WiiNintendo

MLB.com writes:

Thanks to a video game, Heath Bell may be as fit as can be to succeed Trevor Hoffman as the Padres’ closer.

Bell, the 30-year-old right-hander who will move into the vacancy created when Hoffman, the all-time career saves leader, left for Milwaukee as a free agent after 16 seasons with San Diego, reported to camp this past weekend weighing 245 pounds, 25 pounds lighter than what he weighed early in the off season.

How did he lose the weight? He played the Nintendo Wii Fit video game with his three children.

The game conducts fitness tests and allows players to create and save characters, complete with their likenesses, while measuring physical progress over time.

When Bell, who is 6-foot-2, first tried the game, he didn’t like what he saw.

“It said I was obese,” Bell said. “If you’re obese, it makes [your character on the screen] obese. I was disappointed that I was that big. I literally took the game to heart. I did the work but I kind of credit the Wii Fit.”

[Thanks Brian for the tip]

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