Well, just for the heck of it, The Ford decided to see how overweight the Cleveland Indians are. He's sure there's some logical reason for this, one he thought of hours ago, but right now, he's pretty sure he's doing it just to get it done. (Oh, and to make him feel better about planning to never run without being either chasee or chaser. That too.)

Shoot, there was a whole bevy of stories on the "fatness" of athletes a few months ago, with NBA players getting hit particularly hard.

Of course, the NBA is, as a whole, much, much, much, much more athletic than pro baseball. If any pro sport is likely to have athletes whose bodies actually resemble the bodies of typical Americans, The Ford thinks it'll be baseball.

So, here goes.... the BMI values for all 40 players on the Indians' 40-man roster.

Standard disclaimer: BMI is a reliable indicator of total body fat, which is related to the risk of disease and death. The score is valid for both men and women but it does have some limits. The limits are:
It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.
It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle mass.

BMI Categories:
Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Name/Height/Weight/BMI
Pitchers
Rafael Betancourt 6-2 200 25.7
Andrew Brown 6-6 230 26.6
Paul Byrd 6-1 190 25.1
Fernando Cabrera 6-4 220 26.8
Fausto Carmona 6-4 220 26.8
Jason Davis 6-6 225 26.0
Jake Dittler 6-4 220 26.8
Danny Graves 6-0 200 27.1
Jeremy Guthrie 6-1 200 26.4
Jason Johnson 6-6 225 26.0
Cliff Lee 6-3 190 23.7
Matt Miller 6-3 215 26.9
Guillermo Mota 6-4 210 25.6
Edward Mujica 6-2 220 28.2
Rafael Perez 6-3 185 23.1
C.C. Sabathia 6-7 290 32.7
Scott Sauerbeck 6-3 200 25.0
Brian Slocum 6-4 200 24.3
Jason Stanford 6-2 200 25.7
Jake Westbrook 6-3 200 25.0
Bob Wickman 6-1 240 31.7
Catchers
Ryan Garko 6-2 225 28.9
Victor Martinez 6-2 195 25.0
Kelly Shoppach 6-0 220 29.8
Infielders
Michael Aubrey 6-0 195 26.4
Ronnie Belliard 5-8 195 29.6
Aaron Boone 6-2 200 25.7
Ben Broussard 6-2 220 28.2
Andy Marte 6-1 190 25.7
Jhonny Peralta 6-1 195 25.7
Eduardo Perez 6-4 240 29.2
Ramon Vazquez 5-11 170 23.7
Outfielders
Casey Blake 6-2 210 27.0
Jason Dubois 6-5 220 26.1
Franklin Gutierrez 6-2 180 23.1
Todd Hollandsworth 6-2 225 28.9
Jason Michaels 6-0 205 27.8
Grady Sizemore 6-2 200 25.7
Brad Snyder 6-3 200 25.0
Designated Hitters
Travis Hafner 6-3 240 30.0


The results?
5 players of normal weight, 3 obese players, and the other 32 are simply overweight.
Of course, 13 of those "overweight" players are close enough to being under 25 (under 26, with added muscle mass from, y'know, being vague athletes), that we could reasonable add them to the "normal weight" category. And if we do apply the same "margin of error" to the obese, well, Travis Hafner -- "Pronk" to his buddies -- reverts to "overweight."

Of course, you could argue that anyone nicknamed "Pronk" deserves to be in the "obese" category, and The Ford wouldn't disagree, The Ford being an agreeable sort of fellow.

So...let's call it 18 "normal" players, 20 "overweight" players and 2 obese ones. (Notably, the Tribe's three "BMI--y-est" players are possibly the Tribe's three best players. Or at least the Tribe's three most decorated players. (The Ford's willing to allow for the possibility that Grady "I was going to be a Husky, so, really, all my decisions should be questioned" Sizemore might just be a better all-around player than Bob Wickman. Y'know, if you like things other than saves.)

Maybe that should be Barry Bonds' (BMI: 29.3) excuse.