A Powerful Athlete Now Gone

  Monday morning, 2am, the news comes through over ESPNews that Ken Caminiti, a former NL MVP has passed away at the age of 41. Shocking news before even more shocking news that Christopher Reeves has also passed on. Two great people not living on this earth anymore. It’s a shame that when you think of a man like Caminiti, 6 feet tall, 200 lbs, that you see this powerful athlete in tip top condition only to have his life taken away by a heart attack.                It’s funny; I used to spend hours playing video game baseball. I’d do fantasy drafts to get my own team going and Ken Caminiti was always my 3rd baseman. A career .272 batter, he was drafted by the Houston Astros and played 10 seasons for them. His best season came in 1991 when he hit 13 homeruns and 8 RBI’s showing his true power. Well liked in Houston by his teammates, Craig Biggio had this to say upon learning of his teammate’s death, “He was a giver. You looked at him, he looked mean. He played the game mean. Off the field he was a teddy bear, even though he had that Fu Manchu, looked like a big nasty guy. If you needed a dollar and he had a dollar in his pocket, and that was the last dollar he was ever going to make, he’d give it to you and not ask for it back.”

                At the end of the 1994 season, Houston traded there 3rd base slugger to the San Diego Padres in a block buster trade that included names such as Steve Finley, Derek Bell, Doug Brocail and Pedro Martinez. He paid back the Padres by shaping back into his old form smacking 26 homers, bringing in 94 RBI’s, and stealing 12 bases. That year was his best hitting ever going from a .238 average the year before to a stunning .302. The switch hitting Caminiti also set a record by homering from both sides of the plate in three games. He cemented his great year by winning his first gold glove award for his outstanding defense at 3rd base.

                In 1996, he wanted to show his performance was no fluke. Considering an extreme shoulder injury where he couldn’t even lift his arm over his head, he broke his career highs in homeruns and RBI’s with numbers of 40 and 130. Also posting a career best .621 slugging percentage. Also winning his second gold glove in a row with even more outstanding defense at 3rd base. Former 3rd baseman Clete Boyer of the Yankees acknowledged his defense by giving Caminiti an autographed photo inscribed “You’re better than Craig Nettles, Frank Robinson and myself. You’re the best 3rd baseman I ever seen.”

                Even with injuries bothering him, Caminiti cemented his third straight gold glove and helped carry the Padres into a World Series battle with the New York Yankees. Ken batted just .143 against the Yankees as they swept the Padres to take the crown. The following year he returned to Houston as a free agent but he would never play the same. Injuries were nagging him and his power declined. Houston declined to pick up there option on the sluggers contract after two years. In which time he ended up with the Texas Rangers. After a poor start he asked Texas management for his release which they gladly accepted. But not before the Astros arch rival in the post season, the Atlanta Braves, would come in and sign the slugger to play off the bench. He would go on to hit 15 homeruns and 41 RBI’s that year. His last in the big leagues.

                There were problems with steroids and drugs. Caminiti would later go on to tell everyone he was using steroids in his MVP year. He would fight his addictions and ghosts in the coming years. Being arrested for failing drug tests and going against his probation. Last year he would tell a health fair that he had kicked his cocaine addiction, only to be arrested on a later date for failing a urine test. It was one of the numerous times he had failed it while on probation.

                But we still can’t forget what a great athlete he was, he did have his problems, but he made a lot of people happy with his strong play and dedication to the teams he played for. I for one know I will miss Ken Caminiti. He was one of my favorite all time baseball players and I know right now he’s up there playing a game of catch with Darryl Kile. You left us with a lot of memories from your stellar offense to your sweet swing that would send balls 400 feet out of the stadium.  

                He was one of those players that didn’t get a ridiculous $252 million dollar contract. But yet he played like he was getting paid billions. If it wasn’t for him, the Padres wouldn’t have had a chance to go to the World Series that year. For that, I know Tony Gwynn is thankful. Caminiti’s former manager Phil Garner went on to say, “In the end, I think probably some of the attributes we loved about him were the things he couldn’t control himself, and that was his intense competitiveness, his desire to be the best. I think he carried that to the steroid use. But I think he had such a determination that I think maybe when he got into drugs; it was that he couldn’t stop and that’s unfortunate.

                A powerful athlete, now gone because of a heart attack. Maybe cause of the drug use, or maybe cause his body couldn’t handle it anymore. But as Jeff Bagwell said, “That’s where it starts, his heart. One of the biggest attributes Ken had is his heart.”