Bartolo Colon was called “The Horse” by Angels manager Mike Scioscia, back in the middle part of the past decade. In part because Colon was “strong as a …” but also because he “weighed as much as a …”

That was back when Colon was the Angels’ ace and winner of the 2005 Cy Young Award.

Colon was famously durable and famously large, almost as wide as he was tall, and a decade later he apparently carries something like 285 pounds on his 5-foot-11 frame, as he eats up innings with the New York Mets.

And he reinforced his status as a cult hero among Mets fans when he became the oldest man (42) to hit his first home run in the Major Leagues. Also prompting lists of unlikeliest home runs in baseball history.

This is turning into a productive season for some less-than-svelte baseball veterans.

–In what he says is his last season, David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox already has nine home runs and 27 RBI. A man who would have us believe he weighs only 230 pounds can still put a baseball in the seats, even if he can barely jog around the bases, in his age-40 season. He is perhaps the leading example of the belief, a century ago that a big man (wide or tall) was automatically a strong man.

—C.C. Sabathia, perhaps the portliest gentleman in the bigs (6-foot-6, three bills), threw seven scoreless innings to help the Yankees to a 7-0 victory over Baltimore. (He has a heroic belly these days, and I invite you to admire it at this link.) Just when we thought his atrocious physical condition was dragging him down, he had this nice outing … and then went on the disabled list with a groin injury. On the whole, he hasn’t been very good for three years, and he probably will not be this season, either, when he will be paid $23 million.

Things are not going as well for some of the game’s other chubby practitioners portly.

—Prince Fielder, who at 5-11, 275 might be the tubbiest man in the bigs, were it not for Sabathia, has only two home runs after 132 at-bats so far this season for the Texas Rangers, and if the big kid can’t put the ball in the seats more often than that his value is limited and his bloated salary $24 million) a waste.

—Ryan Howard, 6-4 and 250 (hah!) pounds, once held up under the weight of scrutiny as well as his extensive frame, but it now is somewhat amazing the Philadelphia Phillies have given him 100 at-bats already, during which he has produced seven homers. Hitting a bomb once a week is pretty much all he can do, these days.

—Pablo Sandoval arrived at Boston Red Sox spring training out of shape, lost his job at third base, despite being in Year 2 of a five-year, $95 million deal. “Panda”, as he is known, is 5-11, 255 and won’t be back in the lineup any time soon. He is on the 60-day disabled list with a shoulder injury. He will miss a lot of games, but probably not any meals.

The best tubby player of this decade has been Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers first baseman and two-time American League MVP. He carries 240 pounds and appears to be slowing down (even more) at age 33. He has a modest four homers and 13 RBI in 30 games this season, which follows on his worst season in a decade.

Some of the best players in baseball history have been chubby or more than chubby. Kirby Puckett, Fernando Valenzuela, Tony Gwynn, Hack Wilson … and that one other guy, who lived on hotdogs and beer, played for the Yankees. Babe Ruth, was his name.