Baseball and competitive eating: One in the same? Uncle Larry investigates.

<strong>11. Eric Gregg</strong>- No, he wasn’t actually a ballplayer and no, he’s no longer with us. That said, he’s the only person in the game’s recent history who soared, like a bloated, pudding-crazed Icarus, close to the forbidding 400-pound barrier. Hey, if the muumuu fits, wear it.

<strong>10. Rusty Staub</strong>- Remember how in Jurassic Park, the filmmakers heralded the T-Rex’s approach by focusing on water trembling within a glass? Well, portly Rusty ate that glass. The T-Rex, too. Then a rack of lamb, with mint jelly.

<strong>9. David Wells</strong>- A fat, boorish guy list without David Wells is like a two-foot stack of flapjacks without syrup, butter, and processed pig hind parts. Still, he earns demerits for having been knocked silly by a short guy at an NYC diner late one night/early one morning. Pain, with a side of smothered fries, was on the menu that fateful day.

<strong>12. Cecil Fielder</strong>- How out of shape was he towards the end of his playing days? He once had to be airlifted to second base on a ground-rule double.

<strong>8. Steve Balboni</strong>- "Bye Bye" Balboni became "Belly Belly" Balboni once the dingers dried up. When he rolled over at night onto an object of indeterminate origin, he assumed it was his distended gut rather than his bedmate. Much suffocation-tinged humor ensued.

<strong>7. John Kruk</strong>- A hardball trailblazer, in that he was among the first to hide multiple chins beneath the transparent veneer of facial hair. Might I be the first to suggest calling him “Johnny Cakes” from here on out?

<strong>6. Sid Fernandez</strong>- This photo is from his "skinny" days—as opposed to his initial stint with the Metsies, during which he commonly took to the mound wearing a butter-splattered lobster bib.

<strong>5. C.C. Sabathia</strong>- After injuring himself during his first 2006 start, he returned from the DL looking as if he conducted his rehab at Wendy’s. Ironically enough, his injury was to a muscle in his midsection.

<strong>4. Tony Gwynn</strong>- Towards the end of his playing career, he clocked in at 5'6", 295 pounds. He resembled nothing if not a globe with a glove.

<strong>3. Fernando Valenzuela</strong>- He sweated gravy. He pissed Hawaiian Punch. When teammates saw him approaching the post-game buffet spread, they backed away slowly, never making eye contact.

<strong>2. Rich “El Guapo” Garces</strong>- If he let a fart fly, would the National Weather Service issue a stagnant-air advisory? If he belched, would all the greenery in the immediate vicinity shrivel and die? Outside of John Madden and Ernest Borgnine, is there anybody with whom you’d less rather share a long car ride?

<strong>1. Babe Ruth</strong>- The best player of all time, and the one with the most legendary appetites: for hot dogs, beer, stogies, chorus girls, and being kind to orphaned children (YES Network "Yankeeography" version only). Celebrating Thanksgiving dinner with him must’ve been like celebrating Easter with the Pope, but with more candied yams.