Danny Heep is a retired Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He played for five different ballclubs during his 13-year career (1979-1991): the Houston Astros, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. Heep won two World Series championships, with the New York Mets in 1986 and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1988. He had the exceptionally trivial honor of being the the first DH (designated hitter) in a World Series to have the initial “DH.” Heep was also the 4000th strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan on July 11, 1985. He was born on this day in 1957.
Note: Danny Heep’s career achievements notwithstanding, the real reason for this character is because I wanted to create pixel art of the fantastically ugly 1980 Tucson Toros uniforms. In 1980, the Toros were a Triple-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the Houston Astros. These hilariously hideous uniforms were Tucson’s take on the “tequila sunrise” jerseys worn by the Houston Astros (see: Nolan Ryan). Since Heep had the best MLB career of any player on the 1980 Toros roster, he gets this pixel art (dis)honor. This is character #7 in my ugly uniform series.
Jackie Robinson was an American baseball player who became the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. As the first MLB team to play a black man since the 1880s, the Dodgers ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. Robinson’s character and talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. Over 10 seasons, Robinson played in six World Series, winning one in 1955. He was selected for six consecutive All-Star Games (1949-1954), was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947 and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949.
Note: In 1997, Major League Baseball “universally” retired his uniform number, 42, across all major league teams; he was the first pro athlete in any sport to be so honored. This is pixel art character #642.
Derek Jeter is an American baseball shortstop who has played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees. A five-time World Series champion, Jeter is regarded as a central figure of the Yankees during their success of the 1990s and 2000s. He is the Yankees’ all-time career leader in hits (3,304), games played (2,585), stolen bases (348) and at bats (10,551). His accolades include 13 All-Star selections, five Gold Glove Awards, five Silver Slugger Awards, two Hank Aaron Awards and a Roberto Clemente Award. Jeter has been one of the most heavily marketed athletes of his generation. He was born on this day in 1974.
Sidd Finch was a fictional baseball player, the subject of the notorious article and April Fools’ Day hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” written by George Plimpton and first published in the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Plimpton reported that Finch was a rookie baseball pitcher in training with the New York Mets. According to Plimpton, Finch was raised in an English orphanage, learned yoga in Tibet, and could throw a fastball as fast as 168 miles per hour (270 km/h). Finch pitched wearing one work boot and one bare foot. For the article’s photographs, Sidd Finch was played by Joe Berton, a mild-mannered junior high school art teacher from Illinois.
Note: Despite the obvious absurdity of the article, many people believed Finch actually existed. Plimpton eventually broadened his article into a novel, first published in 1987.
Subcomandante Marcos is the nom de guerre used by Rafael Guillén Vicente, the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The EZLN group takes its name from agrarian reformer Emiliano Zapata. On January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective, Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest the Mexican federal government’s mistreatment of the nation’s indigenous peoples. Marcos is also a writer, a political poet and an anti-capitalist. He wears a black ski mask, often with a tobacco pipe sticking out, and a watch on each wrist. Nearly all EZLN villages have murals featuring Zapata, Che Guevara and Subcomandante Marcos. According to the Mexican government, Guillén was born on June 19, 1957.
My wife Heidi has a particular fascination with the mystery and mythology of Subcomandante Marcos. This pixel art character was suggested by her. Also, I am now dropping my publishing schedule to two 8-bit characters per week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
John Wayne (born Marion Morrison) was an American film actor, director and producer. An Academy Award-winner, Wayne was among the top box office draws for three decades. An enduring American icon, he epitomized rugged masculinity and is famous for his demeanor, including his distinctive calm voice, walk and height. Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa but grew up in the greater Los Angeles area. His role as the Ringo Kid in John Ford’s breakthrough Stagecoach (1939) made him an instant superstar. Wayne would go on to star in more than 160 movies, primarily typecast in Western films. Among his most acclaimed films are The Quiet Man (1952), The Searchers (1956), Rio Bravo (1959) and True Grit (1969). Wayne was on born on May 26, 1907.
Italian explorer and colonizer Christopher Columbus is today’s pixel art character, in honor of his demise on May 20, 1506. If we were to apply ethical standards to his life’s work, Columbus should be wanted for grand theft of the lands populated by the indigenous peoples; for initiating the systematic genocide of 98% of the original Americans; and for crimes against humanity, including the rape, torture, mutilation and enslavement of American Indians.
