Avengers of Baseball

 This post was inspired by a post over at Cards over Coffee where he shared some cool inserts from the 90's that featured football players along with a hero from the Marvel Universe. These cards were all made long before the current 'MCU' that took the Avengers from comics to the big screen.  Well, I'm more of a baseball guy, but my kids watch (and re-watch) the Marvel movies quite a lot, so I am familiar.  So I thought I would try to match up baseball players with the Avengers.  Who in the MBL Universe corresponds with who in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

Now it's not my intention to be precise on who is or isn't an Avenger, so if you are a comic book guy, or a big fan of the MCU, I might not hit all the characters you are expecting.  I'm just going off of my non-comic book experiences.  And if you have read my stuff, you probably know I don't necessarily lean toward the most current players, though I won't leave them out completely!

So here we go!

Who is baseball's Iron Man?

Options:  Duh.  Cal Ripken and Lou Gehrig for the obvious Iron Man nickname reference.  Alternatively, Whit Merrifield?  443 consecutive games played is the current longest streak in MLB.

My pick:  Cal Ripken Jr. - He's not a cocky womanizer like Tony Stark, but their fathers were both 'in the business' before these Iron Men took over.

Who is baseball's Thor? 

Options: Could be Mike Trout for the blonde build and power.  Alternatively, Hank Aaron.  I mean he was known as Hammerin Hank!! Noah Syndergaard is nicknamed Thor, mostly for the hair, I think.

My pick:  Hank Aaron.  Sorry, he's my favorite player of all time.  I look for every opportunity to get him on the blog!

Who is baseball's Captain America? 

Options: Well, Barry Bonds wore quite a shield on his arm, but he doesn't quite fit otherwise. Joe DiMaggio is kind of an all American guy.  Who else?

My pick:  Joe DiMaggio

Who is baseball's Black Widow? 

Options: Bryce Harper.  Yeah, he's not a girl, but he was shaped and molded at an early age to be incredibly skilled and dangerous, but may have lost some of his youth in the process.  There's also gotta be some baseball players that at least dabble in the martial arts that would fit, right?  Nothing is coming to me though...

My pick:  Bryce Harper. For the reasons above.  It's fun to call him a girl too.

Who is baseball's Hulk? 

Options: Babe Ruth.  Bo Jackson.  Barry Bonds.  Mark McGwire.  Frank Thomas.  Probably lots of others, right?

My pick:  Has to be Barry Bonds.  Too many similarities. 

Who is baseball's Hawkeye? 

Options: I first thought of guys who could place the ball anywhere on the field in search of a hit.  Guys like Rod Carew and Tony Gwynn.  I also thought about pitchers who fit the bill in one way or another.   Like Sandy Koufax, because he just seemed super-hero like, and his teammate Don Drysdale for his reputation for hitting batters with projectiles.

My pick: Rod Carew

Who is baseball's Captain Marvel? 

Options: Ted Williams maybe?  Pedro Martinez for the craziest few years we have seen from a pitcher.  Like Captain Marvel, he threw funky power bursts from his hands.  How about Joan Joyce?  Who?

My pick: Joan Joyce.  OK, this is not a baseball player, but a softball player.  But seriously. This lady was amazing!!  Very Captain Marvel-esque.  Check out this writeup on her if you don't know:  https://www.rookieroad.com/softball/top-6-best-womens-players-of-all-time/  

Here is the only card I could find ever made of Joan Joyce.  If anyone has a copy for trade, let me know:

1977-79 Sportscaster Series

Who is baseball's Dr. Strange? 

Options: Greg Maddux.  Casey Stengel.  Heck, if you are looking for strange, Yogi Berra could almost get the nod.  Or go the doctor route, Doc Ellis, Doc Gooden etc.

My pick: Greg Maddux.  He was always under control and manipulating his opponent to his will.  With as much success as he had with so little velocity, it makes you wonder if he had a time controlling infinity stone to use on the mound.

A few more quickies (no player pics) to round out the crew...

Who is baseball's Ant Man? 

Jose Altuve.  Or the shortest MLB player ever, Eddie Gaedel?

Who is baseball's Spiderman? 

Ken Griffey Jr or Torii Hunter for their wall climbing exploits.

Who is baseball's Black Panther?

Jackie Robinson.  Trail blazing badass.

Who is baseball's Vision?

OK, this is a stretch, but I chose Ray Fosse.  Poor guy was just doing his job, in an All-Star game, and Pete Rose blew up his career.  Kind of like when Thanos tore the mind stone out of Vision.  Career over.

Who is baseball's War Machine?

Willie McCovey.  He was always really good, but played second fiddle to Willie Mays in the Iron Man role.

OK, that was fun, but I am sure I missed a ton of better players for some of these guys.  Any thoughts or ideas are very welcome.  Who'd I miss?  Who'd I get wrong?