The time the Guardians of the Galaxy fought Thanos at Yankee Stadium

Everyone loves the Guardians of the Galaxy and everyone hates the Yankees. They may exist on different ends of the spectrum, but they have both become billion dollar franchises all the same. In 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy #19, the team took on the universe’s one-man Evil Empire in the villainous Thanos, and it all came to a head at Yankee Stadium. It’s hard to believe that the Guardians and Yankees could ever come together so perfectly, but that’s the power of comic books.

As the moviegoing world gets ready for Avengers: Infinity Wars in May, writer Brian Michael Bendis gave fans a taste of things to come when Thanos decided to invade New York City. The Guardians rush into action, taking the Mad Titan head on until the group managed to drop him right into The Bronx. As he falls to Earth, Ben Grimm aka The Thing from Fantastic Four fame is there to greet him.

He is standing atop Yankee Stadium, and channels the might of Aaron Judge himself by announcing IT’S CLOBBERING TIME. As Thanos is falling to the ground, The Thing smashes the villain into the streets in front of the Stadium. It’s a good thing he was there, too, because he might have fallen directly onto the venue, and who knows what would have happened.

Let’s take a moment to pause here and note a few things regarding Yankee Stadium. By the looks of where Ben is standing, he seems to be waiting for Thanos atop of the Stadium’s Gate 4 entrance. That would mean he has smashed the bad guy somewhere around the E 161st Street and Macombs Dam Bridge intersection. Sure, it’s not the busiest intersection in the city, but I do hope that car currently exploding was at least parked illegally with no one inside.

Adding to the fun of this scene is the fact that the issue came out in April, right in the middle of the 2017 season. The exact date of the issue’s release was April 12, meaning this may have taken place during the Yankees’ 8-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays that afternoon, if we were all living inside the Marvel Comics Universe. It only happened a few months ago, but a refresher course is already very necessary.

This was Jordan Montgomery’s first start of his major league career. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while also striking out seven batters in 4.2 innings of work. It certainly could have been better, but it was the start of a great first season for the lefty. This game also featured Judge’s third home run of the season, because he really didn’t waste any time this year. Also, if you can believe it, Pete Kozma, Chris Carter, and Tommy Layne all made appearances.

This game started at 1:05 PM and lasted three hours and 33 minutes, meaning that by the time the sun was setting, as seen in the issue, everyone would have been long gone. Things could have gone very poorly otherwise, though the damage caused by the attack, if not the giant alien attack itself, would have likely messed with the next day’s game. It’s a good thing these events didn’t take place in our world, though. Luis Severino struck out 11 in seven innings the next day.