92% of Padres Roster is Overweight

by jbox on Apr 1, 2010 11:32 AM PDT

Heath Bell downs some cookies SDMadres.org

Last year I took a look at the Body Mass Index of the Padres Spring Training Roster. I did this because Heath Bell was concerned that his Wii Fit told him he was obese so he used the video game to lose 25 pounds.

This year I thought I'd recycle this blog post again (because it's good for the environment) and I'd check up on the team's progress but wait until cuts were made to get down the 25 man roster. Here's the thing about me, I'm not a very patient guy so I'm going to post it now.

Before you get really critical of my use of BMI read this disclaimer that will tell you that the BMI stats you are about to look at are meaningless:

One basic problem, especially in athletes, is that muscle is denser than fat. Some professional athletes are "overweight" or "obese" according to their BMI - unless the number at which they are considered "overweight" or "obese" is adjusted upward in some modified version of the calculation.

With that in mind, let's also keep in mind that fans love beef cakes and being beefy might mean good things for our team hitting. Shall I quote myself? Sure.

It's no coincidence that the Greatest Padre Who Ever Lived was also the most overweight. Tony Gwynn was 5'11" and weighed 225 at the end of his career and estimates he put on 50 lbs in retirement. That put him at a BMI of 31.4 in his playing days and a 38.4 now. As usual nobody can touch his numbers.

Now on to this year's stats. The team's average BMI is 27.4. Notice how all the players weights are rounded up. Check your own BMI using this calculator to see if you could fit in on this Padres roster.

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

Name	Height	Weight	BMI	Category
Heath Bell	6-3	250	31.2	OBESE
Kyle Blanks	6-6	270	31.2	OBESE
Sean Gallagher	6-2	235	30.2	OBESE
Matt Stairs	5-9	200	29.5	OVERWEIGHT
Joe Thatcher	6-2	230	29.5	OVERWEIGHT
Chris Young	6-10	280	29.3	OVERWEIGHT
Adrian Gonzalez	6-2	225	28.9	OVERWEIGHT
Clayton Richard	6-5	240	28.5	OVERWEIGHT
Adam Russell	6-8	255	28	OVERWEIGHT
Yorvit Torrealba	5-11	200	27.9	OVERWEIGHT
Edward Mujica	6-2	215	27.6	OVERWEIGHT
David Eckstein	5-7	175	27.4	OVERWEIGHT
Jerry Hairston Jr.	5-10	190	27.3	OVERWEIGHT
Tony Gwynn	5-11	195	27.2	OVERWEIGHT
Tim Stauffer	6-1	205	27	OVERWEIGHT
Nick Hundley	6-1	205	27	OVERWEIGHT
Chase Headley	6-2	210	27	OVERWEIGHT
Will Venable	6-2	210	27	OVERWEIGHT
Oscar Salazar	6-0	195	26.4	OVERWEIGHT
Scott Hairston	6-0	195	26.4	OVERWEIGHT
Mat Latos	6-6	225	26	OVERWEIGHT
Everth Cabrera	5-10	175	25.1	OVERWEIGHT
Kevin Correia	6-3	200	25	OVERWEIGHT
Luke Gregerson	6-3	200	25	OVERWEIGHT
Jon Garland	6-6	210	24.3	NORMAL
Mike Adams	6-5	195	23.1	NORMAL

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Comments

Must be all that breakfast.

Oh internet, what a wicked web you weave.

by Mad_Villain on Apr 1, 2010 11:36 AM PDT reply actions

I'm overweight too!

Thought it’s strange that I weigh as much as Jerry Hairston Jr. but I’m an inch taller than he is.

And apparently Wii Fit didn’t do enough for Heath this offseason, lol.

by TheFan09 on Apr 1, 2010 11:43 AM PDT reply actions

Everth?

How is Everth Cabrera overweight. Stupid BMI. Every NFL and NBA player is too then.

by pad_619 on Apr 1, 2010 11:55 AM PDT reply actions

BMI is pretty bad

Due to a digestive disease my weight fluctuates like crazy, and when I have been very sick my BMI will say I am normal when I look sunken in and underweight.

This is a terrible thing for the Padres. - Jerry Coleman

by Padres_Hobo on Apr 1, 2010 11:57 AM PDT reply actions

Eckstein

what a fatass

by LJbumfool on Apr 1, 2010 12:11 PM PDT reply actions

Blankzilla

would need to be 210 lbs to be considered “normal weight”, by your stupidass, meanass calculator’s rules.

by choobie on Apr 1, 2010 12:40 PM PDT reply actions

***

Just saw that Garland is 6’6" 210. I just can’t picture Blanks that thin, nor do I actually think Garland only weighs 210.

by choobie on Apr 1, 2010 12:42 PM PDT up reply actions

most BMI calculators factor in age and gender

this one is stupid because it does not

by LJbumfool on Apr 2, 2010 10:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Fun fact:

BMI is based off a statistical application to a human’s average shape & size that was invented by a Dutch mathematician (not a doctor) in the 1850s. It’s not smart to use this as an overall indicator of health.

