Changes: Willie Hawkins

Revision as of 12:42, 22 August 2015

Willie Hawkins was a professional baseball player for the New York Giants in 1953. As the lone Negro on the team, he was admired by the people of the largely black Harlem neighborhood, but to most whites of the time, he was, as he remarked, "just another colored man that can hit a curve ball."

Willie Hawkins was part of Benjamin Sisko's visions from the Prophets and the Pah-wraiths. He had pursued Cassie, Benny Russell's wife-to-be, at some point and often hit on her, only half-jokingly. (DS9: "Far Beyond the Stars")

Background information

Willie Hawkins was portrayed by Michael Dorn. The role of Hawkins was Dorn's only appearance without prosthetic makeup. He noted, "I just loved not being in makeup." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 32, Nos. 4/5, p. 93)

Although there was no real Willie Hawkins, the character is probably based on the similarly named Willie Mays, who played for the Giants from 1951-1971 but ironically not in 1953 as he was serving in the military during the latter stages of the Korean War. In one of Sisko's early visions in the episode, when he sees Hawkins on Deep Space 9, his uniform number, 42, is the inversion of Mays' number; it was also the number of Jackie Robinson, the first "Negro" player in Major League Baseball. Also, he says that, in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he "robbed Snider of a tater [home run]." This is likely Duke Snider, an outfielder with the Dodgers who played at the same time as Mays and was a major rival. In the episode "In the Cards" from the previous season, Jake Sisko and Nog make a series of increasingly complicated trades to acquire a Willie Mays trading card for Jake's father, a diehard baseball fan. Thus, Mays already had an important tie to Captain Sisko, and one could reason that Sisko imagined Hawkins as an incarnation of Mays.

External link

Willie Hawkins at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{sidebar individual
-[[Image:WillieHawkins.JPG|thumb|Willie Hawkins]]
+| image        = Willie_Hawkins.jpg
+| imagecap      = Willie Hawkins
+| gender           = Male
+| species          = [[Human]]
+| occupation       = [[Baseball]] player for the [[New York Giants]]
+| status           = Alive
+| datestatus       = 1953
+| actor            = [[Michael Dorn]]
+}}
+'''Willie Hawkins''' was a professional [[baseball]] player for the [[New York Giants]] in [[1953]]. As the lone [[Negro]] on the team, he was admired by the people of the largely black [[Harlem]] neighborhood, but to most whites of the time, he was, as he remarked, "''just another colored man that can hit a [[curve ball]].''"
-'''Willie Hawkins''' was an character (''portrayed by [[Michael Dorn]]'') in the mind of [[Benjamin Sisko]] during visions from the [[Prophets]] and the [[Pah-wraiths]].  Hawkins was an African American baseball player for the [[New York Giants]], circa 1953.  ([[DS9]]: "[[Far Beyond the Stars]]")
+Willie Hawkins was part of [[Benjamin Sisko]]'s visions from the [[Prophet]]s and the [[Pah-wraith]]s. He had pursued [[Cassie]], [[Benny Russell]]'s wife-to-be, at some point and often hit on her, only half-jokingly. ({{DS9|Far Beyond the Stars}})
+==Background information==
+Willie Hawkins was portrayed by [[Michael Dorn]]. The role of Hawkins was Dorn's only appearance without prosthetic makeup. He noted, "''I just loved not being in makeup.''" (''[[Cinefantastique]]'', Vol. 32, Nos. 4/5, p. 93)
+Although there was no real Willie Hawkins, the character is probably based on the similarly named [[Willie Mays]], who played for the Giants from 1951-1971 but ironically not in 1953 as he was serving in the [[military]] during the latter stages of the Korean War. In one of Sisko's early visions in the episode, when he sees Hawkins on [[Deep Space 9]], his uniform number, 42, is the inversion of Mays' number; it was also the number of {{w|Jackie Robinson}}, the first "Negro" player in Major League Baseball. Also, he says that, in a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers, he "robbed Snider of a tater [home run]." This is likely {{w|Duke Snider}}, an outfielder with the Dodgers who played at the same time as Mays and was a major rival. In the episode {{e|In the Cards}} from the [[DS9 Season 4|previous season]], [[Jake Sisko]] and [[Nog]] make a series of increasingly complicated trades to acquire a Willie Mays [[baseball card|trading card]] for Jake's father, a diehard baseball fan. Thus, Mays already had an important tie to [[Captain]] Sisko, and one could reason that Sisko imagined Hawkins as an incarnation of Mays.
+==External link==
+*{{mbeta}}
+[[de:Willie Hawkins]]
+[[fr:Willie Hawkins]]
+[[nl:Willie Hawkins]]
+[[Category:Humans|Hawkins, Willie]]
+[[Category:Athletes|Hawkins, Willie]]