less money than he paid others.  
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I quit William told him with his notebook.  He quickly found another team.
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But even on his new team some players talked behind his back so he wouldn't know what they were saying.  Others hid their mouths so he couldn't read their lips.  
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One day a pitcher played the meanest trick of all.  William let three pitches go by because he thought they were balls.  He was too far to read the umpire's lips and didn't know they were actually strikes.  
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He stood gripping his bat waiting for the next pitch.
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But the next pitch never came.  William was confused.  Suddenly the pitcher burst out laughing.  He pointed to the fans in the stands who were laughing too.  
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William's face grew hot.  He walked off quickly.  He wasn't going to cry, not about baseball he told himself.  
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He jammed his hands into his pockets.  Paper crunched against his fists.  He pulled out a letter from his mother.  He read again how much she missed him.  William missed his family too.  He remembered how his mom would raise her arms to applaud him.  
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That's it.  William pulled out his pad and drew pictures.  
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He scribbled words next to the pictures.  He wrote, he wrote, he wrote.  He ran to find the umpire.  
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The umpire read Williams notes.  Yes, that could work he said.  
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The next time William was at bat the umpire raised his right hand for a strike and his left hand for a ball. 
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He used American Sign Language symbols for safe and out.  This time William got on base, he stole bases, he scored.
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In his first year in the majors he led the National League in stolen bases.  
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With his strong sure arm he became the first player to throw three base runners out at the plate in one game from the outfield.  
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William taught his teammates signs so they could discuss plays without the other team hearing.  They loved it.  
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The fans enjoyed learning signs too.  In those days before speakers and giant screens, hearing the umpire's calls from the back of the bleachers was hard to do.  Now, even the farthest member of the crowd could see the signals.  
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Teams begged for William.  He played for several before signing with the Cincinnati Reds near his family farm.  
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William was proud to show his parents that the boy who didn't make the school team was one of the most popular players of baseball.  
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When William stepped up to the plate shaking his bat over his shoulder, fans knew he'd hit or walk his way to first, then swiftly steal his way around the bases.  
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Carefully watching the signals he led the American League in walks in 1901.  He was called the king of center field because for 10 years he was ranked among the top five outfielders to get hitters out by catching hard to reach fly balls.  
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After William became a star, he thought nothing could surprise him.  Then one day when he ran out onto the field fans waved their arms from the stands just like his mother did when he was a boy.  They waved hats too.  
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William said he'd never cry about baseball, but he did cry at the sight of deaf applause.  All he'd wanted to do since he was a boy was find a way to play his favorite game.  He never dreamed he'd change how the game was played, but he did and we still cheer him today.  
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