You can never predict just how certain players will be nicknamed—sometimes they make sense, and other times, they are just plain weird. Heck, Travis Hafner of the Cleveland Indians is nicknamed “Pronk” because people could not determine which sounded better as a nickname—“the Product” or “the Donkey.” Here are seven professional athletes who have gained nicknames from comics.
1 Joe Gordon. The nine-time Major League Baseball All-Star, five-time World Series champion, one-time American League Most Valuable Player, and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame took the nickname “Flash” after the popular comic strip.
2 Tom Gordon. The three-time All-Star pitcher (who was successful as both a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher) was similarly nicknamed “Flash” after the comic strip character.
3 Xavier McDaniel. This former NBA forward was a one-time All-Star during his career and was drafted in the first round by the Seattle Supersonics. His first name made a pretty easy transition for fans to reference the famous X-Men comic books by dubbing him “the X-Man.”
4 Doug Mientkiewicz. The former MLB Gold Glove–winning first baseman is one of only five players to have won an Olympic Gold Medal and a World Series ring. As you might have noticed, his name sometimes gives people trouble, and one of the many nicknames he was given was “Mr. Mxyzptlk,” after the Superman villain with a hard-to-pronounce last name.
5 Joe Montana. The popular Hall of Fame quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers gained the nickname “Joe Cool” (after Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip) for his cool demeanor under pressure, an attribute that served him well as he led the ’Niners to four Super Bowl titles.
6 Mike Piazza and Robin Ventura. When the slugging catcher Mike Piazza played on the New York Mets with third baseman Robin Ventura, they normally batted fourth and fifth, respectively, leading to them being dubbed “Batman and Robin.”
7 Nate Robinson. The diminutive (five-feet-nine) shooting guard is the only three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion in NBA history. In 2009, Robinson competed against Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, who had won the contest the year before. Howard is a big Superman fan so he did a routine where he dunked wearing a Superman cape. Robinson then came out dressed all in green, including green sneakers, referring to himself as “KryptoNate.” KryptoNate then dunked over Howard to win the contest. As it turns out, kryptonite really is deadly for Superman.