BMI is used for screening for other health problems, but it’s basically a complicated way of looking at someone and seeing if they are large or not.

Isn't it enough to know that I ruined a pony making a gift for you? ◔ヮ◔
Uncommon Sportsman :: Absurdity in play

by Axion on Apr 1, 2010 12:51 PM PDT reply actions

is that the same guy

who came up with the UZR??

Embarass the organization...VEGEMITE!!! ~Bud Black

by icaughthundleys#4 on Apr 1, 2010 1:00 PM PDT up reply actions

BMI is not a good measurement of obesity for athletes...

BMI does not take into account body fat % and therefore does not account for additional muscle mass. Guys like Tony Gwynn (jr) are really strong… this extra muscle mass adds to his weight, but does not make him obese or overweight. Most of the roster is listed as overweight because they work out a lot… its that simple.

by SanDiegoJosh on Apr 1, 2010 1:57 PM PDT reply actions

dude, read the disclaimer

by 'Eaters on Apr 1, 2010 2:09 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

Those who say BMI is worthless are absolutely right,

but it’s more than that. It was originally calculated to be used with the EVIL Metternich System. The Metternich System was invented by crazy, bloodthirty French revolutionaries who liked to chop peoples’ heads off. They sent a French team to measure the world for their laughable justification (“one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator to the North Pole along the Paris Meridian” – REALLY now!), and they screwed up the measurement! If it was so important to get accurate numbers, they would have sent Germans!! No, they sent a French team who screwed up and then they covered it up! They decided to call it the International System, but put the adjective behind the noun insted of in front of it, making it “SI” which means yes in Spanish. If they hadn’t done that, the Metternich System would have been called “SM” and we all know what THAT stands for!! BMI is EVIL, because the Metternich System is EVIL!!

by wegotballsley on Apr 1, 2010 2:19 PM PDT reply actions

I feel an overwhelming desire to check out my window black helicopters as I read this.

by SDzeke on Apr 1, 2010 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions

It is true.

99.9% of all evil in the world can be directly attributred to the Metternich system. The other .1% is George Steinbrenner.

by field39 on Apr 1, 2010 3:51 PM PDT up reply actions

ironically there probably is a helicopter above you right now

by 'Eaters on Apr 1, 2010 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Would that really be irony

or just coincidence?

by SDzeke on Apr 1, 2010 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions

BMI is a tool that does not work

I teach at a college in Oregon and you would be amazed at the numbers of individuals that use the BMI to their advantage for all the wrong reasons. If you are someone who has never exercised (built any muscle mass), and you live a sedentary lifestyle, the BMI might (key being might) work for you. There are two major flaws using the BMI. First we have very little research into the effect of ethnicity and BMI calculations needing to be different. Every ethnicty has a different proportion of fat, muscle, bone density and tissue density. BMI looks at weight compared to your height, thats it. If you are a bodybuilder (Arnold in his prime) you will be classified as obese even if you have 4 % bodyfat. The second flaw is how do we norm this information. The current structure is to do telephone and doctor calls to find out the height and weight of individuals across the United states and average them for all people 5’ 6", then those that are 6’ 6". Each height has an average or norm. Very biased information, and most researchers won’t use BMI. I tell my students that if they a using underwater weighing or bioelectrical impedence then that research is far better then the one using BMI. Sorry for a first time poster to sound off on a topic like this, but it really is a joke anyone still uses this as a body fat test anymore.

by Kiltedtaz on Apr 1, 2010 4:52 PM PDT reply actions

If BMI is a tool that does not work

then Drama has a BMI.

"When the going gets tough... TheGrandHatching pops in later." -- WG

by TheGrandHatching on Apr 1, 2010 6:28 PM PDT up reply actions 4 recs

Fantastic

Thank you for waving at me.

by Winfield's Ghost on Apr 2, 2010 6:21 AM PDT up reply actions

BMI is great, so maybe you should all lay off...

Sorry to play devil’s advocate, but I think most of BMI’s problems stem from its rough inner-city upbringing. BMI’s mother was a crackhead and BMI never even knew who its father was. It grew up in a broken foster system and was picked on mercilessly throughout grade school. We can all be quick to judge, but maybe if you grew up the way BMI did, you’d be a bad statistical measurement of health, too.

I was dating this girl from Canada... after about a month I found out she didn't know what sport the Padres played, she thought "padre" was spelled p-o-d-r-a-y and she thought it was some kind of a fish. Dealbreaker.

by Johnny UT on Apr 1, 2010 11:38 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs