There’s this new movie – maybe you’ve heard of it – called The Avengers. It’s supposed to be pretty epic, but I’ll leave that discussion for other places. Here, it’s all baseball, so we’re not going to look at the movie, cartoon, or comic book versions of the Avengers, but rather who their baseball counterparts might be.
Giancarlo Stanton is The Hulk – Obviously.
The name Giancarlo means “God is gracious” and when it comes to Stanton’s physical tools, he has been indeed. at 6’5″,233, Stanton might just be the strongest hitter in baseball and he might actually be able to hit a ball farther than the giant green man appearing on your movie screen. Last season Stanton’s home run balls traveled a true distance of 14,163 feet (according to HitTrackerOnline.com). The average distance of those home runs was 417 feet. And who could forget this monster…
Albert Pujols is Iron Man – He has spent very little time on the DL and also this.
Pujols might not seem like a superhero at the moment, but he has played like one over his major league career. Unlike Tony Stark, however, Pujols has been a model citizen in the community.
Ryan Braun is Captain America – From Wikipedia: “Captain America has no superhuman powers, although as a result of the Super-Soldier Serum and “Vita-Ray” treatment, he is transformed from a frail young man into a “perfect” specimen of human development and conditioning”
Not only is Braun one of the best players in baseball – an “advanced species” of ballplayer if you will – but he fell under immense scrutiny when MLB originally suspended him for using PEDs. Though the suspension was lifted, the shadow had been cast and won’t completely disappear anytime soon. In other words, there are some who might think that Braun has excelled due to a certain “Super-Baseball Serum” and not just natural ability. Others love him because he blasts baseballs into the far corners of Wisconsin — I’m looking at you, Kenosha.
Adam Wainwright is Thor – Best hammer in baseball.
Though Wainwright has had his struggles this season, and hasn’t yet regained the feel for his tremendous curveball, that pitched proved to be one of the best in baseball over the last couple of seasons. Wainwright saved 21.4 runs thanks to his curve in 2009 and 19.5 runs via the deuce in 2010 (stats from FanGraphs).
Roy Halladay is Hawkeye – Pinpoint accuracy.
From 2009 to 2011, no pitcher in baseball walked fewer batters than Roy Halladay. His BB/9 over that three-year span was 1.24.
Ron Washington is Nick Fury – Mostly because I could see Samuel L. Jackson playing the part of Ron Washington someday. Actually, I could see Ron Washington playing Samuel L. Jackson someday too.
Photo courtesy of DayLife.com
