Walter Young holds the dubious crown of being the heaviest player in MLB history. The one-time Baltimore Orioles slugger was known for his weight as much as he was for his baseball abilities.
Walter Young was a hefty presence in the batter's box. He stood six foot five inches and weighed 320 pounds - more than any other player in baseball history.
Unfortunately, Young's career was fairly shortlived. He played just one season with the Orioles and it wasn't even a full season at that.
Young appeared in 14 games and recorded 37 plate appearances. In those plate appearances, he recorded a .303/.378/.424 slash line, so he was pretty good offensively even if it was a tiny sample size.
He hit one home run during that time and had four walks. His OPS+ was a solid 115.
All told, Walter Young spent 11 seasons playing baseball, though just one was spent at the major league level. He played in the minors for eight seasons and two others in various leagues.
Despite not making much of an impact on the field for the Orioles, Young's name is recorded in history for being the heaviest player to play baseball. That's something that might remain true for a long time.
Heaviest baseball players of all-time, ft. Walter Young, Prince Fielder and more
Young is the heaviest player in baseball history, but he's far from the only heavy player to have picked up a bat. Some well-known stars are on this list:
- Walter Young, 320 pounds
- Jonathan Broxton, 310 pounds
- CC Sabathia, 300 pounds
- Jumbo Brown, 295 pounds
- Dmitri Young, 295 pounds
- Bartolo Colon, 285 pounds
- Calvin Pickering, 283 pounds
- Aaron Judge, 282 pounds
- Jose Ceda, 280 pounds
- Prince Fielder, 275 pounds
- Carlos Lee, 275 pounds
There have been quite a few heavy baseball players, but none of them have weighed more than Young's 320 mark. Some have gotten close, but missed the mark.
Athletes come in all shapes and sizes and these were all solid baseball players. Some of them were exceptional, like Aaron Judge and Prince Fielder.