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Heavy Hitters

Fattest Baseball Players, From C. C. Sabathia to Bartolo Colon

From C. C. Sabathia to Bartolo Colon, The Daily Beast finds the heftiest players in Major League Baseball.

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America’s pastime, like the country, is at its heaviest in history. From C. C. Sabathia to Bartolo Colon, The Daily Beast finds the heftiest players in Major League Baseball.

Baseball may be the only professional sport where fatter is better. A study published last year on obesity in baseball proved what many fans already knew—the bigger the belly, the better the batter (usually). But using more than a century’s worth of data on player stats, the study also proved that nearly twice as many modern players are overweight as the pros a century ago. Even worse, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the dangerous health implications associated with carrying too much weight are the same whether the additional heft is muscle or fat.

A Daily Beast analysis of the stats of nearly 1,200 pro baseball players shows that only 15 percent of current players are a healthy size according to their BMI (a ratio of height to weight). A healthy BMI falls between 18.5 and 25; the average BMI of a major leaguer, based on statistics posted on MLB.com, is 27.

So while the country tunes in to the final moments of this season’s World Series, The Daily Beast decided to rank the players based on girth. All the height and weight statistics were pulled from each team’s published roster reports.

For the record, Babe Ruth—arguably the most famous of portly players—wouldn’t even land among the heaviest third of current ballplayers. At 6 foot 2 and 215 pounds, his BMI was 27.6.

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#60 - RP - San Francisco Giants

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 240
BMI: 32.5

Jeff Chiu / Getty Images

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#21 - RP - San Diego Padres

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 260
BMI: 32.5

Eric Risberg / AP Photo

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#29 - DH - Seattle Mariners

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 260
BMI: 32.5

Otto Greule Jr / Getty Images

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#52 - SP - New York Yankees

Height: 6'7"
Weight: 290
BMI: 32.7

Nick Laham / Getty Images

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#29 - C - San Francisco Giants

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 235
BMI: 32.8

Jeff Chiu / AP Photo

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#27 - C - Kansas City Royals

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 235
BMI: 32.8

Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images

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#32 - DH - Chicago White Sox

Height: 6'6"
Weight: 285
BMI: 32.9

David Banks / Getty Images

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#55 - C - New York Yankees

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 230
BMI: 33.0

Nick Laham / Getty Images

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#32 - C - Minnesota Twins

Height: 5'10"
Weight: 230
BMI: 33.0

G. Newman Lowrance / Getty Images

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#11 - C - Oakland Athletics

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 265
BMI: 33.1

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

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#24 - CF - Chicago Cubs

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 245
BMI: 33.2

Joe Robbins / Getty Images

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#50 - RP - Florida Marlins

Height: 6'4"
Weight: 275
BMI: 33.5

Doug Pensinger / Getty Images

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#48 - 3B - San Francisco Giants

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 240
BMI: 33.5

Christian Petersen / Getty Images

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#59 - RP - San Diego Padres

Height: 6'5"
Weight: 285
BMI: 33.8

Thomas B. Shea / Getty Images

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#45 - LF - Houston Astros

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 265
BMI: 34.0

Bob Levey / Getty Images

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#59 - SP - Kansas City Royals

Height: 6'2"
Weight: 270
BMI: 34.7

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images

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#39 - SP - Baltimore Orioles

Height: 6'3"
Weight: 280
BMI: 35.0

Ronald Martinez / Getty Images

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#51 - RP - Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6'4"
Weight: 300
BMI: 36.5

Jeff Gross / Getty Images

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#40 - SP - New York Yankees

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 265
BMI: 37.0

J. Meric / Getty Images

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#28 - 1B - Milwaukee Brewers

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 275
BMI: 38.4

Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images

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