Ken Caminiti

Infobox MLB retired
name=Ken Caminiti


position=Third baseman
bats=Both
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date|1963|4|21
Hanford, California
deathdate=death date and age|2004|10|11|1963|4|21
New York, New York
debutdate=July 16
debutyear=by|1987
debutteam=Houston Astros
finaldate=October 7
finalyear=by|2001
finalteam=Atlanta Braves
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.272
stat2label=Home runs
stat2value=239
stat3label=Runs batted in
stat3value=983
teams=
* Houston Astros (by|1987-by|1994, by|1999-by|2000)
* San Diego Padres (by|1995-by|1998)
* Texas Rangers (by|2001)
* Atlanta Braves (by|2001)
highlights=
* 3x All-Star selection (1994, 1996, 1997)
* 3x Gold Glove Award winner (1995, 1996, 1997)
* Silver Slugger Award winner (1996)
* 1996 NL MVP

Kenneth Gene Caminiti (April 21, 1963 – October 11, 2004) was an American third baseman in Major League Baseball. He was born in Hanford, California, and attended San Jose State University. He died of a drug overdose-induced heart attack on October 11, 2004.

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.

Baseball career

Caminiti played professional baseball for 15 seasons, beginning with the Osceola Astros of the Class A Florida State League in by|1985. He earned a call-up to the AA Columbus Astros in 1987, and made his Major League debut at age 25 with the Houston Astros on July 16, 1987. In by|1988, Caminiti returned to the minor leagues, playing with the Class AAA Tucson Toros of the Pacific Coast League, before he was called up to stay late in the season.

After 6 full seasons in Houston, Caminiti was traded to the San Diego Padres after the by|1994 season in a 12-player trade. In San Diego, his all-around batting numbers increased significantly, especially his power (from .283 with 18 home runs and 75 RBI in 1994 to .302/26/94 in by|1995 and .326/40/130 in by|1996).

Caminiti returned to Houston as a free agent in by|1999, where he played for two more seasons. He was slowed by injuries during his second tenure in Houston, and after struggling the first half of by|2001 with the Texas Rangers, he was released and finished 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.

Awards

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

Personal struggles

Caminiti struggled with substance abuse throughout his career. He admitted in by|1994 to having a problem with alcohol and checked himself into a rehabilitation center in by|2000. In a "Sports Illustrated" cover story in by|2002, a year after his retirement, he admitted that he had used steroids during his MVP 1996 season, and for several seasons afterwards. [http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/magazine/03/02/flashback_juiced/index.html] It was the first public admission of steroid use by any professional baseball player. 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 home runs exploded, to suspect steroid use by the players. Caminiti's revelation contributed to Congressional inquiries and a league-wide steroids scandal.

Caminiti also had a long struggle with cocaine, having been arrested in March 2001 for possession and sentenced to probation. On October 5, 2004 -- just five days prior to his death -- 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.

He was discussed in the Mitchell Report on steroid abuse in baseball in regard to his past admitted steroid abuse. [http://files.mlb.com/mitchrpt.pdf]

Death

Caminiti died of an apparent heart attack in The Bronx on October 10, 2004 at 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.

References

ee also

* List of top 500 Major League Baseball home run hitters
* Major League Baseball hitters with three home runs in one game
* List of doping cases in sport

External links

* [http://www.chron.com/content/news/photos/04/10/11/kcaminiti/photo1.html "Houston Chronicle" photo gallery after Caminiti's death]
* [http://www.kencaminiti.org "Ken Caminiti Foundation - Cami's Kids"]