I previously wrote about the great lie of Columbus when I posted my Sitting Bull pixel art on Columbus Day in 2011. Even though Columbus was a wretched human being and wrong about everything, he was lucky enough to survive his catastrophic miscalculations and find uncharted land before his crews starved to death. No portrait of Columbus drawn or painted from life is known to exist, but I prefer to imagine him with a stupid hat.
Youppi! is the official mascot for the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and former longtime mascot of the MLB’s Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Youppi! was commissioned by the Montreal Expos and originally leased by the team. In 1979, the mascot was purchased by the Expos baseball team and represented them until they moved to Washington, D.C., after the 2004 season. The orange, hairy giant was one of the most popular figures among everyone at Olympic Stadium, where he was often seen running around with his arms waving wildly during baseball games.
The Phillie Phanatic is the official mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball (MLB) team. He is a large, furry, green bipedal creature with an extendable tongue. According to his official biography, the Phanatic is originally from the Galápagos Islands and is the Phillies’ biggest fan. He entertains fans during baseball games and makes public appearances for the Phillies. The Phanatic is usually acknowledged as one of the best ballpark mascots.
The San Diego Chicken, also known as the Famous Chicken, is an advertising mascot played by Ted Giannoulas. The character, created by writer-cartoonist Brian Narelle, originated as an animated TV commercial for KGB-FM in San Diego. In March 1974, Giannoulas was hired to wear the first suit for a promotion to distribute Easter eggs to children at the San Diego Zoo. The Famous Chicken then moved on to features at concerts and sporting events, including appearing at more than 520 San Diego Padres games in a row. The success of the Famous Chicken helped lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball (MLB).
Benny the Bull is the mascot of the Chicago Bulls, a role he has filled since 1969. He has become just as popular as some of the franchise’s most notable figures, such as players Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman and head coach Phil Jackson. Benny is one of the longest-tenured mascots in the NBA and in all of professional sports.
Dennis Rodman is a former NBA player, most famously with the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls. Nicknamed “The Worm,” he was known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years (1991-98) and won five NBA championships (1989-1990, 1996-1998). In 1993, Rodman reinvented himself as a “bad boy” and became notorious for his brightly colored hair, piercings, tattoos and controversial, disruptive antics. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his 1996 autobiography Bad As I Wanna Be and pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna. He was born on this day in 1961.
Note: On February 26, 2013, Rodman made a trip to North Korea to host basketball exhibitions featuring the Harlem Globetrotters. He met North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un and later called Kim “his friend” and suggested that President Barack Obama “should pick up the phone and call” Kim since the two leaders are basketball fans. On May 7, self-appointed North Korean ambassador Rodman called on Kim Jong-un to release Kenneth Bae, a U.S. citizen imprisoned in North Korea. Almost equally strangely, in March 2013, Rodman arrived at Vatican City during voting in the papal conclave, which elected Pope Francis I.
Jason Collins is an American professional basketball center, most recently playing for the NBA’s Washington Wizards. He attended Stanford University and was selected in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft. Collins has played for six teams in 12 NBA seasons and is now a free agent. On April 29, 2013, Collins became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to publicly come out as gay. According to ESPN’s Rick Reilly, “Collins is now the Jackie Robinson of gay athletes and, like Robinson, strong enough for the job. He’s universally loved in the NBA.”
Note: Collins has said that he chose to wear jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, the victim of a gay hate crime in 1998.
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States (1945-1953). As a senator in the early 1940s, he gained national prominence as head of the wartime Truman Committee, which exposed waste, fraud and corruption in wartime contracts. Truman was the final running mate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1944 and succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when Roosevelt died after months of declining health. Under Truman, the U.S. successfully concluded World War II through the controversial use of atomic bombs against Japan (at Hiroshima and Nagasaki). In the aftermath of the conflict, tensions with the Soviet Union increased, marking the start of the Cold War. Truman was born on this day in 1884.
George Orson Welles was an American actor, director, writer and producer who worked extensively in theater, radio and film. He is best remembered for his innovative work in all three media, most notably Caesar (1937), a groundbreaking Broadway adaption of Julius Caesar and the debut of the Mercury Theatre; The War of the Worlds (1938), one of the most famous broadcasts in the history of radio and supposed cause of widespread panic; and Citizen Kane (1941), which is consistently ranked as one of the all-time greatest films. Welles is regularly voted the greatest film director of all time in surveys of directors and critics alike. He was born on this day in 1915.
