BUTTERBEAN!!! The man’s an absolute JOY to watch fight!
Yasuhiro Yamashita, probably the greatest competitive sport judoka who ever stepped onto tatami. Looked like he couldn’t finish a round of golf without a cart. Undefeated for the last seven years of his career in over 200 international matches. Multi-World Champion; Olympic gold medalist, umpteen time All Japan Champ.
Or Paul Anderson, the strongest man who ever lived. 5’ 7", 370 pounds. His thighs were 35 inches. He looked like a cement block with a head.
Vasiley Alexeev, the Olympic lifter. 72" around the waist.
Regards,
Shodan
Eh, make that John Daly, one of the longest drivers on the PGA, looks like the apothesis of somebody about to have a heart attack on the golf course.
Same for Craig Stadler.
Paul Anderson is a personal hero of mine, for how he lived his life. Here are some pictures:
http://www.mcshane-enterprises.com/ASL/andersonpics.html
He won the Olympic gold medal in 1956, and because the supplement industry didn’t exist, he used to drink beef blood.
Actually Igor Vovchanchyn always reminds me of the Staypuffed Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. Ricco Rodriguez routinely comes into the ring with a big beer gut, and Tim Sylvia doesn’t exactly look to be the athletic type either. All these guys are/were good (champion caliber)… but I’m afraid the fighter who wins the prize physically (Butterbean) was never that good.
Brainiac4 and I once saw a Kirby Puckett/Kent Hbrek double steal. I think I felt the Metrodome shake under the impact of two rather large men breaking out in a run.
Kirby Puckett was the first one who came to mind for me. Forgot about Hrbek though … good one!
Greg Maddux - looks like he should be working the accounts receivable department at Office Depot, but instead he’s one of the top fifteen pitchers of all time.
Former University of Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen weighed somewhere in the 260s. Unlike Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who weighs about the same but is pretty sculpted, Lorenzen is kinda doughy. But – DAMN! – the fat dude could scramble!
I saw the Battleship Lorenzen play for the past 2 years. If you ever get him a running start, he’s impossible to stop. Unfortunately, he’s also very hard to get movine to start with.
Got an arm like a cannon, though, and impossible to bring down. I’ve seen him through touchdowns with his right hand (he’s the Hefty Lefty) with three guys on him.
And that, folks, is #1000. I feel so special now.
As a San Diegan, the first name that came to mind was Tony Gwynn. As illustrated here and here, in the latter part of his career with the Padres he developed something of a gut, but remained an incredible hitter throughout his career.
Dude, you take your chances, against a 246-lb guy swinging an ax.
Any other old guys who remember Wilbur Wood?
Wilbur was a big, fat guy who looked completely out of shape. However, since he threw the knuckleball almost exclusively, he didn’t need to expend much effort up on the mound.
Back in either 1974 or 1975, while the Yankees were playing at Shea Stadium, I remember he started for the White Sox in the first game of a twi-night doubleheader against the Yankees. Wood was terrible, and was removed in the middle of the game after getting shelled. In the second, game, the White Sox starter got off to a rocky start… and Chuck Tanner decided to bring in Wilbur Wood in as a reliever in the 2nd or 3rd inning. Amazingly, THIS time, Wood was almost perfect, and the Yankees couldn’t touch him!
My first thought was Babe Ruth, and I won’t take him off the list, but then I got to thinking, and Hack Wilson came to mind.
He was described as having the physique of a beer keg, and being not unfamiliar with the contents of one. But a guy who can hit 191 RBI in one season is someone to be reckoned with.
And you can put Burleigh Grimes on the list, too. He always looked like he’d just rolled out of bed after a long night bending his elbow.
As far as guys like Bird, who don’t have much muscle definition, take a look at Randy Johnson. He’s a skinny, gawky, stringbean. But he’s also Randy Johnson, and every batter in the NL quakes at the thought of stepping in against him.
I’m glad someone mentioned butterbean I mean the guy is 6 feet even and 350 pounds, he is the boxer that beat the shit out of Johnny Knoxville on Jackass the movie, I saw him on TV the other day and he knocked the opponent out in the 2nd round(the guy didn’t even know what hit him) winning his 51st fight by KO.
Gwynn was also the starting point guard at SDSU, and a pretty good one at that.
Rickjay thanks for the correction on my erroneous Gretzky comment. Could’ve sworn that I read that somewhere, but must be thinking of someone else.
Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets, while he appeared to be in pretty good shape, used to smoke cigarettes in the dugout while his team was off the field. This is during the game, mind you.
Also, Eddie Merckz, the great bicycle racer, was known to smoke cigarettes once in a while, although not while he was actually riding in the Paris-Roubaix or the Tour de France. More in the off-season, I think.
Heh. I’m not much of a boxing fan, and that’s part of the reason I worship this guy. He’s got some elements of Ali in his style (arms low or even at his sides), some elements of Rocky Balboa (just keep on hitting him, you’re bound to injure yourself) and the rest of his style resembles an Acme anvil in a Road Runner cartoon. I get misty eyed just thinking about it. 
The guy looks a complete mess physically and yet he stomps the gym-boys. 'Course, he doesn’t really box so much as brawl.
How about Terry Forster? He was a pretty decent relief pitcher, but what was most outstanding about him was that he was a pitcher who had a career batting average of almost .400!
And he had a gut that makes David Wells look like Twiggy.