Ken Caminiti

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Ken Caminiti
Third base
Batted: Both	Threw: Right
MLB debut
July 16, 1987 for the Houston Astros
Final game
October 7, 2001 for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics
Batting average	.272
Hits	1710
Home runs	239
Teams
Houston Astros (1987-1994, 1999-2000) San Diego Padres (1995-1998) Texas Rangers: (2001) Atlanta Braves (2001)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (NL): 1994, 1996-1997 National League MVP (NL): 1996 Gold Glove Award (NL 3B): 1995-1997 Silver Slugger (NL 3B): 1996

Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 – October 10, 2004) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He was born in Hanford, California, and attended San Jose State University.

Contents 1 High school years 2 Baseball career 2.1 Awards 3 Personal struggles 3.1 Death 4 Teams 5 External links

[edit] High school years

Caminiti attended Leigh High School (San Jose, California) and played football and baseball. In football, he was invited to many all-star games after his senior football season.

[edit] Baseball career

Caminiti played professionally for 15 seasons (1987-2001), making his debut on July 16, 1987 with the Houston Astros. He was traded to the San Diego Padres after the 1994 season in a 12-player trade, where his power numbers increased (from .283 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI in 1994 to .302/26/94 in 1995 and .326/40/130 in 1996). He returned to Houston as a free agent in 1999, where he played for two more seasons, and then split his last year between the Texas Rangers and the Atlanta Braves.

He was slowed by injuries in 1999 and 2000, and after struggling the first half of 2001, he was released by the Texas Rangers and wound up his career with the Atlanta Braves, who moved him across the infield in an effort to fulfill their desire for a power-hitting first baseman.

Following his career in baseball, Caminiti was hired by the Padres to be a spring training instructor for his former team.

[edit] Awards

Caminiti won 3 Gold Glove Awards while playing for the Padres in 1995, 1996, and 1997, and he was unanimously selected as the National League's MVP in 1996. In 1994, 1996, and 1997 he appeared in the All Star Game.

[edit] Personal struggles

Caminiti struggled with substance abuse throughout his career. He admitted in 1994 to having a problem with alcohol and checked himself into a rehabilitation center in 2000. In a Sports Illustrated cover story in 2002, a year after his retirement, he admitted that he had used steroids during his MVP 1996 season, and for several seasons afterwards.[1]. It was the first public admission of steroid use by any professional baseball player; the issue had never previously been raised by anyone in the sports media. Caminiti's announcement sent shockwaves through the sport: players became recalcitrant at being exposed, and reporters were embarrassed that no one had bothered, in the post-strike era when homeruns exploded, to suspect steroid use by the players. Caminiti's revelation led to Congressional inquiries and the Barry Bonds steroids scandal.

Caminiti also had a long struggle with cocaine, having been arrested in March 2001 for possession and sentenced to probation. Just prior to his death, on October 5, 2004, he admitted in a Houston court that he had violated his probation. He tested positive for cocaine in September 2004. It was his fourth such violation and he was sentenced to 180 days in prison but given credit for time already served and released.

[edit] Death

Caminiti died of an apparent heart attack in The Bronx on October 10, 2004 at New York's Lincoln Memorial Hospital. Preliminary news reports on October 15, 2004 indicated he died of a drug overdose. Rob Silva, an acquaintance of Caminiti who spent part of the day with him on October 10, told Newsday that Caminiti was edgy and depressed on the day he died, but also said he did not witness Caminiti using drugs on that day. On November 1, the New York City Medical Examiners Office announced that Caminiti died from "acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine and opiates," but coronary artery disease and cardiac hypertrophy (an enlarged heart) were also contributing factors.

[edit] Teams

• Houston Astros: 1987-1994, 1999-2000
• San Diego Padres: 1995-1998
• Texas Rangers: 2001
• Atlanta Braves: 2001

[edit] External links

• Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
• Houston Chronicle photo gallery after Caminiti's death

Preceded by Sammy Sosa	National League Player of the Month August & September 1996	Succeeded by Larry Walker
Preceded by Barry Larkin	National League Most Valuable Player 1996	Succeeded by Larry Walker