Groucho Marx was an American comedian and film and television star. He was known for his quick wit and is widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included slapstick quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. Marx made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. The famous “Groucho glasses” are a one-piece novelty disguise consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
Magda Gerber was an early childhood educator born in Hungary who immigrated with her family to the United States in 1957. She co-founded Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) in 1978, incorporating many theories of pediatrician Emmi Pikler into her philosophy. RIE is an international, non-profit organization dedicated to raising the standards of infant care and education through parent and caregiver education. The RIE philosophy is based on respecting infants and toddlers as fully functioning humans by learning their individual ways of communicating, allowing them to try to solve problems without adult interference and not treating them like objects. Gerber died on April 27, 2007.
P.S. “Many awful things have been done in the name of love, but nothing awful can be done in the name of respect.” – Magda Gerber
Pecos Bill is an American cowboy, apocryphally immortalized in numerous tall tales of the Old West during American westward expansion into the Southwest. Probably invented by Tex O’Reilly in the early 1900s, Pecos Bill is considered an example of fakelore. Pecos Bill was a late addition to other “big man” characters like Paul Bunyan and John Henry.
Frederick William Voedisch was a manufacturer, American Civil War soldier and artist. He was born in Saxony, Germany on January 1, 1832 and trained as a baker. Frederick emigrated to New York in 1854 and worked there as a baker and sawmill manager before moving to Wisconsin in 1856. In 1862, Frederick enlisted as a private in the 20th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment for the Union Army at age 29 and was quickly promoted to a noncommissioned officer, third sergeant (moving from Company A to Company E). However, curiously, after the conclusion of hostilities in 1865, he was honorably discharged as a private. The Military History of Wisconsin details the hard times Frederick and his company endured. Following the war, he married Catherine Weber (née Runkel) in 1865 in Watertown, WI, and worked as a lumber manufacturing manager. In 1883, Frederick received the title to 160 acres of land in Fergus Falls, MN. In 1885, he moved his family farther west to North Dakota. Frederick applied for his Civil War pension in 1886 and died in the Dakotas in 1891 at age 59. He was survived by his German-immigrant wife Catherine and their children Dela and Alfred.
Frederick W. Voedisch is my great-great-great-grandfather. Before Heidi and I went to Europe last year, I created an Ancestry.com account and input a binder of genealogical data to create an online family tree. I did this primarily to share information with my cousins in Italy about their American relatives. You can imagine my surprise when I was contacted by a Civil War reenactor who owns Frederick’s Civil War rifle. The Springfield musket he owns was identified because the initials FWV are artfully engraved into the stock and there was only one Wisconsin soldier with those initials on the Civil War roster. After the war, Frederick probably returned home with his musket and had the barrel reamed slightly larger to turn it into a 20-gauge shotgun, making it a handy item on a farm. But by the time he moved west, cartridge guns had become common, and so he left his rather obsolete musket in Wisconsin. Now, in 2013, Frederick’s musket remains in Wisconsin in its original condition (other than the slight reaming of the inside of the barrel). The lock works and it even includes its ramrod. I was amazed to learn so much about an object once carried by my 3rd-great-grandfather. Frederick’s daughter Dela is my great-great-grandmother.
Charlie Chaplin was a British comic actor and filmmaker who rose to fame in the silent era. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona “the Tramp.” A legendary figure in film history, Chaplin’s career spanned more than 75 years, from a child in the Victorian era to close to his death at the age of 88. Raised in London, his childhood was defined by poverty and hardship. At 19, Chaplin was signed to the prestigious Fred Karno company, which took him to America. By 1918, he was one of the most famous men in the world. In 1919, Chaplin co-founded the distribution company United Artists, giving him complete control over his films, which included The Gold Rush (1925), City Lights (1931), Modern Times (1936) and The Great Dictator (1940). He was born on this day in 1889.
Subcomandante Marcos – No. 639
Subcomandante Marcos is the nom de guerre used by Rafael Guillén Vicente, the main ideologist, spokesperson and de facto leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), a Mexican rebel movement fighting for the rights of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The EZLN group takes its name from agrarian reformer Emiliano Zapata. On January 1, 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) became effective, Marcos led an army of Mayan farmers into eastern Chiapas state, to protest the Mexican federal government’s mistreatment of the nation’s indigenous peoples. Marcos is also a writer, a political poet and an anti-capitalist. He wears a black ski mask, often with a tobacco pipe sticking out, and a watch on each wrist. Nearly all EZLN villages have murals featuring Zapata, Che Guevara and Subcomandante Marcos. According to the Mexican government, Guillén was born on June 19, 1957.
My wife Heidi has a particular fascination with the mystery and mythology of Subcomandante Marcos. This pixel art character was suggested by her. Also, I am now dropping my publishing schedule to two 8-bit characters per week, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays.